question about ice size

[sk8rpatty]

It was said that the East-West rink is a full size rink (Olympics or Ice Hockey? that's I'm wondering).

East/West is 200x85.

I currently train at a 200x100 and prefer it. My speed and power improved greatly when I moved from a smaller rink. As someone else said, you really need to push to cover the larger surface.

I don't have too much trouble adjusting to smaller ice, except for I tend to get ahead of the music on a smaller surface as it takes less time to cover the ice.

[dorispulaski]

Does anyone know what the size of Michelle's very own rink that just opened is?

[Mathman]

Doris, I think that is the "East-West" rink that Patty is referring to in the post just above yours (85X200).

http://www.eastwesticepalace.com/info.html

If you click on "facilities tour" you can go on a tour!

[R.D.]

I think it is good that TT did choreograph for MK at East-West rink

wow, had no idea about that. Maybe I'm just so out of it now...

So are there only two standard sizes (200x100 and 200x85) of ice rinks? Or do they vary all over the place? Are there ice rinks larger than 200x100?

[singerskates]

I've been off of the ice now for the last few weeks due to work related injuries but I have competed in adult competitions in Canada and the US. Before I moved to my current club I was skating in a really small rink; 80 * 90 or something like that. It was really a challege for me to go from that to an Olympic size rink to compete and it made me feel like I was skating in the speed of stop because I just couldn't cover the ice. My current club's rinks have 200 * 85 and lately except for on competition which was local and had a smaller ice surface, my competition ice surfaces have been NHL size (200 * 85). We do have one Olympic size rink in the county that I did use this year twice so that I would have to make myself push harder to get my speed up.

Right now, the only ice I see is the ice I stick on my body to take the swelling down from my injuries. Hope I get well for September when my club is operating again. I'm stuck working on comp doing modified work but the work is making me worse then I was. I'm thinking of quitting so that I can heal up to be able to skate this fall.

Anyway, I like NHL size rinks for their size but alot of the smaller rinks are warmer and have softer ice making the jumps easier on your knees. When you get stuck in a rut on harder ice, you're body knows it. You have more of a chance to get out of the ruts on softer ice. It would be nice if my area had a rink solely for figure skating but that's dreaming.

[Mathman]

I hope you make a quick recovery and are back in action soon.

MM

[NorthernLite]

Professional ice hockey in Europe is played on bigger rinks (probably the Olympic sized surface?). That's why there's an adjustment for Euro players coming to the NHL, and vice versa.
I'm not certain what size *practice* rinks most European figure skaters use.

As others have stated, many/most elite NA skaters are training on NHL-sized rinks, or even somewhat smaller. And sometimes dealing with not-perfect ice for FS (e.g., hockey ice).

Someone at the Onyx told me that Callaghan makes sure the ice in the rink he uses is kept at FS temp. I'm not certain what they do at DSC - it's more of an FS facility, but also does have hockey clubs.

FYI The websites of many US rinks tells what surface sizes they have.

The ice conditions and rink sizes are just something skaters have to learn to adjust to, like touring concert pianists having to play on different pianos.

It was said that in Moscow or Rusia during the winter, there is no need for Zombinie machine. When the ice surface melted, they just open the rink door, the ice will 'resurfaced', and the ice surface is much more hard than it is in US.

That doesn't really make sense. The Zam smooths out the ice. It wouldn't be very good ice if it just melted and refroze on its own. The only reason you wouldn't use a Zamboni is if you didn't have one.