My mum is taking my 6yr old on a trip to the US and they leave Australia on 12 October.

They'll be a few days in each place mentioned above, and my mum was keen to take her skating if they have time, and also to check out a few pro shops (seeing that we don't have any real ones here in Australia)...

Can anyone point us in the right direction??

Thanks in advance
AW1

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

www.skatebowl.com

That's the link for the San Francisco rink and pro shop. It's a really pretty rink. They should skate if they have some time! It sounds like quite a trip they're taking!!!

I second WeirFan's nomination for Yerba Buena!!!

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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!!!

http://skatingforums.com/showthread....125#post334125

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There is a nice rink in Vegas at the Fiesta Casino on Rancho Drive. And I also cast my vote for the rink at Yerba Buena in San Fransisco!

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If you keep your eyes on God, you can walk on water.

What are you looking for in a pro shop? Two of the big name bootmakers are in the San Francisco area: SPTeri is in South San Francisco about a mile north of SFO and Harlick is in San Carlos.. just a few miles south of the airport. I know SPTeri has laces, polish, guards, gloves, dresses, bunga pads, soakers, tights and miscellaneous skating-related items such as fun pins, pencils, a few books, photo frames and glass dolls (oh and of course the skates!).

Besides the rink at the Fiesta Ranch Casino, there is a newer rink with two ice sheets: http://www.lasvegasice.com/

Last I was in TN I understood the ice situation in Memphis to be not-so-healthy...do they even have a year-round rink now that the mall is closed?

However, if you could possibly get to Nashville, there are two good twin rinks in the area, one in Nashville proper and one in the suburb of Franklin. The latter is actually a pretty good training facility and has a pro shop. I skated there last year for a little bit and really enjoyed it.

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All that glitters has a high refractive index.

Yes, if you could be more specific about what you are looking for in a pro shop, that would be helpful.
The best retail prices I have gotten on boots and blades have been from the pro shop at the Culver Ice Arena in Los Angeles. The fitter there (Hans) is also good at determining which brand of boot is best for a skater. He mostly carries Jackson, Harlick and SP Teri, but he also is a recommended fitter for Klingbeil. If you are flying into Los Angeles first, you may want to get a recommendation for a boot brand, and if it happens to be Harlick or SP Teri, you can always visit either company when you go up to the San Francisco area. But if you just go to the company first, you can be assured they will tell you their boots are best for her.
Website is here: http://www.culvericearena.com/
Call ahead for skate shop hours of operation.

Just for skating, I would recommend Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo (formerly called Healthsouth), which has lots of public skating sessions and is only about a mile from the Los Angeles International Airport. They have both an NHL sized rink and an Olympic-sized rink, and if you are there from noon to 2:00pm on a weekday you can take turns watching Evan Lysacek practice quadruple jumps on one rink and watching the L.A. Kings pro hockey practice on the other rink!
http://www.toyotasportscenter.com/contact.php

If you are going to Disneyland and looking for a rink in that area, you can go to Anaheim Ice.

Here is a full list of rinks in the L.A./southern California area:
http://users.mo-net.com/nixit/scalrink.html

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

From what I understand there is no ice rink in Memphis, TN. The only pro shop that was there was part of the Ice Chalet rink in the mall. That mall no longer exists. I think there is a rink in Southaven, Mississippi which isn't that far, but the other cities will defnintely have much better skating and skating-related shopping.
I grew up in Memphis and skated in the mall rink for many years but haven't been back to skate since 2001. I was there last spring but no ice to be found!!!

Brenda

If you need new skates and blades, yes, I do second the motion on the boots and blades. I recommend Harlicks personally, since I own a pair of Harlicks and am very happy with them.

I haven't tried SP Teri so I can't tell 'ya much... but the few times I've been at their shop, they do have stuff like boot laces, gloves, and all sorts of skating knick-knacks that you can find at Rainbo Skates Shop online. (Only you get to see it in person. )

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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!!!

There isn't a year round facility in Memphis anymore, but there is a figure skating club and ice in the winter and it begins on October 11th so you may be able to skate. The club skates at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, MS which is just over the state line. There are classes, basic skills classes, and open freestyles as well as private lessons. This isn't a typical ice rink - it's a civic center that has ice during hockey season but it's an awesome place to skate - big arena, nice sheet of ice. Visit the FSC Memphis web site for more details and the complete schedule: http://www.fscmemphis.org.

Also, not sure when you will be in Memphis exactly, but on October 14th there is a learn to skate/public skate event taking place - we are finalizing sponsorship and such but our goal is to have a public skate/learn to skate event instead of our regular schedule with all proceeds going to cancer research.

The other poster who mentioned a rink in Franklin (Southern Ice Arena) is right - that is an excellent rink - we have been there several times with my kids. Visit this page specifically - http://www.fscmemphis.org/resources.htm -for all the ice rink related information close to Memphis. We moved here last year and I was shocked there isn't a year round facility within 2.5 hours of Memphis yet they have an active hockey club and FS club. We all keep hoping and praying ;-)

Hi again. Thank you for all your help - looks like she'll have some fun getting in some practice while she's over in the States.

