AROUND HOME : Ice Skating and Hockey
AS INDIAN SUMMER lingers on, the thought of an icy respite need not be merely a pleasant reverie. There are enough ice rinks in the area to make this cool daydream a reality.
Says Craig Yeaton, one of the managers of the Pasadena Ice Skating Center: “We’re getting more and more born-again skaters, people who left their skates home when they moved West and then changed their minds.” In putting skating back on its feet, Yeaton credits the success of the Los Angeles Kings and the addition of Wayne Gretsky and others to the hockey team. He also gives a nod to the year-round television coverage of competition skating.
Whatever is causing the boom, it’s creating a holiday on ice for a traditionally up-and-down industry. At Pasadena Ice Skating Center, there is a waiting list of more than 100 hopefuls in line for a hockey league opening. Also available at the rink are public skating sessions, skate rentals, figure skating clubs and lessons and lunch-bunch skating for mid-day blade runners, a weekly bargain Cheapskate night, plus several rental options for skating parties.
San Diego Ice Rink consultant Michael Kirby, whose history with skating began when he was ice star Sonja Heine’s partner from 1947 to 1951, has come out of retirement because skating is so popular again. “I’ve always fought against the concept that skating is an art and not a sport--it’s both--and that it’s a winter pastime,” Kirby stated. “People are now realizing that it’s an activity you can participate in all year long.”
Our association between skating and the outdoors, hence the connection with the winter months, is a natural one. At the Blue Jay Ice Castle, located a mile from Lake Arrowhead (on the south side), communion with nature can be enjoyed for all of the 12 months. The rink is open on three sides onto woods that are green in summer and white in the winter. Although it remains unheated in even the most brisk of temperatures, the rink has a cozy lobby complete with a fireplace.
At the Ice Capade’s Chalet rink locations in Costa Mesa the rink is equipped for hockey (which requires Plexiglas protectors or safety netting). This outlet also is a hot spot for broom ball. A variation of what is called street hockey in some snowy U.S. climates, this game is played on rough ice and in tennis shoes, not skates. As its name implies, the game involves the batting about of a ball via brooms.
Where price is concerned, a good skate can be rented for less than the price of a first-run movie. If you prefer to own rather than rent, a good pair of skates with detachable blades can be purchased for between $100 and $125. Prices can soar, of course, but also drop to the $60-$70 range for old-style non-convertible skates.
Additional ice arenas in Southern California include the Culver City Ice Rink (home of the Los Angeles . Kings’ practice sessions) and the veteran Pickwick Ice Arena in Burbank. Other Ice Capade’s Chalet outlets are open for business in Rolling Hills Estates (also known as the Palos Verdes outlet), Palm Desert, La Jolla and North Hollywood.