Synthetic Ice Rinks

[KoDLaN]

Hi There People.

I would like to get your comment on Synthetic Ice Rink Panels....Like Viking Ice or EzGlide.
Have any of you skated on this before and what is your input on it ?

Thanks alot

[Skate@Delaware]

I haven't, but if i had some $$$ lying around, I have a pole barn I'd like to cover the floor with this stuff! I'd never be without something to skate on over the summer!

[TaBalie]

How interesting... I just googled and read up on both companies...

However, I just can't wrap my head around it- -What the texture is like? And how can it never need to be resurfaced? What about toe-pick jumps?

So interesting! I really hope someone responds here that has skated on one of these surfaces....

[figure_skater]

i personally never skated on it but i heard about it from one of my skater friends... she said that the "ice" make u go slower than normal ice but she could almost do everything... also after like one time of skating on it she really needed her blades resharpened... i heard it REALLY dulls ur blades...
im stickin to normal ice... :lol:

[Kit kat]

my friend skated on that kind of ice before. She said it felt like plastic and it really ruined your blades!

[pennybeagle]

I had two former coaches who did ice shows on synthetic ice in the past. They described it as the kind of plastic that they make cutting boards out of.

They also said the following:
(1) You will completely ruin your blades. One of my former coaches learned how to become an extremely good skate sharpener from his years of doing these plastic ice shows (and having to sharpen his own skates every day, rebuild rockers, etc)
(2) It REALLY hurts to fall...you don't just bruise your knees, you take a few layers of skin off.
(3) You go very slow.
(4) You CAN jump, but it's not comfortable because there's no "give" in the surface when you land.
(5) You sweat like crazy because it's so warm!

My coaches were pairs skaters--they did mainly adagio skating, lifts, death spirals, spins, and the like in their shows. This was back in the 80s, I think--the only shows that still use synthetic ice that I know of are the Radio City Music Hall shows (the touring companies).

[KoDLaN]

Apparently the new Synthetic ice is very much ice like and you only lose 10% of speed....But its very good for free practice and portability.

[skippyjoy_207]

It doesn't look anything as beautiful as skating on real ice.

http://www.coldproducts.com/ezshow_video.php?vid=figure_Win_Media_9_256.wvx

And what are they doing to her blades?! (Turn your speakers on). :??

[Melzorina]

There's also plastic synthetic ice that looks like a jigsaw.

Seriously, DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT waste your time trying, if you do, you've got a death wish. It's nothing like ice, it's more like hanging on for dear life whilst trying not to fall over. You can't do more than walking as trying to stroke would probably leave you in the splits. I've skated on it twice, and not enjoyed the experience at all.

[KoDLaN]

We actually wanna bring a rink like that into South Africa for Public skaters to just have fun on....do you think they will enjoy it ?
I mean, they no nothing about spins etc etc...
:?:

[mikawendy]

I would think that it would be more fun for most people to have a rollerblading/rollerskating rink than plastic ice. Given that it's harder to skate on plastic ice and it dulls the blades so quickly (meaning that there would be the expense of resharpening the blades all the time), it would be more cost effective to offer a rollerblading/rollerskating rink.

[Mel On Ice]

I noticed in the video that the skater did no jumps and nothing with the toepick.

[Melzorina]

It would be kinda cool to have that in your back yard or something though...It doesn't sound too good, but could be fun.

[MQSeries]

The video looked kinda cool, but I wanted to see the skater do some real spins and jumps like a sit spin and 2toe. The spin that she did looked like the type of spins that people do on their kitchen floor while wearing socks.

[KoDLaN]

Go here..... www.flatskate.com

The have some video clips of girls doing spins and jumps. So go have look at that website. They will give you more of an indication.