Skating resources in Colorado

[christy]

A friend, whose planning to return to skating, asked me to post and ask for help as they're in the process of moving to Colorado and they're looking for adult friendly rinks, where to get sharpenings, the best skate techs / stores, etc. They will be South of Denver and said they're happy to drive up to an hour to a rink and 1-2 hours for sharpenings, etc. Oh, and I think they can only skate evenings and weekends if that makes a difference to rink suggestions.

 

[Coach Aimee]

There’s a skate tech on here: @High Carbon that is based out of Monument, CO / Colorado Springs area that can help!

 

[Tavi...]

For rinks:

South Suburban Sports Complex is the largest, newest facility, in the South Denver area. It’s located in Centennial. It is only a couple of years old, is located west of I-25 off County Line Road, has 3 ice sheets that are pretty well maintained, & is the home rink for the Denver Figure Skating Club. They have some competitive skaters there (not as many and probably not as high level as at World Arena in Colorado Springs) and like many rinks occasionally host FS competitions and frequently ice hockey tournaments. Schedule is a mix of hockey & figure skating with a good number of public, freestyle, and drop in hockey sessions. Depending on your friend’s level she can take classes or work privately with coaches - they have a list. I don’t know that they are super adult friendly but they do offer a couple of “silver skate” sessions (adults over 40) during the week but they’re usually around noon. The skate shop at South Suburban is a small outpost of Edges & Dreams owned by Chelsea and Stephen Chasman. I can highly recommend Chelsea as a fitter and Stephen and Sacha for sharpening.

https://www.ssprd.org/Sports-Complex

Family Sports Center is also in Centennial and is the sister rink to South Suburban. It is located a few miles from South Sub (east of I-25 and south of Arapahoe). It’s older and smaller (2 sheets) than the other facility. I haven’t used the skate shop there so can’t recommend.

The Edge Ice Arena (where the first Edges & Dreams skate shop is located) is in Littleton, but farther west near the foothills. I haven’t skated there but I think it has two sheets of ice.

Depending on how far south she will live, another facility she might want to consider is the rink in Monument (older, two sheets), which is about halfway to the Springs. It used to be where Kori Ade ran her program so in addition to a lot of hockey there were quite a few competitive singles skaters. Not quite sure what happened after Kori left but I think there is now a competitive pairs program maybe run by Delilah Sappenfield. Anyway I think kids and adult skaters could take classes and privates but not sure if still true. Bruce Hurd used to run the skate shop when Kori was there. Not sure if he is still there but he’s for sure at World Arena and I can recommend him for sharpening (he also fits a lot of competitive skaters).

Note that driving in the Denver area is not fun at the best of times (this is coming from a former New Yorker /Chicagoan) and in the winter snow can be a big factor, especially driving down to Monument/the Springs.

Monument is about 45 minutes from downtown Denver and maybe 20 minutes from south Denver area but can be a lot longer in rush hour. The World Arena is about half an hour south of Monument (always depending on the traffic/road conditions).

Hope that helps.

 

[christy]

Wow, thank you so much for the info. Have just copied it and sent it to her, and highlighted the traffic issues! I think she said she was around Silver when she stopped, but that was some years ago, so she's expecting to be starting with the basics.

 

[High Carbon]

A friend, whose planning to return to skating, asked me to post and ask for help as they're in the process of moving to Colorado and they're looking for adult friendly rinks, where to get sharpenings, the best skate techs / stores, etc. They will be South of Denver and said they're happy to drive up to an hour to a rink and 1-2 hours for sharpenings, etc. Oh, and I think they can only skate evenings and weekends if that makes a difference to rink suggestions.

Hello! I think I may be able to help. If your friend is in south Denver, Edges and Dreams with Stephen Chaseman as their head technician is available at South Suburban and I believe one other complex, I am not sure. He and his wife are reputable tech and have been in the business for quite a long time. Then there is Bruce down at Word Arena in Colorado Springs. He is essentially a one man show, being the go-to technician for most people around the Springs as well as all of Team USA skaters that train out of World Arena. However, he is also extraordinarily busy and can be difficult to pin down for skate tech needs. Then there is myself, of course I have to plug myself! I operate out of Monument Ice rinks about 15-20 minutes north of World Arena and about 30 minutes south of South Suburban. I was trained by Bruce and run my own shop, Rocker's Hollow, as my primary business. Now between the 3 of your friend's options, they will be more than well covered no matter who they see, naturally I hope I, with my training from someone who is considered one of the best in the business (I know I'm naturally biased!) hope to help out in any way I can. Many of the Denver rinks, I admit I do not know exactly which ones, are very adult friendly, and Monument Ice Rinks and Sertich (In down town Colorado Springs) are also very adult skater friendly. I do not know very much about the skating community in Denver, however the adult skating community in Colorado Springs is a wonderful group to be apart of. They are mostly with Centennial Skating Club. The skating program at Monument is also very adult friendly and there is actually a couple that just started their skating journey together there that are hoping to go into ice dance some day. If your friend would like I may be able to put you in contact with them if you'd like their take on their time there. Of course I have the most knowledge of Monument as I work there but your friend is in a great area for skating resources. If you have any other questions about the different rinks and programs don't hesitate to ask, I'm happy to help in any way I can

 

[christy]

Thank you so much. Sending her the info now, and debating whether I should move to Colorado as it sounds like there are so many great opportunities

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Thank you so much. Sending her the info now, and debating whether I should move to Colorado as it sounds like there are so many great opportunities

There's a reason it's USFS' base LOL!