Info on rinks in Phoenix, AX?

[livestrong04]

Hello, I may be transferred to Phoenix, AZ later this year. I found several rinks - Alltel Ice Den in Scottsdale, Polar Ice Chandler, Oceanside Tempe, Arcadia (is that in a bad part of town?) . I looked at these rink schedules online and it looks like it will be very difficult for someone who works to ever skate at an uncrowded public session, and it looks like freestyles are very expensive and very early morning. I may have to work East Coast hours so that may not work well. Plus if I have to drive far to rink, I want to skate 2 hours, not 45 minutes. I am working on Pre-Bronze FS and Bronze moves so I am not a high level skater.

Anyone from Phoenix area who can tell me a little about the culture of the rinks? Good times to skate, are you allowed to do figure skating (jumps, spins, spirals, have a lesson with a coach) on Public sessions, etc? Any info would be appreciated. I love skating and would hate to give it up. I skate 2 Public sessions a week, 2-3 hours at a time.

[pedonskates]

I can reply a little bit. I live in Tucson but we have almost non-existant ice at the moment.
The rinks in Chandler and Peoria are pretty crowded on Saturday mornings for FS and have a huge mix of levels. Little kids often don't have the ice awareness.
I only skated at Arcadia once and have never been to Oceanside (I think quite an ironic name for a rink in the desert), but there are other skaters on this forum who do.
Currently I skate at Alltel Ice Den in Scottsdale because they have the earliest sessions. They have one that starts at 5 am a couple days a week. Since we have to drive up, skate, and then turn around and go back to (in my case) work or (in another's case) school by 9 at the very latest. The 5 am sessions are Ok and there are mostly high level skaters but adults as well because of schedules and work. That session is cheaper than the later more crowded ones, and you get a discount if you pay for the month in advance. I'm a physician, so I can only go up there the weeks I'm not on call since the 1 hr 45 minute minimum drive each way is a little too far from the hospital.
Anyway, lots of options.......

[TreSk8sAZ]

I skate mainly at Oceanside, but I also skate at Alltel and Polar Chandler.

Oceanside is $8 per 45 minutes of freestyle, with freestyle generally 5 a.m. til noon, then 1-4:50 p.m. Afternoons especially are rather empty, we generally have 10 people or less in the mornings. We have a few adults, but most of us in the morning are late teens/early 20s. Fewer coaches, but those we do have are very good. No publics, though.

Alltel is considered a training facility. The freestyles are generally divided by level, though there are open sessions. These tend to be busy, depending on the time, and have rules for dress, hair and music playing, etc. These are more formal training sessions. There is an adult session 12-2 (maybe 1:30) Tuesday and Thursday. It's about $14 and includes a 20 minute edge/stroking group lesson. This can be crowded and people don't always yield, but generally there are no test, pre-bronze and bronze on this session. Public sessions, depending on the time, are crazy or less crazy but are all on Friday- Sunday. Freestyles are $14 for drop in, I believe $8 - 10 contracted. I don't know what publics are. Publics you are allowed to have lessons, but the more crowded the less you're allowed to do.

Polar Chandler freestyles are generally busy right before school and right after school, and Saturday mornings. (The same is generally true for Polar Peoria). Freestyles are $9 for 45 mins, $11 for 60 (however there are packs of stickers you can get for less). There is a coffee club (not sure what time) that is pretty good for adults, many are competitive. I'm not sure how much it is, either. Publics are decently empty during the day, however on weekends and evenings quite crazy. Again, publics you can have lessons but the more corwded the less you're allowed to do. (MUST stay in the middle). It's a very different culture than the other two, more intense that Oceanside, less so than Alltel. (Same goes for Polar Peoria).

Arcadia is a little rink in the middle of a strip mall in the center of Phoenix. No, it's not the best part of town, but it's not THAT bad. Publics are VERY uncrowded unless it's a holiday and children are out. Few freestyles, and publics are mostly during the day. I don't remember prices, sorry. But few serious skaters at this rink, at least regularly.

Polar Gilbert should be opening soon as well.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you need more info.

[livestrong04]

Thank you both so much for the information. I guess I have had it very lucky where I live although I never thought the skating options were that great. Working east coast/central hours is going to make it hard to get to morning freeststyles. At least I will have multiple rinks to choose from, I guess. I have never skated on a freestyle - intimidated because I skate slowly and I skate clockwise. Plus I hated paying $10 for 45 min when I have 2 times a week I can pay $5 for 2-3 hours at public, one not crowded and one crowded but manageable.

When does Polar Gilbert open?

Looks like living in Chandler area might be a good place to live for convenient rink access. I cannot imagine driving 1 hour 45 min to skate - that is true dedication!

I am going to continue studying the rink website schedules and work out a grid of possible times when I could skate. Will post back to this thread if I have specific questions about any of the sessions / times. Again I really appreciate your help; I don't want to move in the first place but if I had to give up skating it would be a million times worse.

[TreSk8sAZ]

Polar Gilbert was supposed to open this sping, however the new date is Fall 2008. So who knows?