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Dave Henniker Skating pages
This page:
Skating in Edinburgh - my thoughts and experiences, places to skate.
Comparison of ice and inline skating.
Winter Wonderland Time Lapse video by Meltec.
Useful links.
Other Pages:
Favourite videos from YouTube -
the most impressive ones I've found!
Also interesting
and weird skates.
Videos by and of yours truly ice skating, inline skating, chased by a Westie!
Comparison of inline skates you
can walk in -
personal impressions.
Now includes
reviews of Ice Skates - Hockey / Recreational
Recreational Ice Skates - What are they? Also My Problems and Solutions
Ice Skating
There
were 2 ice rinks in Edinburgh when I first started ice skating at the end
of the '50s, Murrayfield and Haymarket. The latter was probably better known
for curling.
My adolescence was largely spent at Murrayfield Ice Rink but the '60s came along with all its splendid distractions... Four decades later in 2004 I revisited Murrayfield at a midweek afternoon session and took along my old hockey skates with their leather boots and tubular metal blade supports. Since then I bought Nike 'recreational' skates from Proline Skates on the internet. These skates are essentially hockey skates without the rear tendon guard and with easier lacing etc.
The technology had improved in the course of 40 years and I bought new skates. These were much lighter in weight, being all plastic except for the blade. They were much more comfortable with better ankle support - my skating was revitalised.
Inline Skating / Rollerblading
Like
many children growing up in the '50s my experience of roller skating was
with crude quad wheeled efforts that clamped to ordinary shoes and had a
strap round your ankle. These sometimes fell off (ouch!).
Some of us kids also made a prototype skateboard with a large book on a single skate. We would sit on this with our knees touching our chin and hurtle down hills at speed.
Inline skates normally have 4 wheels in line. (Rollerblade is a proprietory brand like Hoover or Biro.) So-called 'aggressive' skates have smaller wheels and no heel-brake. The ones shown here are classed 'recreational' - rather like some drugs.
Similarities & Differences
The method of propulsion is the same whether using ice skates or skates with wheels; you angle your feet slightly outwards and push sideways. Gravity can do most of the work for you if you're not in a hurry; transferring your weight from one foot to the other takes more effort.
To go backwards it's the same except you angle your heels outwards. Transferring your weight from one foot to the other will propel you along.
Hockey skates are popular for recreational ice skating. They have thinner blades about 2.8mm wide. Figure skates as used for ice dancing etc have blades about twice as wide and with a more pronounced 'cradle'. How much a skate can rock on a flat surface influences how sharply it curves when the skater leans to one side.
Speed skates are used for racing and are long and unwieldly, not for use in public sessions. They are very thin where they make contact with the ice and have a flat bottom surface about 1mm wide.
Whatever kind of skates you wear, it's essential to have the boots tight to support your ankles. Wear thick socks for comfort. Your ankles shouldn't flop about!You should learn to balance on inside or outside edges on either foot when skating. Beginners, you should practice falling by simply letting your legs fold underneath you. Your confidence will increase once you realise falling down is no big deal.
Sharpening
Figure skates and hockey skates have a groove running along the bottom surface of the blade. This improves the lateral grip for pushing sideways or for leaning over when swerving or performing tight curves.
A 2.8mm thick hockey skate ground with a groove of 5mm radius is a good compromise. It provides 2 hollow-ground edges to bite into the ice for good sideways grip, but the groove is sufficiently shallow to allow easy skidding for braking.
If you want to sharpen your own skates then hand sharpeners are available over the internet from Sweden. The device is a SkateMate and it works well to maintain sharpness if your skates have been professionally ground in the first place. Diagrams from the SkateMate website:
Also see Blademaster's PDF for more details about Radius of Hollow |
FIG. 1. Thin flat blade
FIG. 2. Deep blade hollow
FIG. 3. Shallow blade hollowStopping and slowing down
This is much easier on ice, being a yielding surface which allows you to skid by turning your skates sideways. If you fall on the ice you're likely to slide on the surface. On tarmac the abrasive surface can graze your skin. It takes time to learn to brake using one heel when you're on wheels.
Safety
Ice rinks are fairly safe. They don't normally slope - (exception here). Thin gloves can be useful. Skating on footpaths and roads with rollerblades inline skates can be very dangerous, especially if you haven't mastered the use of the heel-brake normally fitted to the right boot.
For rollerblading inline skating you should wear protective pads, available cheaply from Argos. Wrist supports could prevent broken bones in the event of a fall. Beware of hills!
Places to skate in Edinburgh
Edinburgh has many steep hills to avoid. The promenade between Cramond and Silverknowes provides about 3km of broad, level tarmac to skate along. There are no cars but you'll meet cyclists and dog walkers. The surface is variable but mostly quite smooth. There's a section near the west end of Marine Drive which is a bit rough and not helped by broken shells dropped there by feeding seagulls.
Portobello Promenade is also popular but it isn't so spacious and you may have to cross some cobbles near Bath Street.
If you are able to control your speed downhill then the Innocent Railway Tunnel and footpath are fun. From the Commonwealth Pool take Holyrood Park Road then turn left into East Parkside.
The tunnel entrance is on your right underneath Holyrood Park Road. The tunnel is half a kilometre long and has lights and a smooth tarmac surface down which you can freewheel with ease (not advised for beginners). When you emerge you can continue to freewheel for another 0.5km then skate along the level path at the south side of Duddingston Loch.
The cycle path continues after a pedestrian crossing at Duddingston Road West but the surface is mostly much rougher for small wheels. You can continue to Duddingston Park South or turn right under the railway embankment to Hay Avenue and Niddrie Mains Road.
Transgression Park in Ocean Terminal is for agressive skaters who can become members here if they take their sport seriously enough. Skateboarders, check out this YouTube video!Where to buy skates in Edinburgh
Murrayfield Ice Rink has its own Skate Shop. Expect to pay
about £60 for hockey skates.
Check out the Penalty Box shop at Roseburn Terrace (Corstorphine Road) especially
for hockey skates and equipment.
For inline skates, especially adult sized recreational skates, there's a shop in Portobello High Street near Bridge Street called Cycles and Blades which keeps stock. You can even hire inline skates if you want to try out skating on Portobello Promenade.
For adult agressive skates and recreational skates in children's sizes try Route One in Cockburn Street. Dunno what they've got against adult rec skaters!
top of this page
Useful Links
Murrayfield Ice Rink skating times
- Official Website here:
http://www.murrayfieldicerinkltd.co.uk/
Skating Articles & News comprehensive site with many more links
SkateMate sharpener in UK now available in Britain
SkateMate home page more information
DemonExtreme skates etc
Recommended skate shop Free sharpening, returns ok if unused - e.g. poor fit
Redbullcrashedice.com broadband needed for videos - recommended viewing
The Physics of Ice Skating There's not enough pressure to melt ice under your skate...
::Heelys:: Freedom is a wheel in your sole home page of the makers
Skating pensioner fined by court - BBC news 24/2/09
Try this Google Earth link for an aerial view of Murrayfield Ice Rink
Winter Wonderland Time Lapse video by Meltec