| Skating Journal Pre-Season 2001 |
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| In The Beginning I had no idea that there was such a thing as adult figure skating until June 2001. I was at the Sun Valley, ID outdoor skating rink while on my honeymoon. The beautiful rink is inspiring for figure skaters, or at least it was for me. A must visit for all skaters. I came unprepaired to skate, so I did not bring along my used and broken down pair of SP Teri skates. Instead, I had to use rental skates, something I have done maybe one other time in my life. I was so excited to skate on this famous rink, I did not care about having to use the excrutiatingly dull rentals. I struggled in these brown beauties, but my skill was not lost on another adult skater at the rink. I had noticed her immediately, she had to be at least twenty years older than myself and she was doing camels!!! I skated until I was about twelve, and I never even tried a camel spin, although I can't tell you why my coach never had me do this. She came over to me while I was skating and asked me why I was wearing rentals. I explained I was on my honeymoon and did not expect to skate. I explained that I skated as a child, but had not done much skating since then. She told me I should start skating again. Skating as an adult had never crossed my mind, but based on her beautiful camel spins, I could see that there was no reason not to skate. She knew the coaches in my area and urged me to give them a call. Now, I am not ignorant to the costs of skating, so I spoke to my husband about how I would like to start skating again, stressing the financial strain. Although we were newly married and hardly well off financially, he supprted my decision to skate. Finding a Club I live in a small mountain town that caters to summer tourists and winter skiiers. I moved here from Minneapolis and had only lived here a few weeks when I decided I wanted to skate again. I was skeptical that there was a rink here, let alone a coach or a skating club. However, the skater from Sun Valley assured me that there was skating in my town. So, I started looking on the internet, and it was there I learned about exciting things like USFSA Adult Testing and the Adult National Competition. Wow, there were some great opportunities in adult skating that never existed when I skated as a child. After a lot of searching I finally made my way to the Jackson Hole Figure Skating Club website. I emailed a club official of my intention to become an adult figure skater. In no time I had a call from a member of my club that would change me forever, well, I hope forever. That call was from the one and only adult skating member of the club. To say she was happy to hear of the possibility of a peer to skate with would be an understatement. We talked on the phone for at least an hour. Unfortunately this was now the beginning of July and there was no ice in the arena until August. She convinced me to sign up for a skating camp mid-August. Back on the Ice - Skating Camp I had a new job and little money in the bank, but I made it work. My job allowed me a flexible schedule and I scraped up some money. Camp consisted of a group adult lesson, twice a day, once on-ice and once off as well as a jazz/ballet class each day. There was some open skating time, but I had to forgo that in order for camp to fit into my work schedule. Instead, I skated during open skating at night. The skating camp runs simultaneously with an evening skating show of World, Olympic and Professional skaters, These skaters served as our wonderful coaches during the day. The day before camp started I attended the show. I was fairly impressed by the skating. However there was a lack of huge multi-revolutional jumps, which was the element that impressed me the most. Camp began and I quickly learned that skating with flat feet would be a challenge for me as an adult skater that was not a problem for me as a child. For the first few days I had to sit out for portions of the lesson due to the great pain in my arches. Once that challenge had been overcome I was able to enjoy my skating sessions. I had maintained many of my skills, but the hardest part to get used to was just the feel of the ice. Ice skating did not feel as natural to me as it once had. I was more tentative than I had been as a child. Off-ice was the killer! Off-ice training made me realize that I was sorely out of shape. And, sore I was. By the end of the week I could harldy walk, but I did try a camel. My first attempt was respectable, however still lacked more than one rotation a recognizable camel position. I saw another performance of those great skaters at the end of the week. I now knew them as my coaches and I now had first hand knowledge that there are VERY difficult maneuvers in their programs. There is more to skating than impressive jumps! In Over My Head I soon became a club member and before too long I was the Publicity Chairperson and a member of the Executive Committee. Phew! The club was going through a growing year and I did all I could to help. Maybe sometimes too much for someone new to skating and the community. Overall, it was rewarding volunteer work and a great way to get to know club members and make friends in my new home. |
| My Skating Journal exists because I have been inspired by other adult skating journals I have read, and as a way to inspire other adult skaters. This journal began March 29, 2002, however I start with how I began skating and a synopsis of the 2001-2002 skating season. |
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