Ice skate

“ The grooved or fluted skate, if ever useful, is of service only to boys, or very light persons, whose weight is not sufficient to catch the ice in a hard frost. It certainly should never be used by a person who is heavier than a boy of thirteen or fourteen years of age usually is, because the sharp edge too easily cuts into the ice, and prevents figuring. Fluted skates, indeed, are even dangerous: for the snow or ice cuttings are apt to collect and consolidate in the grooves, till the skater is raised from the edge of his skate, and thrown. ”

“ This ought to be done across the stone, so as to give the bottom of the skate so slight a concavity as to be imperceptible, which insures an edge whose angle is not greater than right. Care must be taken that one edge is not higher than the other; so that, when the skate is placed upon an even surface, it may stand quite perpendicularly. The wear of the iron not being great with a beginner, one grinding will generally last him through an ordinary winter’s skating on clean ice. ”

“ If the skate project much beyond the wood, the whole foot, and more especially its hind part, must be raised considerably from the ice when the front or bow of the skate is brought to bear upon it; and, as the skater depends upon this part for the power of his stroke, it is evident that that must be greatly diminished by the general distance of the foot from the ice. In short, if the skate be too long, the stroke will be feeble, and the back of the leg painfully cramped: if it be too short, the footing will be proportionally unsteady and tottering. ”

“ Some of the skaters eventually went back to practicing in locations of their own choosing. . .places that were either not suited to the vendors purposes or for other reasons not generally used.
They would skate in the moonlight at night, or bring candles to set on the ice, and would skate around them like faeries in the forest.
All in all, it was some of the most beautiful skating of all time— and anyone today would undoubtedly consider themselves blessed if a chance to see anything like it came along. ”

“ The lower lake is now all alive with skaters and with ladies driven onward by them in their ice cars. Mercury surely was the first maker of skates, and the wings at his feet are symbols of the invention. In skating, there are three pleasing circumstances—the infinitely subtle particles of ice which the skaters cut up, and which creep and run before the skate like a low mist and in sunrise or sunset become coloured ”

“ I have quite a deep groove ground in my skates, and I have the outer edge of the skate slightly lower than the inner edge. The height of the skate above the ice is not very important. Some of the experts favor great height. My skates are built comparatively low.
The flat bladed skate ought not to be used by any one who wishes to learn figure skating. The hockey skate is the right skate for hockey, but the wrong skate for anything else. To learn on that type of skate means that the skater must learn all over again when figure skating is attempted. ”

“ In fact, I had not been on the ice fifteen minutes, when I got to skating too fast—my skate going so fast that I couldn’t keep up—and the result was that I presently had the ice for a pillow, and lay there gazing at the clouds, with only one overhanging skate-clad foot to interrupt the view. Then, before I had time to stir from this novel position, a handsome young lady, who was trying the backward skating, endeavored to skate over me—a feat frequently attempted without success—and the result was, she violently took a seat upon my stomach and jobbed one of her elbows in my eye. ”

“ The hockey skate should be just high enough to prevent the plate or the sole of the boot from touching the ice when turning or cutting corners, because a low skate is not so straining on the ankle as a high one. ”

“ The plain skates have no such groove, and are better adapted for those who have partially acquired the art, as with them the utmost velocity and elegance of movement may be performed. [4]
[4] Fluted skates, however, are dangerous for any but those of light weight, as the cut ice is apt to “ball” in the groove, and so to throw the wearer, if he leans on one side.
The iron of the skate, which lies under the foot, is called its blade; this varies in different kinds of skates, and the practised professor of skating will choose a high or a low bladed skate, according to the nature of the ice ”

“ Should the thermometer have stood all night at zero or below, the ice made under that benumbing influence will be both very hard and rather brittle; whereas if the rink had basked in a mellow moonlight of say 10 or 15 degrees of frost, the ice, though perfectly solid and dry, will be far kinder to the skate blade and lend itself more amenably to the edges. Indeed, after a very cold night, the ice is absolutely unskateable on until the sun has relaxed its adamantine rigidity; the edges of the skate will not bite. ”

