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Can you ice skate when it snows? Normally the surface of the ice rink is smooth, sleek, and lustrous. It is made this way because ice skating requires fast gliding of blades and it can not be done on a rough and frictional surface. Therefore, when there is snowfall, the surface of the ice rink becomes rough and uneven and makes it difficult to glide on the surface fast and smoothly.
If it is snowing and you want to ice skate, you need to know how long it has been snowing. If snow has been falling for a very long time and there is a lot of snow accumulated on the surface of the ice rink, it would be strenuous and unfavorable to ice skate. In another scenario, when there is not a long period of snowfall but heavy fall of snow for a quick succession, the same applies.
Why is it difficult to ice skate when there is snow on the ice rink?
The main problem is obvious, it would be extremely difficult to glide on the surface as there would be a lot of friction and roughness on the top of the ice rink. Due to the accumulation of snow, patches would be formed and the blades of the skates would get stuck on these patches. It would decrease the speed of the skater and if the skater is gliding with a very high speed, the roughness on the surface would let the skater lose balance and fall over. Falling over might not hurt though! The chunks and lumps of snow that form the patches could also damage the blades of ice skates. The blades can lose their sharpness and can even bend over. So would you really want to take that risk of ice skating if it’s snowing heavily?
What if it’s only a light covering of snow?
Another scenario when there is not very heavy snowfall but a mild coating of snow. Well, it would be laborious to ice skate since it would still restrict your movement as there would be some snow accumulated on the surface of the ice rink. The wind could blow snowflakes into patches and these would from hard rock-like structures. If you are a skillful ice skater, you would be able to attempt any of the jumps and moves on the ice rink. Anyone else below your level can attempt some basic moves such as swizzles and short glides forward and backward. This light sprinkle of snow provides little friction and roughness, so you can practice balancing and getting started.
Is it really worth ice skating in the snow?
Ice skating during snowfall sounds very interesting but when you do it will not feel very nice. When the snow falls on your face, the flakes will definitely be irritating and agitating as you move at a rapid pace. On the other hand, the roughness on the ice rink would restrict your movement so you are not going to gather the pace you want during the glide. Adding to your frustration, your visibility will be occluded and obstructed due to the snowfall and if you are wearing goggles, you would barely see anything. The snow would make your cheeks and nose numb and it will only add in your frustration. You see it would be different if we were skiing and you would have to come prepared.
So, the answer to the first and fundamental question, ‘can you ice skate when it is snowing?’ Absolutely, you can ice skate in snowfall, but a bigger question, is it worth doing? Well, you have got the idea of how strenuous it would be, though it sounds amazing and quite adventurous, we all would like to experience it. I myself would not want to damage my blades and have to go through the sharpening process again. If you do need a good priced blade sharper, I researched not just a high star rated product, but actual favourable customer reviews for the best blade sharpener on Amazon. I gave it a go and it did the job fine.
The ideal time to ice skate is when there is sun out, striking on the glossy surface of the ice rink with a little cold breeze moving around. The sun will somewhat neutralise the coldness of the winter season and it maintains a nice overall ambiance of the area, therefore, when there is snowfall or even cloud cover with no sunshine, the ambiance and a little heat of the sun will be missed. But it does not mean that ice skating during snowfall is absolutely worthless. It mostly depends on the people’s choice, if you like to do adventurous things you can attempt ice skating when it snows. Having mentioned all its disadvantages, ice skating like this should be done at least once in a lifetime.
