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Ice Skating Rinks
 Enjoy the thrills of skating on ice skating rinks
Are you a skating enthusiast? Does the feel of gliding with the skating wheels strapped around your feet give you thrills and a sense of happiness that you have never experienced before? Then this article on ice skating rinks is for you. Here we give you a deeper insight into skating on ice skating rinks. For you to feel truly energized by the experience of skating, it is very important that the rink on which you skate is good. A good rink gives you good movement and you can maneuver better.
Ice skating rinks
Ice skating rinks, put in simple language is actually a flat surface made of frozen water or ice. Ice skating rinks, besides being used for skating can be used for a host of other activities. Some of these activities include ice hockey, ice shows, figure contests and many other winter sports. Ice shows where carvings of animals and sometimes humans or monuments made out of only ice are other utilities of an ice skating rink.
Natural ice skating rinks
Natural ice rinks are formed when rivers and lakes freeze during the winters. However these can be put to use only in that particular season. There are some standard places like Kashmir in India, Switzerland and some select spots in North America and Europe which enjoy natural ice skating rinks. These areas are popular tourist spots and are easy to access.
Hazards of natural ice skating rinks
There is another important point to be noted when considering natural ice skating rinks. These rinks can at times give away to the unfrozen water below when skated on. This could be very dangerous as such spots cannot be estimated from the surface. Even the best professional at times cannot gauge the water below the surface. Many accidents have been caused due to this and have proved to be fatal.
Artificial ice skating rinks
These rinks can be constructed in any flat surface. One method is to cover the ground with a layer of sand bed followed by a layer of concrete slab. Pipes carrying chilled fluid such as antifreeze and water or brine with salt are placed below these slabs. These are cooling agents which will cool the water atop the slab and freeze it. Water flowing constantly, again with the help of another group of pipes will ensure that the thickness and the temperature of the ice bed remains constant. The technique involved in building ice rinks have changed with time with more technology and brains working behind it.
Quality of ice
Many water sport enthusiasts are of the opinion that the quality of ice in the ice skating rink is very important. For games such as ice hockey which requires placing a curling and also some markings and logos (for the sake of sponsorships) call for premium quality ice as the ice should still continue to provide a strong surface for the game to be played. Pay a visit to the nearest ice skating rink even if you are not a skating enthusiast just to have a feel of what it is to be moving on a sheet of frozen water.
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