Should all rinks thaw & drain their ice on a regular basis?

Question

We speed skate at a rink that's open year round, and it's got some really really really screwey ice. Everyone in our club has said something about it (extremely dirty, we get stripped edges during every practice, breaks easily (when you're going 30+ mph, that's bad), and just in general feels very weird).

I've been told that most rinks normally take their ice out after a certain amount of time, and then put it back in after a few days or a week or so. Why is this, what happens to ice rinks when they're constantly frozen for 5 years, etc? I've heard about there being frost buildup below the concrete, etc?

Also, I've been told that "old" ice feels different from "normal" ice, something to do with the content of air in old ice vs. new ice I heard?

Basically, we want ice that is fast, but not so hard and brittle that it breaks easily (our ice seems like none of the above), and mostly, we want it so it doesn't tear our blades up because it's so dirty.

Answer 1

Yes they definitely should! If they didn't it would also have an effect on our blades and skating.

Answer 2

one of the ice rinks i skate at drains the ice every 2 years. and another rink i skate at drains it every 4 years and you can tell the difference. (the second rink has really crappy ice hockey players spit on it all the time and its just blech.)

speed skating sounds cool :D

i figure skate, ive never actually seen speed skaters skate except for when i was watching the winter olympics.

Answer 3

I've worked at a few ice rinks in my day.  The one I worked at the longest usually only takes the ice down every few years, but they do work hard to keep it clean, even in depth, even in temperature and keep the lines visible.  While it stinks for skaters, it isn't a bad idea to take the ice out at least maybe every 2 years to make sure everything underneath is working right and the cement isn't cracked ...and if you're "old school" and have a sand base, make sure the sand is level.  It sort of depends on what kind of technology they're running with though I think.  Now, there are a lot of rinks that pretty much are just ice on top of cement, so they're very easily taken down and put back up.  No leveling sand and covering coils and all that junk.  I skate a lot at the Pettit National Ice Center too...which I guess would be a speed skater's mecca. :)  hehe  They take the oval down every summer and start all over again in the fall.  While I wouldn't rate Pettit's ice as my personal favorite as a figure skater, their ice isn't bad.  I've skated on much much worse!

In my experience with ice rinks, working at them, maintaining them and skating at them, I'd say 5 years is far too long for a sheet to be used.  2 years is probably plenty.  What is the air temp like in the rink?  Is is maybe too cold -- air and under the ice -- causing the ice to be brittle?  Maybe if they bring the temp down a little, the ice would "soften" a bit.  I know there's a fine line.....it's like skating on cement versus skating in slush.  Typically, we'd keep our rink at 55 degrees and a lot of skaters preferred that ice.  In my opinion, Pettit seems colder, but it is also a much larger space with essentially 3 rinks inside....I'm not sure what they keep it at, but when the oval is up it's cooooolllld!!!!  Also, when they resurface, are they using hot water...at least 180 degrees?  The hot water contains less oxygen, so it sets up faster and if done correctly, leaves a nice new fresh surface.  Plus, again, depending on what kind of system they're running....if it's an older coil system, there would be a network of tubing below a sand base.  Cold water, actually "brine," is pumped through the tubes to keep the ice cold from the bottom up as well.  Maybe it that's what they're using, some of the coils or tubes are messed up.

Good luck!

Answer 4

The rink I play hockey at tries to keep its ice at 25F. to make up for the warm weather (at least 80F most of the year) but lately the ice has been hovering around 32F = so to answer your question, it would be nice if rinks thawed and drained their ice regularly, but down here there isn't enough business to make it financially possible / worthwhile

Answer 5

5 years is way too long

Answer 6

The standard for taking the ice down is yearly, but 2 years is acceptable.  Any more than that and the ice gets bad.  Speed is affected by the quality of the ice.  I cannot imagine skating on a sheet of ice that was 5 years old.

Answer 7

Of all the arenas that we skated at, ALL of them have thaw and drain their ice at least yearly or every other year.  I know that the figure skaters like the new ice better.