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Author Topic: Colorado Springs - World Arena + Colorado Sports Center  (Read 3253 times)

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Offline karne

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  • Joined: Jul 2011
  • Location: The Land Of Sweeping Plains
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Colorado Springs - World Arena + Colorado Sports Center
« on: June 19, 2016, 08:53:05 AM »
World Arena:

Nice building. Very friendly staff and very helpful. They have handout sheets of all the practice schedules which are helpfully labelled by level. These don't include adults so you should ask; I think I ended up having Intermediate as my highest, but I practice around doubles at home. The staff behind the desk were very nice and pointed out which sessions she thought I could do. Price of session was $9.50 USD and the sessions were capped at 24 (I think). By the way, that's quite crowded.

Seems to be plenty of seating but it's mostly metal benches so, uh, don't sit on them too long or your posterior will be chilled. Two full-size Olympic ice surfaces. The left rink has the banners hanging above with the names of the Champions that the Broadmoor has churned out. There are a lot. If you're a fan of any of the Broadmoor skaters, this is VERY cool.

The central area between the rinks is warm, has squooshy couches, a small pro shop and a very small cafe (I'm sure the coffee is nice but I don't recommend for anything more substantial). Right hand rink seems more open, has a harness. There seems to be a small corridor between the rinks that has some studios/changerooms off it; it didn't seem to be off-limits, but as the more advanced skaters seemed to be coming and going from it a lot, I didn't venture down there.

And of course, it's the sort of rink where you can keep your eyes peeled, and perhaps see someone (or someones) in person that you have only ever seen on the TV...(and babble like an idiot at them  :blush:)

There are Senior sessions adjacent to some of the lower level sessions in the afternoon. I don't know if there are rules about watching these, but my observation suggested that only the parents were sitting there watching, no-one said anything to me, but I felt a bit uncomfortable about it. Everyone very nice.

Publics: rare, but $4 when they are on  :o

Lessons: Did not take any here.


Colorado Sports Center/7K:

Very helpful admin contact who will organise everything for you. Freestyle is definitely by sign in and I think closed to 7K skaters or guests who are having lessons there. Dartfish very helpful. If you are having a lesson you will probably end up on a mixed session with majority Novice-Senior level skaters. This can get hairy but if you watch yourself you'll be fine because they'll look out for you.

No upfront payment - they email you the bill according to their billing cycle and there are multiple methods of payment. They write your name on each session.

Rink is very cold, so wear layers. No snack bar/cafe. Limited seating, but there are changerooms.

Don't know about publics. It's not really as walk-on friendly as the World Arena. But everyone is very friendly and nice. Watch out for surprise hugs. ;)

Lessons: available with any coach by prior arrangement. Dartfish available (and very helpful).
"Three months in figure skating is nothing. Three months is like 5 minutes in a day. 5 minutes in 24 hours - that's how long you've been working on this. And that's not long at all. You are 1000% better than you were 5 minutes ago." -- My coach

ISA Preliminary! Passed 13/12/14!