I have always loved ice skating.  I taught myself how to ice skate over summer camp in elementary school, and have enjoyed teaching my friends since then.  Ice skating is great for first dates, gathering with friends, etc.  So I was really happy to get to go ice skating for free at the rink here on campus today.

Lynah rink was built over 50 years ago, allowing Cornell’s varsity hockey team to continue practicing, even if the winter was too mild for thick ice on Beebe lake.  It has been renovated a few times since, and looks to be in excellent shape.  When we arrived at the rink, we all got our skates and began with a skating lesson.  I was near the end of the line and had some trouble getting skates I wanted — I had to settle for hockey skates rather than figure skates.  During the skating lesson we learned how to go forwards, how to stop, and a bit of how to go backwards.  I already knew how to skate but I enjoyed helping my friends figure it out.  Then we got to free skate for a while.

I really enjoy skating, even though the skates I was wearing today weren’t as fitted as the ones I have at home.  It was a lot of fun helping Fiona and Lauren skate around the rink, and they both improved a lot as the time went on.

And then after an hour or so of skating, the Zamboni came onto the rink to smooth out the ice.  I love the Zamboni.  It always looks so fun.

It was a really great event to start off the semester, being able to skate with my friends and learn a bit about the rink and skating.  I appreciated the lesson even though I already knew how to skate, because it reminded me of the proper ways to stop skating.  Although I’m still not very good at stopping properly.  It has always been easier to just skate into the wall to stop!