Until today! I was around 30 years old when I didn't have time to ice skate or play pick up hockey games anymore. I never played organized hockey and never been coached on how to skate but I was a pretty fair skater at one time. So things have a way of coming full circle. My grandson is six and just started competitive hockey this year. He has open skate time at one of the local arena's and is always asking me to go with him. I go but don't skate I just watch while him and his dad skate.

So I started thinking, is it like riding a bike, you never really forget how? The answer is no it's not! So I went to the local outdoor rink this morning. I figured there would be no witnesses and I was right I had the entire rink to myself. So I laced up the brand new skates I just purchased the other day. I did not tell anyone about the purchase or what I was about to attempt. Not even the wife. The first ten minutes was spent just hanging on to the boards trying to stay on my skates. Pretty soon I could balance standing there with no support from the boards. Next I was using the boards to skate around the perimeter trying to get the strides down while hanging on to the boards with one hand and not fall on my ass at the same time.

Well by the end of about 45 minutes I was able to stride from side to side of the rink with no support from the boards. It wasn't always pretty but it was starting to come back to me after all those years. Went down on my ass hard only once. So the plan is to keep going back to the rink weekday mornings to keep working on it when I'm in none else's way. The grandson is having his seventh birthday party in early April. My daughter rented an hours ice time at the high school indoor hockey rink for his party. The entire family and some friends will be there. My goal is to be skating well enough by then to be able to skate with him without embarrassing myself in front of the family or him. Besides it's a good exercise for an old man. I can feel it in my legs after just forty five minutes. I have lots of reasons to stick with this between spending more quality time with the grandson and the health benefit of outdoor exercise in the winter months. If it don't kill me first!

That's a long time.

I chaperoned for a school field trip for one of my kids about 10 years ago at a roller skating rink. I hadn't been on either roller skates or ice skates in about 30 years and was really shaky at first. It took about an hour, but I was pleasantly surprised that it all came back to me including skating backwards. I was only 48 though.

Keep at at it!

Hope you got your new skates sharpened, since many or most don't come sharpened. I'm 70 and skate a lot, over 100 days a year until the last couple of years. I've taken two falls this winter and know that I really should wear elbow and knee pads all the time when on the ice. Some kind of hip pads would be smart also. I don't think its smart to skate backwards with any speed without hip pads and helmet at my age.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
That's a long time.

I chaperoned for a school field trip for one of my kids about 10 years ago at a roller skating rink. I hadn't been on either roller skates or ice skates in about 30 years and was really shaky at first. It took about an hour, but I was pleasantly surprised that it all came back to me including skating backwards. I was only 48 though.

Keep at at it!

I've been a couple times with the kids, it had been close to 20 years since I'd been on in-line skates. Even with cheap & worn rental skates it came back pretty quickly & I was outrunning them around the rink.
Never did get the hang of it on ice.

Age here is 76 yrs ...... According to my mother i was on roller skates as i was learning to walk.. on the side walks outside of our house and the "old ladies" of the neighborhood could not believe it.. But currently you could not pay me to even think about trying again........ drill sgt...

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Never did get the hang of it on ice.

I wouldn't feel bad.

The grade school I went to was on the lake were the first United States Speed Skating Olympic Trials were held. Eric Heiden and Dan Jansen were household names. I've skated at the Pettit National Ice Center and I still suck at ice skating.

I've skated at Vilas Park a lot. Pettit a few times.

So, rather than "lastmanstanding" it's "firstmandown?"

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
So, rather than "lastmanstanding" it's "firstmandown?"

Good one

The place where I purchased the skates sharpened them for me without asking. My grandson just started skating last year. When he started he was much like my first ten minutes today. Could only move with the support of hanging on to the boards. He struggled for most of last year. Then one day it was like someone flipped a switch and he was off and running. Now he is almost backwards skating. I'm hoping for the same type of flip of the switch with less of a learning curve.

Backwards skating always eluded me. Crossovers I could do and stops I could also do back in the day quite well. I've watched a few Youtubes today on fundamentals so I'm hoping next time out will show more improvement.

My grandfather's been gone for quite a few years now but I still have fond memories skating with him when I was young. He was nearly 70 years old, used a pair of old clip on skates and could skate circles around me.


Best of luck getting that skill back (without injuries) and for making new memories.

