On Friday, I went to an indoor rink on Long Island that has a usually empty afternoon public session. I was warned going in, though, that there would be three birthday parties and 150 kids! Two other adults who skate there regularly on Fridays were also warned, so we all decided to go to a nearby outdoor rink instead. Because we weren't residents of the county, it cost us $12 each to skate for two hours ! It was beautiful out, but the ice was horrific. The entire surface was tilted to one end. I have never encountered that before and cannot even figure out how it could have happened. It was particularly noticeable when skating uphill and into the wind! In addition to the tilt, there was an eighteen inch border of slush all around the boards, and numerous patches of melt-down were marked with cones. Of course, it was the unmarked ones that were the problem . I had just skated outdoors in Brooklyn, that morning, and went back to teach in the evening, so I could compare outdoor ice. Brooklyn won, hands down!

Anyone else care to share their worst ice ever story?

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I've been lucky, never really had anything that bad. I don't really skate outdoors though, cause then I get distracted and can't work on anything. The rink I have my lessons at used to have a slope at one end of the rink. It was very odd though, because you can definitly feel it going down, but you never realyl felt it going up. I couldn't do anything at that end of the rink because I kept falling down the ski slope.

there is a rink here that has terrible ice!! it's bumpy all over and there are places where water drips from the ceiling and creates these dome shaped bumps that are SUPER FUN when you hit if you are spinning. when i do toe jumps i pick straight through to the sand.

and! the best part! the ice has cracked before and never been correctly repaired so sometimes when i skate over certain portions of the ice i can hear it crack under me. it's a little distracting when yr setting up for a jump!

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the truth lies in between the 1st and 40th drink - tori amos

yeah......dome shaped humps and icicles is usually due to poor rink design....or the facility has been inadequately thought out before building it, and budget is probably linked to that.

That's ridiculous. The owners of that rink must be really lousy.

haha, the ice at my rink is always perfect, but them those little hockey skaters get on it, then annoying public session skaters with those hirrible rentals and TOE PICKS. Our rink doesn't seem to be a fan of the resurfacing the ice too often. I was there twice today and it had not been ironed from 9am to about 3pm. You do the math how nice the ice was.

dbny i wouldnt be suprised if the outdoor rink you are referring to is Grant Park, last year I did skate there a few times, but it was way too dangerous, some areas slushy, cracked etc. I was hoping they would fix it up. I haven't gone back there since. Hope your ice rink visits to Long Island are more pleasant!

Well, I don't know how that happened, but it's gone now, so it's fine. I think the normal zamboni driver was sick for a while, so they had somebody else doing the resurfacing. As long as it's gone now, I"m happy.

OK, I guess it's alright to name names as long as it's not a person. It was Christopher Morley in Nasseau county, just across the border from Queens. I think they have a lot of nerve charging us so much because we don't live in their precious suburb, which would be a big zero without our city.

I had a good time anyway, as I was skating with DH and a couple of friends from the regular LI rink I go to. The friends rarely skate outdoors, so they really enjoyed that aspect of it. I do that almost every day, but always enjoy it when the sun is shining. It's been a remarkably sunny winter here this year, and mornings outdoors on the ice have been glorious!

I think sue123 may have the answer to the sloping surface - poor Zamboni work. It would have to be consistently poor and always wrong in the same places. This rink was so tilted that you really could just glide downhill from the midpoint all the way to one end.

racytracy, we call those fun bumps "mushrooms". Sometimes the outdoor ice cracks when you skate over it too, but there isn't any danger of breaking through it. I kind of like the sound.

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Our rink used to consistently get like that, only it went up in the middle, and down either side, it was due to being a sand based rink. After a few near misses, the worst one being when my son went down it whilst performing an over-head lift, they eventually had to thaw the whole thing out and smooth out the sand, which still rises to the surface in summer.

our rink is pretty bad with the sloping thing - but only at one end where the zamboni drives on & off the ice. I find that whenever I go backwards there I freak out because it's like going downhill.

I can also ditto the little mounds thing - we call them volcanoes! They drive me batty and I have come a cropper a few times after hitting them while doing stuff.

I wish we had PERFECT ice!

The rink here as NO.. and I repeat... NO insulation.. its rink air to one layer of tin, to outside air.. they never use their humidifier... its very rusty all around... = crap ice

We have HEAPS of icy lumps, and it is constantly dripping... the edges of the rink is horrible and it dips down in the corners...

Oh and after a public session there is SO much cut up ice, its easy to make a large snowball with one sweep of the hand... its horrible And the ice is cut down to the plastic hockey markings.. they show through and often end up on our skates I dont think theyve flooded it for 10yrs.

its 52m x 21m, so not too bad.. but not as big as Im used to

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-Erinna-
aka cassarilda

My Progress Report!
"Did I mention there is only ONE rink in Melbourne?!"
"If you're not flying, you're obviously not trying!!!" - courtsey of the guy who helped me up off the ice after my last spectacular and sore fall

OMG .... those owners sound like barbarians.

