OMG! Very close call! | Golden Skate

OMG! Very close call!

treesprite

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
I was up in the air halfway through a salchow when out of the corner of my eye I caught this little girl about 7 or 8yo go sliding down on the ice right under me! I put my feet together and came down on both feet up on my toes.

This kid was literally touching the bottoms of my blades! One extra second and she would have been toast. It's horrifying to think what would have happened to her if I hadn't seen her while up in the air. A blade through the face, a punctured femoral artery, a blade in the skull and brain damage, broken bones from me landing on top of her... thank God I saw her!

And even after that near death experience, the kid still did not watch where she was going.
 
Last edited:

thevaliantx

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
It truly is amazing, and sad. In my lessons (half of them are in a public skate session) the other coaches seem to care less about whether their students are invading my space or not. What is important to them is THEIR student. Forget about the 40 year old man learning how to skate. These girls have shows to perform. They're not stopping, and they ain't looking. It's a shame that so few rinks exist now compared to yesteryear, and ice is so expensive for 1-3 people to share.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Many coaches have lost the idea of teaching common courtesy. One of the two rinks that are 10 minutes apart has a sheet down right now and the other rink is SUPER full on the 2p-5p FS sessions (25-30 skaters) of various levels (barely able to stand up to 3+3's) and it's really hairy. This is why I like my early AM ice time...
 

macy

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
Many coaches have lost the idea of teaching common courtesy. One of the two rinks that are 10 minutes apart has a sheet down right now and the other rink is SUPER full on the 2p-5p FS sessions (25-30 skaters) of various levels (barely able to stand up to 3+3's) and it's really hairy. This is why I like my early AM ice time...

some of the coaches at my rink are the same...they do not teach their students common courtesy and to be respectful to others when they are in their programs. they will literally run you over.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
I like when the kid who's going to "run you over" is less than 1/2 your size. One day, I will land on one and squash them.
 

thevaliantx

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
I'm getting to the point that I am tired of just stopping in my tracks so these prima donna's can do their routine. Next time I may just continue on my way, hell or high water, with my elbows out to protect myself.
 

ILoveFigures

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 3, 2011
some of the coaches at my rink are the same...they do not teach their students common courtesy and to be respectful to others when they are in their programs. they will literally run you over.

I'm getting to the point that I am tired of just stopping in my tracks so these prima donna's can do their routine. Next time I may just continue on my way, hell or high water, with my elbows out to protect myself.

Unless this was/is a public session, then it is pretty much common everywhere that you always watch out for the skater doing his/her program. If someone is skating their competitive/show program you are supposed to move out of their way. That's what everyone I know teaches their students, and I know it's pretty much common coutesy everywhere. :)
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
This is true UNLESS the kid has used up their opportunities to skate their program. I think more than 2X on an hour long FS session means I am not moving again.
 

thevaliantx

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
What I've been noticing is that some of these kids (and their snotty parents) come in with an air of "this is MY rink!!!!" and they are told by their coaches "don't worry about the others". It wouldn't surprise me if some of those parents came down out of the stands if THEIR children weren't getting the ice time that THEY need. That's just what I'm seeing here in New York. I haven't seen this in the one rink I've been to in Massachusetts. In MA the skaters I've been around -- they were all a lot better than me -- seemed to respect the presence of other skaters. I think some of it depends on the rinks and their willingness to enforce rules of behavior.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
It's not really the rink, it's the coaches. The coaches need to be teaching their students respect - respect others, go around them, don't play your music incessantly on a session....
 

blue dog

Trixie Schuba's biggest fan!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 16, 2006
I'm getting to the point that I am tired of just stopping in my tracks so these prima donna's can do their routine. Next time I may just continue on my way, hell or high water, with my elbows out to protect myself.

You're paying for your session. Unless their music is on and they have right of way, or they are being coached (second right of way), then if they get in your way, it is their fault.

