Sorry for the confusion! The skates are my own and I'm a figure skater. The ice rink caters to hockey players, so I assume the ice is hockey ice, however with the 100 degree weather we've been having, it's entirely possible that the ice is softer right now. My husband, the hockey player, routinely gets 1/2" ROH on his hockey skates.
The blades I chose are Jackson Aspire, but I have no idea what their default ROH is. Since we have to drive three hours to get my blades sharpened each time, I can't really afford to experiment with this. However, this may help. I just found an old email from the sharpener I used in Nashville and he said:
Beginner with basic blades: 3/4"
Just starting jumps, with upgraded blade: 5/8"
Freestyle with freestyle blades: 1/2"
Multi-revolution jumpers: a bit deeper.
Now, I'm definitely a beginner, but are the Aspire blades considered "basic" or "upgraded" or "freestyle"? Since they're nicer than the Mirage blades, I was under the impression they were freestyle blades, but I could be wrong. At any rate, I'm thinking the guy probably gave me 3/4" since I told him I was a beginner with no jumps. What do you all think? (I would email him and ask, but I seriously doubt he would remember what ROH he used on a stranger's blades six months ago.)