The Hills that Are Valley...

What can I say? Another day of bumpy, hilly ice at Valley - so disappointing after the much-improved ice earlier this week. Am I just getting too spoiled skating at those other, flatter, cleaner rinks? I don't think so.

Trying to do figures there is very difficult. Up-down-up-down - all in the course of one circle! Speeding up right before you do the turn on the 3s is a little disconcerting (think: little screams inside my head) to say the least, especially when you are trying to learn control. I suppose it might be good for my proprioception (the thing in your ear and head that keeps you upright) to try to find that balance point all of the time, but give me a break!!!

Of course, it still feels like "home" and I miss my friends when I am skating at those other, lovely rinks. Makes me wonder how this is all going to play out.

Stay tuned. Will probably skate at Sherwood and LC next week because of the upcoming figures competition. After that - who knows?

Lloyd Center: Public Place... Private Ice!!!

I haven't been to an early afternoon session at the Lloyd Center - ever! And so I was pleasantly surprised on this sunny day in Portland. I called to find out when the early afternoon ice-cut was and was told that I could get onto the ice at about 1:20. The person on the phone also told me that there would be a short exhibition first - I think this is something they do there quite often since there is an instant audience in the mall. Okay, well, then I won't have PERFECTLY clean ice to do figures, but I also thought there would be more people there in general and I would have to make due with whatever I had ice-wise.

When I first got on the ice there were about 6 people and I was able to set up my figures at one end - no problem. Then everybody left and I had the whole place to myself for about an hour! It was heavenly. It is a little odd to be the only one out there - you are the only one for anyone to look at, but so be it. It was really nice not to have to watch out for ANYBODY and the ice was good and flat and clean. Yippee! Definitely worth the price of admission!

Most likely it was so empty because the weather was so nice and why would anybody but the crazy people be ice-skating on such a beautiful day? I will definitely go back again and make it a point to go in the early afternoon for a very nice practice! Too bad there were no ice-dancers there to skate with (hint-hint) because that would have been it especially, doubly fun!

We can dream, can't we?

Tomorrow, back to Valley for a lesson. Fingers crossed.

Another Good day at Sherwood... mostly

Went for a late morning/early afternoon of figure practice at Sherwood. Got there around 10:25 am and there was one person on the public session. She was very happy because they had made new ice for her even though she felt it was okay - she was completely thrilled, actually, and couldn't believe it! I got on and worked on figures - the ice was pretty good. It is a little "crunchier" than the ice at Valley lately and sometimes my blade would get caught in the tracing of my previous trace on any individual figure. Kind of disconcerting, but partially my fault for wearing dance blades (with a deep hollow) for figures, instead of wearing figure blades which would have a shallower, flatter grind and so I'm guessing I wouldn't have that problem and the blade would also run smoother. Oh, well, that will come later.

I asked if they would turn the lights down as I had heard that they were going to turn the lights lower for the figure competition. The zamboni guy said they hadn't decided exactly what they were going to do yet but he would turn them down for me. That was nice. I liked having the lights turned down because it seemed more calm than with that bright, white, "supermarket" lighting that they sometimes have.

I got off the ice at 11:30 because I thought they would be doing an ice cut for the Coffee Club like they did last week. I asked about it when it became obvious they weren't going to clean the ice and the zamboni guy said no, the ice was fine and I could still do figures on the ice the way it was. I was a little confused because last week the ice had been used much less and yet they cleaned it for the Coffee Club. So we got out and skated and it was fine but I couldn't see the logic in the whole thing, but then again I've seen that logic (or lack thereof) at all of the rinks in the area at one time or another.

On the way home from work this afternoon I stopped by at Valley to ask my coach for a lesson later this week. She said that the ice had not been good there in the morning and that one of her older students had decided that she wasn't going to skate there anymore. It really is too bad that they are losing a lot of people and it's strictly because of the safety of the ice - at least that is what they are saying.

Tomorrow my plan is to go to Lloyd Center for an early afternoon skate. I have to find out when they will be doing an ice-cut and plan to go so that the ice is clean so that I can do some figures. I hope it is not crowded. I like doing figures there because the ice is flat (those curlers have to have it that way!) and the lines they have for the curling really help me set up my figures - I know that my figures should be a certain size to fit within some of the lines - that is great and that is what I need at this point of my practice for the upcoming competition.

Great Day at Valley!!!!!!

Well, the ice was in great shape today at Valley!! And I mean that in the best possible way - it was really great ice - probably the best it has been in months and months!!