I have a question though - does anyone know much about the Toyota Sports Center in LA? I have looked up their website trying to find public sessions but haven't been able to find any at all... I'm wondering if I'm not looking on their site correctly or something...

Also, how bad are the rental skates at most rinks? The ones we have here are SHOCKING!! But I'm just trying to avoid the possibility of my daughter's skates getting lost while she's away without me

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

For the Toyota Sports Center web site, go to Schedules, then weekly schedules, then select a rink on the "surface" menu. The public sessions are on the olympic and NHL rinks, but the page defaults to inline. That's probably the confusion.

In my experience, rental skates can sometimes be pretty bad--uncomfortable boots (at least for my wide feet) and dull blades. However it depends on the rink. It will certainly be more fun with her own skates. If it's not going to be a big hassle and she's planning on skating more than once or twice, I would take the skates.

Hope she has fun!

Rental skates are pretty bad anywhere. I would advise bringing her skates so that she can actually enjoy skating while she is visiting these rinks. Once you have your own skates, skating in rentals is extremely frustrating (they are designed to minimize falls that occur from catching edges or toepicks, and as a result they rarely have either!).

Here is the schedule for Toyota Sports Center:
http://www.usarinks.com/connect3/Sil...&facility_id=1

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Just wondering if anyone frequents the Las Vegas Ice Center (link in quote) in Vegas. They have a jump & spin class that DD wants to do, but I'm trying to find out if she has to be a member of ISI/USFSA to participate in these lessons? I've tried emailing the skating director, but have not yet had a reply, and they leave here in a couple of days.

Would anyone here happen to know?

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

I don't have any experience with those particular cities but,

http://www.arenamaps.com

is kept up to date, and allows you to search any and all hockey arenas in the US by city and state. That also means that you will see figure skating rinks.

Rob

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sorry made into new post

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

Hi everyone, just thought I'd let you know my mum took my daughter to Yerba Buena in SFC, and she really enjoyed it!!

She said people wouldn't get out of her way so she couldn't really practice but that would be because she went to public sessions

Unfortunately, the rinks where she wanted to do classes NEVER showed me the courtesy of emailing back, so mum assumed that she wasn't welcome, which is a real shame

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

I also went to Yerba Buena on a recent (past weekend!) trip to SF. It was a gorgeous rink in such a pretty location! It did get kinda crazy when more and more kids started showing up, but I had a very pleasant experience there.

What time did she show up? I remember seeing a young lady with rental skates today with a woman that may be old enough to be her grandmother. Of course, she also tells me that she's from one of the other local rinks, so I doubt she's your daughter.

If you were trying to get lessons at YB during the trip... I wished you've pinged me! I would have put you in contact with the skating school director, Shane. He's usually VERY accomodating about these types of things!!!

Glad you had a great time there!

Sorry I missed out on meeting 'ya! I haven't been practicing the last two weekends. I have been trying to practice for my competition, so I've been showing up for the morning FS sessions during the week. (Today I actually had a lesson during public session in the early afternoon. I was doing my program.) I may actually make it a permanent thing for me to go to the Monday morning FS until around the spring b/c the holidays are coming -- and if you think the crowds are crazy now... it's gonna get even crazier on the weekends around the holidays!!!

__________________
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!!!

Hi jazzpants, I'm not sure what time she was there, but you'd definitely recognize the Aussie Accent if you spoke to her and she ended up taking her own skates, because everyone said rentals are bad (and besides she's used to her own skates if you know what i mean!?)

I did email via the website but had absolutely no reply. One to YB and one to a rink in Las Vegas, but neither replied.

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

That's not too suprising as I don't think these sites are monitered very closely. The best thing to do is call them. Which rink in Vegas are they going to? I heard they closed down the one attached to the casino and moved it to another casino. Your mom and daughter might see a lot of Russians around because there is a Russian ice show at the Riviera (which I'll be seeing in January )

Kevin

Kevin they've already been to Vegas, in fact they arrive back in Aus on Friday, so my mum was hoping to get in some more skating in Anaheim if they get a chance before they leave.

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

Wow, not to derail this thread but I went to Yerba Buena for this afternoon's public session. I did see a few different adults going through their programs. My daughter is skating in Skate SF (her first competition, she's 7) and I was letting her get a feel for the rink.

Let's see - were you the one doing the 70's/disco-ish song? If so, it looks great. If that wasn't you, I bet we were there - we got there about 12:15 and stayed until the kidlumps started to multiply on the ice, about 2:15.

I was there dressed in terrible clothes for skating (tight jeans) and my daughter has very short hair. It was colder in SF than I was expecting - it was actually warmer in the rink than outside.