Me. Freestyle Ice Skating

 
Freestyle Ice Skating from Red Panda Creative on Vimeo.

Back in October, I made a trip back to Ohio to visit. My friend Chris Stein and I made a visit to our old stomping ground – the North Olmsted Recreation Center. We both worked their through high school and had a blast doing it. For this video to make any sense at all you need to follow me for a second. I played Ice Hockey since the second grade, so working at an Ice Rink when I was old enough was a dream. When I finally started to grow in high school I was way too small to be competitive at JV or varsity level hockey – nor did I really want to dedicate the time to practicing and playing. Instead, I became a skate guard. Skate guards make sure that public skate sessions run smoothly, do basic first aid, and get to be on the rink for the whole open session. Awesome. While working as a skate guard, my skating skills grew from being on the ice so often. Without the bulk of pads, helmet, and stick, I realized that you could adapt aggressive rollerblading tricks to the ice. Soon I was jumping cones vertically and for distance on their sides. Similar to barrel jumping in the early part of the 20th century. Personal best was 17 cones on their side. Chris and I became the best “freestyle” skaters around.  We even started to imitate the figure skaters and try maneuvers that were impossible without a toe pick equipped figure skate. 

Fast forward to 2008. I still have my skates. Chris and I are still boys and the recreation center has seen bigger crowds and better days (public recreation budgets aren’t what they used to be). We expect there to at least be a guard on duty- no one. We were the only ones. The entire ice to ourselves. Jackpot. Here is what happens when you get the opportunity to try to skate like crazy.