Wear a helmet. An old hockey helmet from a used sporting goods place will only cost a few bucks, and ice is hard on skull. Plus it sets a good example for the kids.

You're a braver man than me. It's probably been 20+ years since I've skated, and I'm not quite 40. I remember how much I hurt the first time doing it as a kid. The fall is further now, the muscles pull easier, and the bones are more brittle. But the ice is just as hard. I managed to fall on the ice on my sidewalk the other day hauling firewood onto the porch. I was ok, but it's not something I want to do again on purpose, lol.

Interesting that this subject came up right now.

Lastmanstanding, keep it up!

I officiated hockey for 33 years, including three seasons in the upper minor leagues and two in a lower minor league. In 2007, at age 51, I hung up my skates for good because I got more busy with work and other things.

I'd stayed in contact with all of my fellow referees over the years, and lately a bunch of us started doing lunch occasionally. A few are still working kids' games and going public skating on Mondays. I got invited---well, pestered---to join them.

So two weeks ago---17 years after my last game---I actually pulled out my skates, got them sharpened, and went skating with some of my old buds.

My first lap around the rink was WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING?!? (I was lucky to stay upright). The next two laps were about the same, but little by little muscle memory kicked in. After about 10 laps I was actually getting around without feeling unstable. And somehow, I ended up getting really comfortable, and did a full hour without a break---even some hard strides. I even started wondering how I might do if I re-registered and just worked youth games.

Nah, I'll just settle for Mondays. But it'll be fun!

I'll guess if you ever reffed high level hockey, you still know how to skate.

The most important thing is to buy some decent hockey skates. Most people that don’t have much success is because they us rental figure skates. Figure skates have no ankle support and you will look like Bambi on ice.


A good pair of hockey skates has a very strong boot to protect your feet and ankles from a hard shot. Because of that your ankles will not fold in or out and will keep you straight.

quote:

Originally posted by pbslinger:
Hope you got your new skates sharpened,

This made me smile. My first "real job", making $2/hr, was sharpening skates and trueing bicycle wheels at Wheaton's Cycle and Toy. .

I grew up on skates, and miss it. I have vivid memories of learning to skate on double-bladed skates as a very young kid, and quickly graduating to single blade figure skates. My brothers and sisters and I spent countless days down at the local pond in the winter skating. One of my first dates with my wife was ice skating after work one morning on that very pond.

I, along with many, went with the roller-skating craze of the 70s. I had my own (no rentals for me) with custom wheels, bearings, and trucks. We even played league roller hockey for a time. The roller rink was the place to be. Cute girls, good music, what else could a teenaged boy want? (Other than booze and pot. )

20+ years since I was last on skates; local recreation center. Was just getting the hang of ice skating, then stuff came along. Not to rob from the Dick Button thread, but along about 30 years ago I was on the best date ever with a young woman (over the year or so that I saw her); good meal, talking with her family, hot chocolate, watching figure skating on NBC as a previous date had been at the ice rink. Snuggled...

I fell quite a bit in those days, but was always using rental skates with no ankle support and my feet would flop.

Snoris I'm encouraged that someone that skated at the referee level struggled at first after a pause of some years. Gives me hope I might get back to somewhere near where I once was. I always considered the officials to be the best skaters on the ice at any hockey game.

I bought a pair of Bauer hockey skates. They are not top of the line but entry level and plenty adequate for my purposes. I had no idea you could spend upwards of $1500 for a pair of hockey skates! I went to a sporting goods store that specializes and focuses on hockey equipment. While my skates were being sharpened I did some browsing. $400 sticks, $250 dollar gloves, pads, breezers etc. all crazy prices. Hockey is a religion in Minnesota and it's a huge business. My daughter and her husband are paying for weekend hotel rooms at the grandsons out of town hockey jamborees. He's only six years old!

I played in adult leagues into my late 40's and stopped during Covid. Gear has definitely changed over the years. Sticks and skates are stupidly expensive. I always found great deals on last year's gear or even two seasons ago gear.

I miss staking and playing. It's weird to go out without all the protective gear when you play. You think if I fall that's going to hurt....

It will come back. It is kinda like riding a bike. I used to mountain bike and I've gotten on a bike and while I can still ride on a nice path or grass if I tried real obstacles I would be in real trouble.

Have fun getting back into skating.