Skating news

Skating rinks have been in the news lately!

Skating on 10 rinks in one day
Globe and Mail reporter Marcus Gee recently took a break from covering the antics of Toronto City Hall to explore the city's rinks. In one day he skated on 10 rinks from one end of the city to the other. (The Great Skate Project has been to six of them - and this reminds me that I need to skate in the west end.)

Fun fact I learned from the article: it costs the city about $6 million a year to operate its rinks.

Read Marcus Gee's article about his city skating adventure here.

Watch this short video featuring his top 5 rinks

Toronto's outdoor rinks bring communities together
For some reason, an article about skating rinks in the "teeming metropolis of Toronto" ran recently in the Regina Leader-Post.  Read the article here

 Toronto's Barbara Ann Scott rink is no more
I was sad to learn that site of the very first Great Skate is no longer open.
Read the National Post article about the closure of Barbara Ann Scott rink

One of the world's top 10 skating rinks is in Mexico?
Now I know where to go if the Great Skate Project ever gets a travel budget.
See the list of top outdoor skating rinks on Canoe.ca

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Popular Great Skates

Great Skate #21 - Greenwood Park (renovated)

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Great Skate #7 - Ryerson Community Park

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Great Skate #34: Love Crescent Parkette

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On Saturday, March 7, I enjoyed a solitary skate at a natural ice rink in Love Crescent parkette .* That was probably my last Great Skate of the season. Since then, the weather has shifted from wintery to spring-like. The sun is warm, the air is soft and you can hear water dripping everywhere. There may be a few die-hard skaters and shinny players out there, but I think most of us are ready to switch to cycling, ball hockey and other warm-weather activities. The Love Crescent rink was first built in 2013 by a group of community-minded skating enthusiasts. The street is tucked away in a neighbourhood just north of Kingston Road in east Toronto. It's not a place you pass through on your way somewhere else; you have to know where you're going to find it. The rink builders were clever. They designed the rink in the shape of an oblong donut. In the centre is a space for shinny players. Around the centre, separated by a wide snowbank, is a track for pleasure skating. There are ...
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Great Skate #33: Gage Park, Brampton

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Great Skate #40: Bryant Park, New York City

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