Outdoor rinks reside in almost every town here, home to avid ball hockey play in the summer and dozens of weekly hockey practices and games in winter. Like several of the NHL’s best players, the Northwest’s finest outside skating can be found in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley, a high desert canvas of great ice and even better ice wines. The Whistler village skating rink may be smaller than its peers mentioned here, but the scenery and four-bladed romances can definitely claim equal stature. Fortunately, the 2010 Winter Olympics left a large public plaza as part of its legacy, ideal for winter flooding. (“Isn’t that Justin Timberlake under that balaclava?”) What we didn’t see in the village, however, was an outdoor skating surface, a bizarre truth considering Canada’s obsession with all surfaces frozen. Whistler’s no stranger to celebrity sightings. And, in Victor, Idaho, the roofed but open-sided Kotler Ice Arena is southeastern Idaho’s go-to hub for fun on the ice. At Salmon, I’m never distracted by the celebrity sightings that occur at Sun Valley Resort’s more famous, star-studded ice rinks, but, at Salmon, with fewer distractions, I can concentrate on my form. Whether you are wanting to figure skate, learn the basics or just watch others make fools of themselves on the ice, the outdoor rink in Salmon serves the purpose well. Above the indoor Ice Hockey rink in the central Idaho city of Salmon is an outdoor public rink with lights, a concession stand and distracting views of the nearby mountains.
Ice skating game crack the whip and pomp pro#
Many budding pro skaters get their start on the ice at regional rinks, such as the outdoor public rink in Salmon, Idaho. As the afternoon light begins to dim, we repair to Sun Mountain’s Wolf Creek Bar for well-deserved hot toddies to cap a glorious day.
Ice skating game crack the whip and pomp full#
The romance of skating under clear skies or a full moon trumps one’s lack of confidence to move across a lake on two thin blades of steel, as friends join me for infinite turns and even a little shinny, though the stick proves more crutch than athletic implement. Located below the resplendent Sun Mountain Lodge, Patterson joins Perrygin Lake as the Methow’s most dependable natural ice surfaces. “Isn’t that Justin Timberlake under that balaclava?” But my rink time was just a prelude to the highlight of the day, skating on frozen Patterson Lake. Reminiscent of growing up, I awoke at 7:00 Saturday morning to prepare for a 7:30 open hockey session at Winthrop’s fairly new outdoor ice arena. Last winter, I spent a few days in the Methow Valley. The Methow, Okanagan and Sun Valley join Whistler to form our brightest constellation of four season destinations that, not surprisingly, offer some of the best skating under the stars. Altitude, dry air and outdoor spirit blend perfectly along the entire corridor east of the Cascades, ideal for a romantic evening holding hands (and each other up!) or playing a spirited game of “shinny” (pick-up hockey with infinite numbers of players, varied skill levels and, my favorite, an absence of scorekeeping). As a former college hockey player who gobbled up every chance to skate al fresco growing up in Western New York, how can I blame them?įortunately, while no one in my Seattle neighborhood transforms his backyard into a rink like my best friend does back home, the number of fresh air skating rinks is growing in the Northwest.
ski area in the Canadian Okanagan, but my kids are more interested in the frozen pond than skiing some of the best snow of the season. The snow has fallen softly all night at Silver Star Ski Resort, and my kids can’t wait to go… ice skating! We’ve driven seven hours from Seattle to the Vernon, B.C.
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