THE PROTOCOLS

I love figure skating. I skate whenever and wherever I can. (More on how this geezer started skating is here.)

My quest for ice time has taken me to many rinks. I've been to so many that I started joking that I should have a World Tour of Ice Rinks photo site. Then I got to thinking and decided that a review site could be fun and possibly even useful to other skaters. Hence the Protocols!

How do the Protocols work? Rinks receive two marks in their ratings: a technical mark and a presentation mark. The technical mark covers ice quality, facilities, and admission price, and the presentation mark covers the rink's feng shui, music during public sessions, snack bar, and friendliness of staff. As much as I miss the old judging system (R.I.P. 6.0), the new Code of Points judging system lends itself a bit better to what I'm doing here, so I'm using that in the following way:

The marks will also include a Grade of Execution (GOE) ranging from -3 (awful) to +3 (sublime) for various reasons. A rink receiving a Level 4 +3 GOE is pretty darn near perfect. If a rink receives a Level 1 -3 GOE, it's probably hell frozen over...or at least the skating experience there is like that.

So now that the judging system has been explained...on to the Protocols! Click the rinks below to read my reviews. I have only reviewed rinks where I've actually skated. If I was at a rink for a competition or something but did not actually skate there, I did not review it.

DISCLAIMER!! The following reviews reflect the personal opinions of one skater -- me. I am not paid to rate rinks, and my opinions are mine and may or may not be shared by others. Since these are my opinions, they should not be taken as canon. Your experience may vary.