Besides skiing, I am hard pressed to think of a more old school winter sport than ice-skating. A study from the University of Oxford theorizes that an early form of ice-skating developed in southern Finland around 4000 years ago. Skates as we know them were invented in the Netherlands in the 13th or 14th century. Ice skating rinks are a classic setting for many winter movies and stories. We are lucky to have a few nearby to enjoy during the holiday season. Cal Anderson Park is inaugurating an annual ice rink that will operate from December 6th through the 24th. Seattle Center’s annual Winterfest Ice Rink at the Fisher Pavilion opened November 25th and will run through January 1st. Bellevue hosts a tented ice arena as part of their Magic Season winter celebration. There are also indoor rinks in Renton, Shoreline, Lynnwood, and Everett where people may enjoy skating year round. While the image of an idyllic outdoor rink may seem more East Coast than West Coast, we do have a couple of options that are relatively close by. Suncadia Resort has an outdoor rink complete with a communal fire pit and hot chocolate and Grouse Mountain in Vancouver B.C. boasts a massive 8,000-foot outdoor pond and also offers sleigh rides! See you at the rink!
This entry was posted on Friday, December 2nd, 2011 at 5:09 pm and is filed under Holidays, Misc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
