Portable Ice Rink

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed)
Nov 1st 2006 at 6:06PM

What child wouldn't love to have an ice skating rink in the back yard? Hammacher Schlemmer has a 37-foot portable ice rink that can be set up anywhere and is perfect for practicing for winter sports or just skating for fun. The frame keeps the water in the rink even if the temperatures get too high to sustain the ice, ensuring it will be ready to go whenever the weather gets cold, and the rigid PVC at the bottom protects the rink from skate damage if the ice gets too thin.

If only I had had one of these to put in the yard growing up! Actually, it wouldn't have helped me to become a more accomplished figure skater because, portable though it is, it still needs to be below freezing to properly form the 2.5-inch thick ice layer and that is something you can't necessarily count on in most of California. Price: $700.

Tags: ice, ice rink, ice skate, outside, sport, sports, toy, winter, yard

Filed under: Sports

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Eric Nov 2nd 2006 6:02PM

Only bad thing is, if you put that thing on even the slight incline/decline, you're gonna get uneven freezing on the rink, and nobody like lopsided ice :P

al Nov 9th 2006 2:23PM

To avoid lopsided ice you install the leveling device:)

Jen Nov 9th 2006 2:26PM

When I was growing up, my dad would put out a large plastic tarp in the backyard with the edges lifted up by pieces of wood. He would fill it up with a few inches of water and it would be frozen by the next day. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was still a lot of fun.

Larry Fafarman Nov 9th 2006 2:36PM

In California, rollerblade hockey is all the rage.

BARB Nov 9th 2006 2:51PM

THIS IS A BLAST, BUT NOT AS MUCH FUN AS THE REAL
THING...WONDERFUL SPORT....I AM FROM KC, MO AND WISH
I WAS A KID AGAIN IN THAT CITY...THEY USED TO BLOCK
OFF THE ROADS AT THE BOTTOM OF ALL MAJOR HILLS DURING
THE SNOW TIME WEATHER AND WE WOULD RIDE OUR SLEDS DOWN
THE HILLS AND OUR PARENTS DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT
US...OH, FOR THE GOOD OLD DAYS. I WON'T LET MY
GRANDKIDS OUT OF MY SIGHT NOWADAYS, EVEN TO HAVE SOME
FUN LIKE THIS!!!

Rip Nov 9th 2006 3:15PM

This rink needs an Ice Wizard!!

www.TheIceWizard.com

ericka Nov 9th 2006 3:18PM

Now I want to get photos of dogs skating on this~ perfect fun!

Lin Nov 9th 2006 4:51PM

This is SOOO cool!! If only it were $70 and not $700!! Wowza but then again 1 yr of ice skating lessons would pay for it! HAAA We used to flood our garden in the winter LUMPY LUMPY but we did have fun. They have sled riding hills at the parks in Illinois, trouble is it's not been snowing enough or it's -25 and your boogers freeze!! Looks like fun and good exercise for the whole family. Broom hockey would be fun on the ice too. Now where to get $700????

Jo Nov 9th 2006 4:13PM

when we were kids in Canada, we'd make our own ice rink in the back yard. What do kids do anymore with out an imagination?? it's all done for them.

Jean Nov 9th 2006 4:18PM

I'm Canadian and my dad would fill the sandbox we had and let it freeze .We had the best times of our lives. We had lots of fun learning to skate.

Winter..

NANCY CAROL Nov 9th 2006 4:26PM

WE BOUGHT THIS LAST WINTER. iT TOOK A LONG TIME TO GET IT, NEEDLESS TO SAY, MY KIDS DID NOT GET THIS FOR CHRISTMAS AS WAS PLANNED. AFTER IT FINALLY ARRIVED, WE SAW FIRST HAND WHAT AN ABSOLUTE RIP OFF THIS THING IS! PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. THIS IS TOTAL GARBAGE. ALL YOU GET FOR YOUR MONEY IS SOME PLASTIC SHEETING AND PLASTIC TUBES. YOU CAN BUY ALL THIS YOURSELF SINCE YOU HAVE TO GET YOUR OWN STYRO-FOAM WHICH YOU HAVE TO CUT OUT YOURSELF. JUST SAVE YOURSELF A TON OF MONEY AND BUY YOUR OWN PLASTIC SHEETING.

Kirsten Nov 9th 2006 4:27PM

OOOOooooohh! Fun! And you could make a cardboard ZAmboni that a toddler could play in as he or she double-blades around : )

Pat Nov 9th 2006 5:06PM

Now, if Hammacher Schlemmer could just come up with a mini Zamboni, they would really have something.

elizabeth Nov 9th 2006 5:35PM

First, there was the huge tarp wrapped around hand-painted boards, and then filled with water by a Dad who'd stand there for hours with the hose. Then there was the Mom who shoveled it off every day before the hockey player got home from school. All this AFTER significant money was paid to level off an area in the backyard large enough for the rink. Still, larger AND cheaper than the Hammacher-Schlemmer offering!

Marnie MacLean Nov 9th 2006 6:13PM

When I was a kid in Toronto (approx. 1947) the boys' yard in our school, two blocks south of where I lived, was flooded in winter and we skated there. Also a playground rink, three blocks west, a yard beside a fruit stand 5 blocks east and the church yard, two blocks east of that. There was never a lack of rinks close to home on which to skate. Oh, for the good old days.

Rebekka Nov 9th 2006 7:14PM

What a rip...If it only works when the weather is below freezing, then why not go for the cheap way, and just spray water all over the yard with the hose, like my grandpa used to do. Easy and free.

Now if this thing could freeze the water in hot temperatures, like here in Miami, then it would be worth buying.

Toni Tidwell Nov 9th 2006 7:16PM

I grew up in Maryland where roads were closed for sledding. When there was a good ice storm, I would just ice skate on the driveway. It was great.

Amy Nov 9th 2006 7:18PM

This to me seems like a HUGE waste of money. I'm a 22 year old born and raised in southern ontario,Canada and we used to make our own rink every year. it started off as a small project that my dad and uncle built . making a border out of wood. as the years went on it go bigger and bigger to eventually taking up our entire side yard(alot of property) with high borders that they bulilt out of packed up snow. the middle was shoveled out and then flooded. It was grea tall the neighbourhood kids would come over and skate on it. It was just as much fun as the real thing with the added bonus of we got to be outside , we didn't have to pay for it every time we wanted to use it, and we got to skate anytime we wanted . I used to love going out after dinner and skating till my mom finally said i HAD to ocme in.

Beads Nov 9th 2006 7:21PM

Wanna give us the full dimensions??? Is this another usual ploy from this company? No info on the quality level of the plastic base or size of tubes either. Under most detail, this and other info comes with specs. Not unusual for anyone other than HS!