I got to the session a little late this morning - probably should have gotten on at the very beginning so I'd have really clean ice to do figures - there were several skaters on the ice when I got there - oh well, since there are no patch sessions anymore, I guess I just have to take what I can get - and it was all pretty good!!

One of the skaters today noticed how thick the ice was - you barely have to step down when you get on - it is a little disconcerting. You also cannot see the lines at all - I keep wondering how they play hockey there - like, can the refs actually see the plays and violations and all that if they can't see the lines? Will there be more fights than usual because of bad calls? I don't know as I don't know that much about hockey, but I can imagine that that would be a problem at times. As a figure skater I don't care so much, although when doing actual figures you use the lines for orientation of your circles, and well, that can't be done at Valley!!

Speaking of hockey, I heard a rumor that the early-morning hockey practices (the ones on Mondays and Wednesdays that took the place of the early-morning freestyles) will be coming to an end soon, as it is the end of hockey season. What that means for the figure skaters remains to be seen, since most of the people that used to come to those freestyle sessions are skating at other rinks these days. Hopefully for those of us that skate the later freestyle and morning public sessions, the ice will be better than it is after that "big-boy" hockey practice in the morning. Yikes, those guys sure chew up the ice!!

I wish there was a clean and warm place to stretch before and after skating at Valley. I always end up just using the wall or the bench to stretch out on but it would be great to be able to get down on the floor. I have used a yoga mat in the past (the one that I keep in my car, NOT the one that I bring to the yoga studio - I wouldn't want to mess up the floor of the studio with whatever I might track in from the floor in the open-room/snack-bar/changing area at Valley!) but it is drafty and cold on the floor so it is less than optimal for warming up and cooling down -- too cold! I've tried stretching in the pro's room but that option is not open to everyone I guess (it helps to have friends who are also your coaches!).

All in all a good skate... but it is so inconsistent (no, not my skating, - the ice!). I want to go there later this week but I always wonder... will it be worth it?? I made it a point to tell both the zamboni guy and the rink manager how pleased I was with the ice today. I don't know if that will help, but it certainly can't hurt!!

Mt. View - another skater's perspective

Lauren Zell contributed the following comments regarding the Mt. View Ice Arena in Vancouver, WA - just over the bridge from Portland (http://www.mtviewice.com/) - thank you Lauren!!!

"I skate at Mountain View on Monday and Tuesday mornings from 6 – 8. The first session in the morning is at 5:00 and the ice is resurfaced every two hours. I find the ice smooth, but it is softer after the 7:00 resurface. Today after the resurfacing, the lutz corner still had pockmarks from a skater’s double lutz/double toe combos in the previous hour. Some slushy ice filled in the worst divots.

The management is friendly. There is a heat lamp above some of the benches where you put your skates on, but the aluminum benches are cold (I wear one pair of tights and a georgette skirt so probably notice this more than most skaters)

My biggest frustration is with the music. The rinkside music system consists of a dual cd unit, a dual cassette unit and a receiver. The track indicator for the cd unit doesn’t work, so if you are using a cd with dances of several types on it, you hope that you’ve pushed the forward/back button enough times. Also, the cd has a variable speed lever, so I’m never sure if we’re doing the dances to the right tempo.

Today’s frustration stemmed from not being able to get sound from the cassette unit through the speakers. "

Lauren

Lloyd Center - A Welcome Respite from the Cold

The social ice-dance sessions at the rink in the Lloyd Center Mall (http://www.lloydcenterice.com/) are a welcome respite from the cold rinks. The ice is smaller than the normal NHL size rinks in the area - it is quite a bit narrower and I believe a little shorter than the normal rink. It is also quite warm.

The ice is generally well-maintained - especially since they also have curling at this rink - the curlers are notoriously picky about having the ice surface being slick and flat and fast. This pickiness spills over to the figure-skaters and usually they can count on having pretty good ice and this weekend was no exception.

The guy who made the ice this weekend drives the zamboni very slowly - some may complain about how long it takes to make the ice, but it is good ice. I have also heard people say that this ice is kind of slow because it is softer than the ice at the other rinks, but I don't really experience it that way. Sometimes the ice seems kind of "crunchy" but this weekend I thought it was pretty good.

