I'm looking for input with regards to the following:
- whether to test or not and if yes, then what to test (I'm in Canada)
- whether to take my skates when I go abroad for a year

I've been skating and learning tricks for the past 4.5 years - first I took fun classes at my university, then I joined a club the coach who ran them teaches at and became her student. I only did freestyle, never tested or competed and never worked on a solo.
In September I'll be going abroad for a year, and I'm not sure whether to take my skates (here I'm looking for general recommendations of the "take them!" and "leave them" type - I'll be looking into actual possibilities of skating there later).
I'm guessing that if I opt to take them, I will need something to prove my skills and qualifications in order to skate abroad. That's the first reason why I'm thinking of testing. The second, and more important, reason, is that when I come back, I will be moving to a different city and won't be able to train at my present club and with my present coach. A new club might require me to have passed some tests and etc.

When I started taking lessons, I skated twice per week (about 1.5 hrs each day), but the past two years it was once per week only, and this year I missed quite a few sessions. For this reason, I haven't made much progress. This summer, I have the chance of skating two to three times per week, so I would get much more practice time and that should be enough to prepare for a test in mid-August.

But... what to test? What test to take?
I heard that Skate Canada introduced a new testing stream, mainly for adults, in which the skater is not required to do a solo or dance patterns. So I guess it's skills and/or elements.

I'll appreciate any hints and suggestions.

Here is a breakdown of what I currently can do:
- jumps: all singles but axel (still underrotating lutz, working towards axel), including combinations
- spins: have backspin, sit, camel (sometimes wacky), upright, including combinations and changes of foot, but not enough revolutions on camel and back camel; don't have corkscrew
- MITF: all spirals ok, but my backward 3-turns and all mohawks suck big time

Well, I'm in the States, so I can't comment on what test to take.

But I would comment that I've never heard of a rink or club requiring a skater to have any test credentials in order to be able to skate there. Sometimes practice times are split by high/low skaters, but other than that, you should be able skate where ever you want to skate.

For example, I have a friend who skated once on a freestyle session at Ice Castle while travelling on business, and yes, it was a session Michelle Kwan was on. All she had to do was show her USFSA membership card to prove she was a figure skater, but she wasn't asked what level she was.

There is NO and will be NO adult testing stream. If they do impliment one it won't be for several years. TEst now! We are using code of points for Canadians this upcoming year so get what you can.

Take your prelim freeskate and do any dances you might know. When you are over 25 I believe you can't be asked to solo a dance. You can also choose to solo a dance for certain ones. It's already in place.

Bring your skates! A year is a long time to go without skating. My daughter is in London right now and did bring her skates with her. She had thought that she wouldn't be allowed on a freestyle session unless she took lessons there, but when she skated in a public session, she was able to speak with a coach who told her that she only needed to be skating well enough for the freestyle sessions, and that she had seen her skate and would vouch for her.

Where are you going?

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Taking your skates with you is going to depend probably on where you are going but you can get arenas all over the world (I know first hand) So i would suggest taking them with you. As for the canadian tests, I dont think that there are adult tests but I know that there are specific rules about adults in dance. Personnaly I would ask your coach and see what they say you should do in terms of tests. If you can land your lutz than you can easily pass your prelim freeskate.

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