I forgot to add that because they dont use the humidifier, or regular constant cooling, whenever the ice starts to melt into puddles, they turn the cooling system on full bore, and then turn it off when its frozen again... again = crap, dead ice.. hard as hell, and very lumpy. Oh and if youre sitting up towards the top of the seats, on a normal Australian warm day, its WARM!!! Freezing on the ice, WARM in the seats...

OH and also.. when it rains, the rain comes down in streams down the walls (obviously no sealing or drainage in place) - down past the electrical systems (lights, and speakers) onto the side boards... I wouldnt be suprised if it floods the ice when its really heavy... at least then it would get some fresh water!! AND because of the lack of insulation, you cannot hear a thing, with bucket loads of rain hitting an uninsulated tin roof!!!

BUT its the only damn ice rink we have... Im not going to say we are lucky to have it, but we can only hope for a new one REAL soon!!!

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-Erinna-
aka cassarilda

My Progress Report!
"Did I mention there is only ONE rink in Melbourne?!"
"If you're not flying, you're obviously not trying!!!" - courtsey of the guy who helped me up off the ice after my last spectacular and sore fall

Our rink used to be like that - you'd stand in the middle and reach the sides without effort. They've spent a great deal of time and effort in fixing it, though, and now our ice is as good as any, and a great deal better than some (British skaters, please note!!!!). Sadly, as ours has improved, the quality of the ice at our "other" rink has declined, and now that's up hill and down dale and all over the place. We used to love going there because the ice was so much better than at home - now, alas, home has the better ice.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

The mushrooms started at our rink AFTER they put in the insulation panels. It really does help with utility bills, but I guess the condensation runs off just right to make the deadly little stalagmites. It's really bad after a tournament or show - all those people sweating and breathing! There oughta be a law! LOL

Our rink often tries to "save the blade" on their ice resurfacer by just scooping up the snow and laying down water. As a result, the bumps grow to a half-inch in height before someone complains and they scrape the ice.

It's an indoor rink that's open year-round and it's usually very clean and well-maintained, so I'm not complaining - just observing.

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Thankfully i've never had really bad ice, but one time my mum had to borrow someone elses boots and the blades were loose

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I believe you mean the "de-humidifier", as excess humidity is the big problem in ice arenas. That is what leads to condensation and dripping and then, of course to mushrooms or volcanoes.

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Funny you mentioned Grant Park. It was the very first rink I skated in NY state. Thankfully, my MIL were residents in that area and I went thru her. In return, she gets the family (my husband's siblings) to watch me skate!

I had an awful time trying to skate on that ice b/c it was SUPER hard ice! Also didn't help that it was just below 30 F (and I'm a spoiled Californian and hardly ever had temps below 30 F and my home rink is a beautiful rink to skate in.) Thankfully, I managed to skate well enough... and my in-laws have very low expectations of what they would see me do on ice.

That said, there is one rink in the Bay Area where I swear has a slight mushroom right in the middle of the ice (if you're in the Bay Area, you'd probably know which one.) Also, my weekend rink also had seismic structure problems too. (There's one corner of the rink (NOT the Zamboni side) where it's lower than the other areas.) They have fixed it though.

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jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
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Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

hey dbny which indoor li rink do usually go to??? i go to long beach and freeport s/t also cantiague.

Iceland in New Hyde Park. I've been wanting to try Long Beach, but it's quite a ride and I work mornings in Brooklyn, at least until next Sunday when the rink there closes for the season.

Do you know Mike at the pro shop at Cantiague? They seem to have the very best prices on blades anywhere.

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Two words:

Hockey Ice!

Yep....I seriously don't think that hockey skating should be allowed on sections of ice where figure skaters are working out. The massive ruts in the ice can be very dangerous. Although, toe picks can also do serious damage to the ice. The chunks of ice that toe picks can pull out from the surface could make some hockey skaters 'jealous' .

I've been to Long Beach before. It was actually pretty nice (considering I haven't skated at many places). But it's a bit too far to go to so often. I used to go in the summer before work, but now, not so much. The area it's in is really pretty too. I used to like driving there just for the scenery.

i've actually been to iceland several times, though it can get quite a bit crowded on Sundays. they have nice ice there. sorry I don't know Mike, but that's good to know that they have good prices on blades b/c I may be in the market for buying new skates soon ). so maybe I'll see you around LB s/t , if you get a chance the morning public session are wonderful, almost like freestyle usually no more than 10 skaters on the ice! but watch out for the weekends they are way crowded!