Young and Old Alike Are Playing It Cool on the Ice

Despite temperatures in the 70s and the lure of holiday sales, hundreds of people have taken time from Thanksgiving week activities in Thousand Oaks to enjoy a decidedly cold-weather treat -- ice skating.

The Lakes, a $40-million shopping and dining complex that opened this summer east of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, recently began freezing over a section above its man-made lakes to permit hour-long forays onto the ice.

The normally chilly-weather activity has attracted children who have not experienced gliding on metal blades and older California transplants who remember childhood visits to a frozen pond.

Arielle Nathanson, 8, of Agoura Hills was full of confidence after lacing up her skates. She has experience with in-line skates and has even tackled Universal CityWalk’s outdoor rink.

“I’m good at skating, so I’ll be good at ice skating,” she said.

Her 10-year-old brother, Robert, wasn’t as sure of himself, saying there are big differences between skating on asphalt versus on ice. “It’s more slippery [on ice] and it’s easier to do the splits” when you don’t plan on it, he said.

Their mother, Alisa Nathanson, who grew up in New Jersey, said the rink reminded her of winters as a youngster when the family’s backyard would freeze over.

“It was wonderful. You never had to worry about the ice being too thin; you could never fall in,” she said. “My mom would send hot chocolate out, so it was like having all the comforts of home.”

In cold and rainy autumn there weren’t many activities beyond visiting a roller rink or bowling alley, Nathanson said. Winter options were also limited.

“I would ice skate almost every single day, because when it snowed outside, there’s not much else to do but skate or have a snowball fight,” she said.

The Lakes is the third and latest shopping center in Thousand Oaks, after the Promenade at Westlake and the Village at Moorpark, developed by Rick J. Caruso. His company also developed the Grove in Los Angeles and the Commons at Calabasas.

The 50-foot-by-60-foot rink in Thousand Oaks was one of the amenities promised to the community in exchange for approval to build the mall.

The attraction, which runs only in fall and winter, is operated by Santa Monica-based Willy Bietak Productions Inc. The firm also runs Downtown on Ice at Pershing Square Park in Los Angeles and has produced the Ice Capades and Holiday on Ice shows in Europe.

Skating at the Lakes’ outdoor rink will be offered through Jan. 8. One hour on the ice costs $7, plus $3 to $4 to rent skates.

The cost wasn’t scaring off Priscilla Schroeder. She has visited three times this week, bringing her 9-year-old grandson, Christopher, who received a helping hand from his Aunt Susan.

Schroeder, a former Conejo Valley Unified School District board member, recently broke her kneecap and was sidelined. But Schroeder, a native of Syracuse, N.Y., said she would have been helping Christopher master the ice if not for the leg brace.

“People say, ‘I can’t believe that you’re skating when you’re over 70,’ and I say, ‘Hey, I’ve been skating since I was 2.’ ”