Rinks in summer around the world

[Flying Feijoa]

Curious to know how summer affects ice time where you live - whether hours are restricted or eliminated, if you have to travel further to find an available rink, if ice availability depends on the level of skater (e.g. recreational, beginner-intermediate, elite)? Does it vary with city size or by regions within the country?

This is my understanding so far (either firsthand or by hearing from friends who lived there):
-Western Europe: Most rinks close by default, hard to get ice unless you're an elite figure skater/hockey player.
-Canada (and US?): Some rinks close, others may have a reduced schedule and some may close for 1-2 months for maintenance/renovation.
-NZ, Australia, UK, Singapore, SE Asia: No change - maintenance-related closures happen sporadically but are not usually seasonal/annual.

I'm not so familiar with the situation in East Asia (Japan, Korea, China) and Central/South America, and would be happy if someone who knows more could explain about Europe - it seems like summer rink closures are widespread in Germany and Switzerland but I'm not sure about Scandinavia/Benelux/Eastern Europe. France and Italy often host summer camps in various alpine towns but I don't know if there is regular summer training in the bigger cities.

P.S. I have a slight vested interest in learning if an adult skater with 1A/2S/gold pattern dances can practice in summer in Vienna, Zurich, Munich, Stockholm or Amsterdam

 

[gliese]

In the US at a high level rink gives us increased ice time because hockey has less ice time
I live in New England and this is the case for most rinks around me.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Here in Sydney the Macquarie Ice Rink stays open all year round, however in the summertime one end of the rink tends to have quite a bit water on it because there's a big window and the sunshine streams in. Nice to look at but I'd hate to fall on that side and get soaked!

Although considering how hot it gets in that suburb some kids might not mind...

 

[WednesdayMarch]

Permanent English and - I believe - Welsh rinks stay open all year round. Some Scottish ones are seasonal in that they are mainly for curling and that takes priority at certain times of the year. We also have an array of pop-up, seasonal rinks that vary between the Eden Project in Cornwall, which is open every year between October and February half terms, and those in town centres that are open for the duration of their Christmas markets.

If you're looking for skating in Europe, check out Innsbruck. I remember training in the middle of summer, at the glorious Olympic Eisstadion, which was my first ever encounter with high level training and a full size ice pad.

 

[Skatingismylife]

I stay in England and the rinks here are usually open all year round. I totally second WednesdayMarch with Innsbruck, it's really a great place to skate. I have relatives in Austria so I spend most holidays there and as far as I know there is an ice rink in Vienna that's open to the public in the summer, but it's nowhere near as nice as the one in Innsbruck. However, apart from a few exceptions I believe that the majority of rinks close for the summer months in Austria. The only ones that stay open are located in big cities like Vienna, Bregenz or Innsbruck.

 

[ladyjane]

In normal times the Rink used for Figure Skating in The Hague (NL) would be open for most of the summer except for 6 weeks in July and August. I am talking about the indoor rink. This year however, as indoor sports are still not allowed, the ice has been melted down. It's far to expensive to keep it open when no one will come, when there's no ice hockey training, Figure Skating Training and even no 'Free Skating' periods.

It was possible to skate during the winter months (until the end of March) at an outdoor rink but those all close down from April-September. No differences except that normally we would never have needed to skate on the outside rink in any case.

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

The only ones that stay open are located in big cities like Vienna, Bregenz or Innsbruck.

Lol, I've never heard someone call Bregenz or Innsbruck big cities. However, I am still positive there are skating opportunities there during the off-season. The Austrian National team often trains in Gmunden over the summer and just recently there was a training camp in Telfs (these are cities that are even smaller than Bregenz and Innsbruck).

In my city the rink usually stays open during the summer as well, but there are no group classes for recreational figure skaters from April to August. Of course, since the start of the pandemic there hasn't been any skating at all for non-professionals in Austria and I suspect I will have to start from scratch again once rinks are re-opened for adult skaters. Ah well, I was never particularly good anyway.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Thanks for the info everyone!

I wonder why continental Europe tends to have summer closures when North America, Oceania and the UK don't. It can't be just about electricity bills since places like the Australian Gold Coast and Florida can get very hot in summer...

With vaccinations picking up pace, I'm finally daring to daydream about travel and skating again. Probably not this summer, but soon