We had some new people at the dance session today - the man was an experienced free-style skater and his wife a beginning skater. The wife was told that she couldn't skate on this session because she was a beginner. I really don't like this kind of thing - we need to find a way to get the beginning skaters interested in ice-dance... maybe they could have a class or something. Eventually we worked it out that if she stayed out of everyone's way and mostly skated around the perimeter she would be okay. I think she and her husband were grateful that we made it possible for them to skate. I know several beginning-level ice-dancers that feel intimidated by the dance sesions (and believe me, I TOTALLY understand, feeling intimidated myself at times, although I'm pretty experienced). I don't know what the answer is exactly, except that everyone must watch out for themselves and try to be aware of where everyone else is. Knowing the dance patterns helps.

I'm hoping that someone will come forward to help me co-author this blog - apparently we can have up to 100 authors - not sure yet how that works, but if someone is interested please contact me - maybe if you make a comment I can contact you. Somehow we should get together in any case!

Friday February 22 - Valley

Well, I went back to Valley this morning, dreaming of clean beautiful ice. Of course I was disappointed as we had the lovely rutted stuff that we've had lately. Luckily there were none of those huge yellow bumps which seem to happen when it has been raining and there is a lot of condensation.

I managed to find some spots to work on my figures for Adult Sectionals which is happening in two weeks. But it is funny that when the ice is smooth I don't notice how uneven it is, but today with all of the ruts and having to be especially careful, I notice the hills again.

I asked one of the zamboni guys why there could be good ice one day and not the next. He said that if they clean it twice then it's okay but the other guy this morning only did one round with the zamboni. I know it takes more time and more energy and water, but could they possibly just care about us a little?

On the other hand, I still had a good skate. I generally like the atmosphere there because the people are friendly and we can do whatever we want with the music, etc. I guess it's that slacker attitude that when brought into another arena (so to speak), it makes for a good experience. If only the ice were better!

Tomorrow I am doing a judging critique at the Lloyd Center Ice Rink (http://www.lloydcenterice.com/) for the Skating Club of Oregon (http://www.skatingcluboforegon.org/) for all of the Adults that are going to Pacific Coast Adult Sectionals, which will be held at Sherwood Ice Arena this year. The event is open to all adults who are competing there regardless of club affiliation. I love this attitude of inclusiveness and am glad that my club is open to hosting all of the adult skaters. It is a good place for people to put out their programs in front of an audience a couple of weeks before the competition. Of course, being in a mall, the rink is small and somewhat warm, but there are also a lot of people who watch the skaters and that is good for someone who is going to be competing and will get them used to having an audience, or at least onlookers.

Portland Ice Rink report #1

I wanted to start a blog to report the conditions of the skating rinks in the Portland, OR area. It has gotten to the point that I'm not sure where I'm going to skate on any given day due to the conditions of the ice at some of the arenas. Also the level of customer service at times leaves something to be desired. So I thought I'd start a conversation in this vein and see where it leads me.

My main rink is the Valley Ice arena (http://www.valleyicearena.com/ in Beaverton. I go there because it is like "home" to me - I have been skating there for about 14 years and although it is old and cold, I have usually enjoyed skating there. Lately the ice has been a bone of contention for me. It is hard and lumpy and full of little bumps and scratches everywhere. It also has had a very uneven surface - you can feel yourself going uphill and then down and sometimes it is very very freaky to skate on it.

So I have been skating elsewhere of late. I like to do figures (school figures), Moves and dance so my ice needs are varied.

Yesterday I went to the Sherwood Ice arena in Sherwood (http://www.sherwoodicearena.com/) - the ice was so beautiful and the staff made extra special care that the ice was clean and even for doing figures. I was astonished by their level of courtesy - they insisted on making the ice although it was hardly used at all - for the coffee club (a group of adult skaters that are pretty picky about their ice). It was great and I enjoyed doing figures on it. Clean and smooth.

So today I went back to the Valley Ice arena. They have been working on the ice and when I came in the manager assured me that the ice was really good because they've been working on it and they ran the zamboni 3 times to make sure that the ice was good for the public session in the morning. At first I was not so sure that the ice was good - you could see the flow of water (now ice) made by the zamboni, but there seemed to be a lot less ridges and bumps in it than usual. You could see that they had been scraping down the edges. After a while I realized that the ice in between the little ridges was really very smooth and kind of felt like butter under my blades. I liked it!

The lighting there still leaves a bit to be desired - it seems like the lights in the middle of the arena are burned out and the ones on the ends are very bright so that can be disconcerting and makes it hard to really see your figures (the lighting was much better at Sherwood but of course it is a much newer facility).

Overall a good skate and I plan to go back there tomorrow. If the ice stays this good I may be coming back for good. But who knows? Time will tell I guess.



That's all for now.