There are two rather snooty girls at my rink who sneered at me, the adult who should've stopped skating by now, when we came within inches of one another. It's not just coaches who need to teach the kids common courtesy, but the parents. Some parents think their daughter or son (oh some of the boys stare at me as if I'm something alien, this thirty-something male coming to practice on THEIR ice) is the next big thing, so the kids grow up with big heads on their shoulders.
 

treesprite

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
It was a public session, but one in which 4 or 5 private freestyle lessons were going on. This girl was not in a lesson or anything. I don't know what she was even doing in the middle of the ice because in the couple times I've seen her, she has not done any jumping or spinning. I'm thinking maybe she was trying to do a shoot-the-duck, which has no business being through the center of the ice where people are doing freestyle and lessons.

A big problem is that skaters who are not doing freestyle, most especially kids who are beginners, like to use the center circle to practice crossovers even though there are 4 circles at the ends (2 on each end), or the center lines just to do edges along, or work on 3 turns which they could do on the ends of the rink like most other people. I hate it when people do crossovers around the middle circle; they refuse to stray off the path of the circle even if it means having a run-in with someone spinning or jumping.
 

100yen

You can't explain witchcraft
Medalist
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
It's impossible to do a sit spin at my rink without feeling like you are gonna slice a little kid in half... :unsure:
 

thevaliantx

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
It was a public session, but one in which 4 or 5 private freestyle lessons were going on. This girl was not in a lesson or anything. I don't know what she was even doing in the middle of the ice because in the couple times I've seen her, she has not done any jumping or spinning. I'm thinking maybe she was trying to do a shoot-the-duck, which has no business being through the center of the ice where people are doing freestyle and lessons.

A big problem is that skaters who are not doing freestyle, most especially kids who are beginners, like to use the center circle to practice crossovers even though there are 4 circles at the ends (2 on each end), or the center lines just to do edges along, or work on 3 turns which they could do on the ends of the rink like most other people. I hate it when people do crossovers around the middle circle; they refuse to stray off the path of the circle even if it means having a run-in with someone spinning or jumping.

I'm guilty of using the center circle for crossovers. The thing is that for a beginner skater the ice near the walls and at the ends of the rink can be in REALLY bad shape (at least that's the case at the rinks I go to), and those side circles are somewhat close to the wall, so a beginner skater might be afraid of losing control and hitting the wall. Now, I've also seen more experienced skaters refusing to alter the path of their movements, completely ignoring the fact that there might be folks taking lessons. Some of those skaters have an air of "I'm better than you, I own the ice!!!". Even my coach alluded to this fact. I told my coach that I'm just going to start sticking out my elbows around those skaters who intentionally cut in front of me.
 

treesprite

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Our end circles aren't close enough to run into the walls.

I'm kind of torn about lessons in public sessions when it comes to right-of-way. Skaters who aren't taking lessons pay just as much to use the ice as those who are, and there is no public session rule that says right of way has to be given to lesson takers. However, there is a public session rule that the center ice is for freestyle skating, and there are cones set up to remind non-freestyle skaters to stay out of the area. I try to give the lessons right-of-way, but I feel like I have every right to not give it if I want to be a #$*&
 
Last edited:

skaterlover

Spectator
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
It's really scary the other way around. There's this girl at my rink, and she jumps really high. She was doing a salchow and I was literally under her. It was frightening but I managed to get out of the way.
 

treesprite

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
I'm glad you didn't get landed on!

To be fair, I will say that it's no better (or possibly worse) when a freestyle skater goes into a crowded public session and springs up into a jump right in the main skating lane where there are people having to dodge out of the way. It can seem scary to those having to do the dodging.
 

blue dog

Trixie Schuba's biggest fan!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 16, 2006
Our end circles aren't close enough to run into the walls.

I'm kind of torn about lessons in public sessions when it comes to right-of-way. Skaters who aren't taking lessons pay just as much to use the ice as those who are, and there is no public session rule that says right of way has to be given to lesson takers. However, there is a public session rule that the center ice is for freestyle skating, and there are cones set up to remind non-freestyle skaters to stay out of the area. I try to give the lessons right-of-way, but I feel like I have every right to not give it if I want to be a #$*&

I wish the rinks in my area still had this rule, but they no longer abide by it. The monitors just skate around, and make sure kids aren't sitting on the boards. There are some sessions where we have people who can barely stand, the fast figure skaters, and the dodge-and-weave hockey players. It gets...scary.
 
Top