About Backyard Ice Skating Rinks

Ice skating is popular during the winter months. There are outdoor and indoor skating rinks for ice skaters to exercise or just have family fun. A backyard ice rink requires low maintenance and setup cost; it’s about the same as a large, frozen swimming pool.

Origin

Ice skating has been around for thousands of years. The oldest discovery of the sport was in Switzerland; a pair of old ice skates were found and dated back to 3000 B.C. In earlier times, ice skates were carved out of animal bones and laced with leather straps. During the fourteenth century the iron blades were incorporated on the skate and poles were used to guide skaters across the ice. The first indoor skate rink was built in London, back in the year 1876.

Choices/Types

There are different types of backyard ice rinks; rinks from natural occurrence and also ones that are designed. Any pond or other body of water can freeze during the winter time and people skate in these areas. An ice skate rink can also be setup with kits that require digging out an area in the backyard, allowing the area to flood and then freeze when the temperature gets cooler. An artificial rink is equipped with cooling unit that keep the ice frozen, even as the temperature warms up a bit.

Sizes

Backyard ice skate rinks are normally around fifteen to twenty-five feet. A manufacturer that specializes in custom-made rinks will design the rink according to the homeowner’s specifications. There are also rinks available that are sized for children.

Maintenance

The upkeep of your ice skating rink is very simple. A rink rake was designed to smooth the rink over, once every hour. Large facilities use a machine to do the task, but the machine is not small enough for your backyard skate rink. The rink rake is attached to a water house and dragged across the ice to remove old snow and leave fresh water on top.