Its that time of year again at our rink when the a/c is not always on and there is sometimes a mist in the air and drips from the ceiling

How come in some places you get stalagmites and in others, holes?

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Skate Free

Hmm, I've wondered that too...

At my old rink, we had a severe problem with the ceiling dripping. Well, not dripping...pouring! It was as if someone was clinging to the ceiling dumping buckets of what down! Seriously, you had to watch where you skated and avoid certain areass because certain corners and along the boards were worse than others. I kid you not - once in the middle of my dance test, the ceiling decided to start crying and soaked the whole front of me...and the worst part? I had to keep going!

Now at my new rink, I have the opposite problem: ice zits! I don't know how many times I've nearly killed myself avoiding/tripping over those buggers!

The best I can think of is that the drips that cause holes are from outside and are slightly acidic or salty while the condensation from inside is purer causing stalagmites...?

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Skate Free

It may have to do with the ice temperature and the temperature of the condensation. If the roof is really warm, the dripping water will be warm. If the ice is really cold, the drips will freeze and build UP. If the ice is only a little below freezing, the dripping water will eat into the ice. Of course if there is ENOUGH water flowing, it will cut the ice anyway.

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

might have to do with the cooling system under the ice too
but my guess would be temperature of condensation too.

There are both holes and bumps at the rink I skate at too. It's worse on one of the ice surfaces (the hockey rink) than on the other ice surface. The other day, there were tons of scary bumps and a few holes. One hole was so deep that you could see a brown color at the bottom (which was definitely not ice!).

We get the mist on occasion, but not very often.

If it's a place where there are a lot of drips then you get a hole because the drips can't freeze as fast as they are falling. When the drips are fewer you get a bump.

OOOOOO! I LOVE foggy ice!!!! It adds so much atmosphere! All you need is to shut off the whites, add coloured spots and it would be GREAT!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

We have mist too sometimes. It uh, keeps the mystery in skating. Never know who you'll bump into in that far corner end...

And in our rink, we get huge bumps, with a hole in the center - much like a volcano with a crater!

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One of our local rinks has so much "mist" or "fog" during its summer competition skaters wearing pale colors actually disappear if they skate in the morning events. During the winter competition, the fog isn't as thick.. but the mid-section of the body disappears for the first few competitors.

THat was the ghost of skaters past...........
Lyle

Oh I LIKE that idea.. I will have to remember that when I skate in the fog the next time.. and hope I can absorb some of those ghost-skaters' skills!

Our 3/4 size rink no longer has A/C, and it's about 90-95 degrees outside right now. We get the dripping ceiling a lot, and it makes scary bumps even though the ice is melting around the edges. When the humidity is really high we get the fog AND the rain. One day it was so foggy I couldn't see across the rink. It's really hot and miserable. Sorry that's not an answer to the original question - I just wanted to commiserate with everyone else who has bad ice right now!

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The skating may not sparkle, but my dress sure does!

Just passed: Pre-Bronze MIF & Freeskate. Next goal: Bronze tests in July.

Yesterday morning, after a long horrible thunderstorm in the wee hours, my rink had numerous deep holes. My coach got a marker and circled all of the holes we could find so that people would not miss them and be injured. This morning, the ice was great, no more holes, but you could still see some of the marker circles! Hey, I will take "holey" ice over no ice anytime