Moving to California. Never lived there before. Any suggestions as to which ice rinks to skate and where to find freestyle coaches nearby. Would really appreciate your help.

There are lots of rinks around. The closest one to Mountain View would probably be Vallco, which has the worst skating surface. Not too much further up the road in San Jose is the Logitec Ice Arena. It's a 4 sheet facility. Very nice. In the other direction there is the Ice Oasis in Redwoood city. If you want to take lessons then San Jose or Redwood City are your best choices. Charlie Tickner coaches at RC.

Thank you for your information.
May I know which club is Charlie Tickner associated with or how I could get more information about him? Thank you!

Forgot. I'd also like to get information on where to sharpen figure skates near Moutain View, CA. Any personal preferences here. Thank you!

I'm not sure if he's affiliated with any club. If you want to meet him all you have to do is show up anytime at RC between 7 am and 11:30 am monday, wednesday, or thursday. What information would you like about him? I might be able to answer. FYI he was a world champion and Olympic bronze medalist. He's a very good technical coach.

There are only three places in the bay area. One is SP Teri in South San Francisco. One is "The Inside Edge" skate shop in the Redwood city rink. The third one is some guy over at the Freemont rink that I've never personally used. IMO Sp Teri does the best job.

Kander,
Thank you very much for your kind answers. I guess this is enough to get me started with skating after I move there next weekend and settle down hopefully really soon.

I really appreciate your help!

I skate in San Jose, what level are you skating? Are you an adult or kid? Welcome to the Bay Area.

Blosmbubbs,

I am adult. Had private coach for like 8 months. All single jumps except Axel. Power pulls. Some twizzles. Not sure what my level is. I mostly spend time working on fun things than climbing the ladders. Thank you for your welcome. I think I will skate at both San Jose and redwood. It will be fun.

There are several rinks in the Bay area... Kander's assessment of the rinks he mentioned are good and there is also a good rink in Fremont, which is about the same distance as Logitech (in San Jose) from Mountain View.

There are several good coaches at all the rinks Kander mentioned. I would suggest seeing which rink(s) you like best and have times that work with your schedule, then going and watching a couple of times at each rink, and seeing which coaches have a style you think would work well with your learning style.

We are lucky to have a fairly large adult skating contingent, and we're a pretty friendly group as a whole. So if you don't see the coach of your choice working with an adult, you could introduce yourself to nearly any of the adults you would see at a session and ask them about the coach you're interested in.. and chances are pretty good you'll get a fair assessment of the strengths and challenges of working with any of them. With any luck, the skater(s) asked will volunteer to introduce you to the coach you mention. But if that doesn't happen, the easiest way to hook up with any of the coaches locally is just to approach them after a session when they are getting off the ice, putting on/taking off their skates-- but make sure they aren't still talking to a student about something lesson-related.

Good luck I hope to meet you on the ice one of these days.

Thanks everyone for all the information. I stay in San Antonio from time to time so will bring my skates next time Are any of the Bay Area rinks within walking distance of a Caltrain stop?

Sarah

I'm not too familiar with public transportation around here, but I would guess the closest rink to a Caltrain stop would be Yerba Buena in San Fransisco? I think the rink in Oakland might be near a BART station. That isn't the safest area.

The BART station is about 1/2 block away from the Oakland rink, but it is not a safe area, especially at night.

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"Without a struggle, there can be no progress" ~ Frederick Douglass

The Belmont rink is within walking distance of the Belmont CalTrain station... maybe 5-6 blocks.

Yerba Buena in San Francisco is within a 5 block walk also from Caltrain.

I also second what kander had mentioned. I would NOT go to Vallco. The ice is very weird, to put it nicely.. Also, going on 85S from Mtn. View is a MAJOR pain during rush hour!!!

I recommend San Jose or Ice Oasis as well. And yes, a 2nd vote for CHARLIE!!! I was having swing salchow problems that my primary coach was having fits with me on. Charlie fixed it in about 3 minutes!!! My primary coach was when he saw the fix!

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

I forgot about the Belmont station. That one is definetely in walking distance.

I am looking forward to California. But I hate moving.

May I know what is a good place to get some skating gears near San Jose?
Thanks

What exactly are you looking for?

I think I may get guards and trailer. I never had a trailer before. I always just hold everything in my hands when going into the rink. I just want to make it more convenient for myself. What do other adults have for skating?

You can get guards at any of the rink pro shops or at the Harlick or SP-Teri shops which are both in the bay area. I'm not sure what you mean by "a trailer". Do you mean a roller-bag/suitcase on wheels?

Yes. Something like a roller-bag or whatever I can put everything in. I didn't think I am that imaginative.

Most of the adults I know just buy a small piece of luggage on wheels, although a lot of the kids have Zucabags. Those are available at the skate shops at many of the rinks and also at SP-Teri (the bootmaker) in South San Francisco.

Thank you for the information. This is great. So many rinks around here and Sp-Teri and ... Much better than I expected.

Can somebody post the figure/free schedule for Logitech arena? I couldn't find it on their website. Thank you