Ice Haus, Columbus Ohio

[Bill_S]

 My favorite rink - The Ice Haus (currently called the OhioHealth Ice Haus). The name has changed over the years as different sponsors have put their corporate stamp on the rink. It is officially a practice rink for the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey team, but they have public sessions to die for. The ice is glass-smooth and first-class. There are windows where you can look outdoors, and it's bathed in natural light from the wall of windows.

There isn't much dedicated to figure skating (lessons, etc.), except that the public sessions I attend are very sparsely attended and you have lots of room for moves. I attended the noon skate today, paid $4 for 1:15 hours of skating, and that included free parking in the parking garage adjacent to the building. The garage is a little hard to find if you're new.

During the noon skate today, a total of 7 people were on the ice including 2 adult figure skaters beside me. In my past visits, this is fairly typical.

The draw is the ice. It's beautifully maintained and it's what I dream about for my home rink. The drawbacks are irregular ice times, but it's easy to check the website for Chiller ice rinks, of which this is a part, to find available sessions.

I'm surprised that more skaters from Columbus don't use this rink.

Here are some photos...

[Matsumoto]

That looks great, Bill.  I'm envious of the huge windows!  If I ever get out your way, I will have to give that rink a try.

[Bill_S]

I'm going to add to this post because this rink complex, Nationwide Arena, will host the US Nationals in January 2024. I'll put some notes here for skaters who may be attending the competition.

The Ice Haus, where I've skated, is the practice rink for the stadium rink in the next room. Both ice sheets are under the same roof but separated from each other. I expect that the sheet of ice in the Ice Haus will be utilized for skater practice while another discipline is competing during Nationals. It will be interesting to see how that facility is scheduled during Nationals.

The Ice Haus, run by Chiller, probably won't be open for any public skating sessions during the competition (guessing here), but visiting fans can skate at any of the other Chiller Ice Rinks  in the Columbus area, or perhaps at the OSU Ice rink just a few miles up rt. 315 in Columbus. OSU's ice time is heavily scheduled, and the freestyle sessions are run by the Columbus Figure Skating Club. Skaters from elsewhere may skate three times on club ice...

"Skaters without a CFSC membership but with a membership to another club are permitted to skate up to three times as a trial, after which they must join the club"

However the area Chiller rinks offers many open freestyle times and public sessions at their various rinks. Chiller Easton is probably the nearest Chiller-run rink to Nationwide Arena, but is still a good drive away. Great shopping nearby though.

The only issue I foresee is parking at or near the Nationwide Arena. There are some commercial parking garages within a few blocks, but parking at the arena itself is scant. It's something that visitors should plan to research before just showing up. If you stay in a hotel a few blocks away, it might have its own parking, i.e. Hilton Columbus Downtown on High Street.

[supersharp]

Ice Haus looks beautiful!  We have no windows at all, I would love to have that natural light. 

Fortunately, we generally have pretty good ice quality.  I'm thankful for that.  Someday we will get a second sheet of ice and it can be a bit more of a showcase--but not likely to happen anytime soon.

[Bill_S]

Those windows are great. A pedestrian on the outside of the Ice Haus could look inside and see the skaters. That make me wonder if they will block off the lower half of the windows during practice at US Nationals next January.

They probably will install low curtains to keep the fans from piling against the windows outside to watch practices.