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Competitive figure skater Hathaway Hutchings pivoted from one skate to the other before performing a small, 180-degree leap, then raised one leg slightly as she glided backward. The movements were expert yet cautious, as if she had not been on the surface in a long time.
The truth is she had never been on the surface.
The ice at the Eugene T. Mahoney State Park skating rink was replaced in mid-December with high-density polymer – or polyethene plastic – manufactured in panels by Glice, a Swiss company.
“It’s harder to glide, I would say,” said Hutchings, a U.S. Figure Skating gold-level skater from Lincoln. “It would be hard to do a lot of what I usually do on it, but it’s good just to have fun.”
She was happy to be there on the morning of New Year’s Eve, skating outside with dozens of other customers – most of whom had their hands outstretched for balance, not style. It was about 40 degrees shortly after the rink opened at 11 a.m., and the temperature would rise to about 55 degrees in the afternoon. She came to skate at Mahoney on a similarly warm day last winter, when parts of the rink started to melt in the afternoon.
“It’s a lot more flexible for weather year-round, so I think that’s a good part about it,” Hutchings said about the new surface.
The new surface was inaugurated on Christmas Eve, when the high at Mahoney was over 50 degrees. It was about the same on Christmas Day and nearly 60 degrees on Dec. 26. The rink was open until 6 p.m. on those days, which would not have been the case if the surface had not been replaced, said Michael Townsend, the regional superintendent of Venture Parks – a network of recreational amenities at several Nebraska state parks.
“I felt a lot of disappointment from customers when our rink would be half melted or three-quarters melted on a Saturday afternoon,” Townsend said, adding that he often had to apologize for unexpected closures. “‘Sorry, we had to close down at 3, we know you drove out here, because the ice rink had melted.’”
Townsend attributed those failures to aging equipment and its inability to keep the ice frozen during increasingly warm winters in Nebraska. The ice surface at the Platte River-adjacent park near Ashland required refrigerants, glycol and lots of power to run the two compressors that had been operating since the rink opened in 1998, Townsend said, adding that all that wasn’t enough to keep the surface completely frozen on warm winter days.
“So, in the long run, this panel is going to be far more sustainable and environmentally friendly than running an older, conventional ice-skating rink,” Townsend said.
In addition to remaining open on intermittently warm days, the new surface will double the skating season from roughly 70 days per year to 140. Townsend said that, from now on, the rink will be open from mid-November to mid-April, when the panels will be removed to make way for spring and summer events at the Activity Center pavilion.
The surface is white, rough to the touch, and only as cold as the air. It’s also a bit damp, which is part of the Glice technology. The panels self-lubricate by releasing microscopic pellets of lubricant as pressure is applied while skating or cleaning. Venture Parks also applies a silicone-based lubricant on occasion to make it feel more like real ice.
That was one of the mixed reviews in a long Reddit thread about the new surface. The top post reported that people who fell had oily spots on their clothes. While testing the surface, a Nebraska Public Media reporter also fell. He did not notice any stains after the fall and there were none after the clothes were washed. The additional lubricant had not been applied to the surface.
To prepare for the New Year’s Eve crowd, Maverick Helgoth drove a machine that resembled a cross between a Zamboni and a riding mower. It was actually an industrial floor scrubber that cleans the surface with hot water and rotating brushes. It also collects the shavings that look like centimeter-long pieces of spaghetti, which Nebraska Game and Parks is keeping in hopes of creating a recycling program in house or with a third party.
Among the first customers to arrive is Greg Grattan and his son George, who made the trip from Papillion knowing they would be able to skate this time.
“It seems like a good switch,” Grattan said. “Before we always missed it because it seems like it was very limited availability. So it does seem like it’s a good addition to the activity center and a great thing for kids to come do, for sure.”
Grattan glides slowly but steadily on rented skates, while his son goes back and forth between the wall and his father’s hand for support. He says the surface is good enough for them.
The 20-millimeter thick StellarGlide panels are the top of the Glice line. They come with a 12-year warranty and have an expected lifespan of 20 years – 10 years on each of the reversible sides. Townsend expects the one-time purchase to be offset by the savings in energy costs and maintenance required by the ice surface. As a result, he said, Venture Parks was able to avoid a price hike that would have been necessary if the conventional ice rink remained. Skate rentals are still $5 and entry remains $3 for adults and $5 for children.
“Definitely take the time to come and skate on the surface before you judge it,” Townsend said. “It's the best material we could have bought, and we're proud to host it here at Mahoney State Park.”