Despite temperatures in the 60s and 70s, preparations are underway to get outdoor ice skating rinks ready for the first skate of the season.
Outdoor ice skating is appealing for many families, like Bailey Straub and her daughters.
"You see it in movies and whatnot, and you're just like, 'Oh, wow!'" Straub said of outdoor skating. "That was really neat to get to experience, and I'm glad it's going to be here all the time."
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Straub took her family to skate at Holliday Park last year, and her kids were excited to see that the ice rink is currently being assembled.
"We were just talking about how they make the ice," Straub continued. "Or like, how, since it's so warm outside."
This is the challenge — creating a rink full of ice — even when it is warm and sunny.
Chris Clyne is the rink manager for The Ice Rink at Holliday Park. He explained what the process is like — starting with a lot of machinery.
"It's just a large refrigerant system, and that runs glycol through a lot of small tubes underneath the ice," explained Clyne.
The cold base at the bottom of the rink is a series of coils, which stay frozen thanks to the refrigerants.
On Friday's visit, the frozen coils were visible, but they won't stay this way for long.
Clyne turned on a water hose, and demonstrated how water is poured all over the frozen coils.
"We want to freeze those in, get those covered up," Clyne continued while spraying the rink. "Then we have more of a flat surface that we can lay more water down and have that stay level."
Clyne has his work cut out for him: the water won't turn to ice very easily when it is warm and sunny. He's figured out how to get the ice in, despite the weather challenges.
"We'll be able to kind of build up ice during morning hours when it's much cooler outside, and the sun's not hitting," Clyne said. "It'll probably take about a week to build up due to the temperatures outside."
When making ice in ideal conditions (like the early morning), Clyne and his team will switch to pumping water out of a fire hose to expedite the process.
Clyne anticipates a full sheet of ice to be ready for skating late next week. The rink will officially open on Black Friday, November 28, and the ice will stay open through the end of February.
Holliday Park isn't the only ice rink getting ready for winter.
I visited The Ice at Carter Green in Carmel and The Ice Ribbon in Westfield, and you could tell that both were gearing up for their opening on November 22.
"We have a synthetic ice ribbon, Glice, which is not impacted by the weather one bit! We could actually put it up in July if we wanted to," shared Kayla Arnold with the City of Westfield.
While winter might feel far away, visitors like the Straubs can't wait to skate. Mars, one of Bailey's daughters, told WRTV what she was excited to do.
"Going fast," said Mars. "I think she could help me stand on one foot!"
You can find out more about The Ice Rink at Holliday Park, including ticket information, by clicking here.
