Ice conditions and jumps

[Olympia]

No you may not assume that. Too-cold, ultra-hard ice is nearly impossible for any figure skater of any skill level to maneuver on properly, much less jump safely. I once had an early morning practice at a rink where the zamboni decided to go on strike the previous night. Then some gaggle of geniuses tried to make a new top coat to level the ice for morning, with water hoses and hand tools. By 5:00 am, the ice was so hard (almost glass) that the entire coaching staff pretty much cancelled patch (figures, done on very shallow edges with different blades) since nobody could stand up on the stuff--and on the following freestyle session (all purpose or FS blades used) ordered all skaters to refrain from jumping at all--it was that dangerous. Spin attempts resulted in skidding across the ice before falling with a thud. The blade just can't properly edge on ultra-hard ice, and toe picks just chip off the top of the ice surface without holding firmly. That's extreme, and it's obvious the ice in Sochi was nowhere near that condition. But it might have been slightly "off" what some of the skaters typically prefer.

One of the reasons for doing "test" events of new Olympic facilities with things such as the GPF, is to shake out potential issues of the physical plant and the operators/workers/engineers who make the building work on a daily basis. During the Olympics, the ice at the Sochi facility will have to be adjusted daily, as the venue is alternating between figure skating and short track events. Short track requires harder, colder ice than figure. Even a couple of degrees of ice surface temperature makes a big difference in the feel and workability when you're on skates.

Thanks so much for this enlightening information! I would have assumed (in complete ignorance) that the harder the ice, the better. Your explanation really helps me understand why my assumption was wrong.

[mskater93]

Only for hockey is the harder the better and even then it can still be too hard!

[gkelly]

Only for hockey is the harder the better and even then it can still be too hard!

Is harder ice better for the players' skating or just better for the puck?

[silver.blades]

The harder ice is better for the puck as there is less snow. The Hockey blade can also handle harder ice as the blades are thinner and tend to be sharper so they can grip the ice better. Hockey is murder on the ice though. The ruts they create because of the hard ice are huge.