This page was written by Steven J. DeRose around 1996, and was last updated on 2007-10-19.
Adult skating has recently become a strong focus for the USFSA. Rhea Schwartz has done an amazing job representing the interests and enthusiasm of adult skaters in the USFSA as chair of the Adult Skating Program Committee. The first sanctioned Adult Nationals was in 1995 in Delaware, and I think the sponsors were shocked by the enormous response. Venues since have included the Lake Placid Olympic Center, San Francisco, and Ann Arbor. Adult Nationals is much bigger than regular because it has three age divisions, both Open and Championship (qualified) events, and interpretive and other events.
Adult skaters will want to subscribe to the appropriate newsletter, "Adult Insights". Contact info I have is: Paula Smart, 121017 N 84th Street, Scottsdale AZ 85260.
I wrote a HyperCard stack that you can use to calculate competition placements for freestyle and pair events. It implements the scoring system as of when I wrote the stack; out of date now but feel free to grab the code and update it. If you'd like to try it out, you can [as soon as I find the archive disk] download it here. For better or worse, the International Skating Union has just introduced a radically changed scoring algorithm, which I haven't implemented yet (and won't likely in HyperCard unless Apple does something with it, like maybe integrate it so the text windows are full HTML/XML viewers -- that might actually make it cool again).
Among the local rinks are:
Alexandria has a very serious rink, Mt. Vernon Recreation Center, where many Washington FSC members train, including of course Michael Weiss and Derrick Delmore. A block away is the best local skate shop, "Skater's Paradise".
Less than a mile from our house is Wheaton Ice Rink, with a new, fully-enclosed, year-round facility.
An enclosed, year-round park rink is at Cabin John Park in Rockville. It has recently added another full ice surface, and caters seriously to figure skaters.
Right near the UMD College Park campus is Wells Ice Rink, a semi-enclosed 3-season rink.
Rockville has the ARC Ice Arena, a commercial 2-rink complex with some early-morning freestyle sessions and some public. Ice quality and rink temperature are less than ideal.
There are several more; check the Skater's Edge Source Book for all the info.
We were fortunate to be very well equipped with rinks back in the smallest state. For anyone visiting who hasn't already bought the Skater's Edge Source Book, here they are:
Less accessible are
Brown University's Meehan Auditorium,
the new "answer to Rockefeller Center" downtown it's about twice the size of NY's Rockefeller Center rink, but that still leaves it very tight.
Massachusetts is no slouch either, with 150+ rinks (vs. 37 in California) and has a few rinks close to RI, for example in Taunton and Fall River.
I always try to find ice when on business trips, and have been hospitably welcomed at these and many other rinks (less hospitably at one or two more, but we'll let them be anonymous):
[1995] ALBUQUERQUE FSC #24 (M-SW) RA- Outpost Ice Arena, 9530 Tramway Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87122; Rink: 505/856-7594
This is the friendlist rink I've ever visited.
[1996] ST. MORITZ ISC, INC. #2205 (P-CP) RA- Berkeley Iceland, Inc., 2727 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94703; Rink: 510/843-8800 Bus.: 510/548-4895
This is a fun rink, in part because it's big, in part because speed skaters also show up (and occasionally do edge jumps -- probably not any more with their new clapper blades).
[March, 1997] Rockefeller Center, NYC
I don't think there's any associated skating club. The rink is small and seems to have only public sessions; the one I tried was mobbed, though two of us occasionally found little gaps to jump in, and one brave or foolish coach was actually giving a lesson. Rink is surrounded by windows and sidewalks with appreciative passers-by.
[March, 1997] HIGHLAND SC #430 (P-NWP) RA- Highland Ice Arena, 18005 Aurora Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98133; Rink: 206/546-2431 MA- PO Box 60128, Seattle, WA 98160; Bus.: 206/783-1813
2 surfaces, lots of time available, walk-ins no problem. The small rink was in dire shape the first time I went, but they've done major repairs and it's fine now. If you're in downtown Seattle it's a pain to get to: $25 each way by cab, or an hour each way on the bus (routes 6, 359, and 360 -- 360 is an express, but has very few runs).
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