- published: 11 Jan 2015
- views: 10888
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Besides recreational ice skating, some of its uses include ice hockey, figure skating and curling as well as exhibitions, contests and ice shows. There are two types of rinks in prevalent use today: natural, where freezing occurs from cold ambient temperatures, and artificial (or mechanically-frozen), where a coolant produces cold temperatures in the surface below the water, causing the water to freeze. There are also synthetic ice rinks where skating surfaces are made out of plastics.
Rink, a Scottish word meaning 'course', was used as the name of a place where curling was played. The name has been retained for the construction of ice areas for other sports and uses.
Many ice rinks consist of, or are found on, open bodies of water such as lakes, ponds, canals, and sometimes rivers; these can only be used in the winter in climates where the surface would freeze thickly enough to support human weight. Rinks can also be made in cold climates by enclosing a level area of ground, filling it with water, and letting it freeze. Snow may even be packed to use as a containment material.
A skating rink may refer to:
Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including health benefits, leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and rivers.
A study by Federico Formenti of the University of Oxford suggests that the earliest ice skating happened in southern Finland about 4000 years ago."The first humans traveling on ice: an energy-saving strategy?". http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00991.x. Originally, skates were merely sharpened, flattened bone strapped to the bottom of the foot. Skaters did not actually skate on the ice, but rather glided on top of it. True skating emerged when a steel blade with sharpened edges was used. Skates now cut into the ice instead of gliding on top of it. Adding edges to ice skates was invented by the Dutch in the 13th or 14th century. These ice skates were made of steel, with sharpened edges on the bottom to aid movement. The construction of modern ice skates has stayed largely the same since then.
And the music from the skating rink
drifts across the town.
And the stars of heaven high above
forever looking down.
And I'm standing looking upward
and I'm listing to the sound
of the village in the lonely heart of winter.
And the lights above the skating rink
illuminate the scene.
And on the snow the shadows show
footsteps where we've been.
And Danny's breath hangs motionless
and hovers like a dream
above his head in the lonely heart of winter.
And the sky above the skating rink
blackened weight of space
falls endless on the frozen world
upon the saving grace
of the lights around the skating rink
laughing in the face
of the darkness at the lonely heart of winter.
And the music from the skating rink
drifts across the town.
And the stars of heaven high above
forever looking down.
And I'm standing looking upward
and I'm listing to the sound