“ It is well not to look at either the ice or the feet, but to keep the face erect and looking forwards. When persons first begin to skate they balance themselves with their arms almost involuntarily, and, when one foot is off the ice, they raise up the arm on the opposite side to prevent themselves from falling. ”

“ The next and every night would be spent in the same way until the ice took, and then another mode of sport I wish to describe would take place.
Ice in one night on these shallow waters was sufficiently strong to support the weight of one man. Armed with a long barbed spear a couple of feet in length, lashed to a stout pole, a bag on his back to put the rats in, and sometimes followed by a boy at a distance, the Indian, with his bright steel skates firmly buckled on, would glide down and in and out these skate lanes looking for rat houses. ”

“ Blake, after a bit. "See, children, the ice is more than six inches thick. It will be safe for us to skate on!"
Hal and Mab ran to look into the little hole their father had cut in the ice. It went down for more than half a foot, or six inches, like a well you dig in the sand at the seashore. But no water showed in the bottom of this hole in the ice.
"The ice is good and thick," said Mr. Blake. "It will hold up all the skaters that will come on this pond."
But the children and their Daddy were the only ones there now. Mr. Blake showed Hal and Mab how to put on their skates. ”

“ Suppose the skater to have put himself on the outside edge back of the left leg, with considerable impulse, by means of the 3 performed on the right,—not bearing hard on the edge, for the object is to change it, and take up the motion on the right foot,—this is effected by throwing the left arm and shoulder back, and turning the face to look over them; when, having brought the inside of his left skate to bear on the ice, he must immediately strike from it to the outside back of the other, by pressing it into the ice as forcibly as he can at the toe. ”

“ You must skate straightaway until you have gained sufficient headway, then at the end of the last stroke turn the toes out so that the runners of your skates make a straight line, heel to heel, one skate following the other. In this position you will glide over the ice until the momentum first gained is exhausted. At first the beginner will be only partially successful, but gradually he will be able to describe a wide circle forward, and in a little while gain sufficient control of his feet to slide across the skating pond in a straight line. ”

“ At this moment the boys have reached the sailing channel, and, with arms uplifted, they skate down into the water and disappear without a cry for help. The skaters, who have tried to reach them in time, are standing a couple of seconds later on the edge of the ice, but the current has carried their bodies under the ice, and no helping hand can reach them. ”

“ It
takes the requisite heat from itself in order that the change of
state may be accomplished. So soon as the skate passes on, the
water resumes the solid state. It is probable that there is an
instantaneous escape, and re-freezing of some of the water from
beneath the skate, the skate instantly taking a fresh bearing and
melting more ice. The temperature of the water escaping from
beneath the skate, or left behind by it, immediately becomes what
it was before the skate pressed upon it. ”

“ This movement skated to a centre is very difficult, and is a great test of good skating, and many men make a practice of devoting five or ten minutes to skating it every{62} day when they come on the ice, feeling that if they can skate it, making the curves between the turns of equal length and making the turns clean without any scrape and yet coming true to the centre, they are in good form and equal to skate anything that may be required of them. ”

“ Every boy who has skated knows that when the ice is very thin he must skate rapidly, else he may break through. In the same way, a stone may be skipped over the water for considerable distances. If it stops in any one place it sinks instantly. ”

“ Never look at your feet, as it is almost impossible to keep your balance when doing so. Look straight in front of you at a spot about level with your eyes.
There are various ways of stopping yourself. One is to dig the heel of your skate in the ice and turn the other foot sidewise. Another is to direct your course around a circle and to stop your forward pushing; but perhaps the best way is to turn your toes in, thus putting the line of your skate across the direction of your forward movement. ”

“ There is a new skate now in use by the London Skating Club, [319] called the elastic skate, or spring skate, in which a spring is introduced at the bottom of the foot, which keeps it fast in every part. Skates are also now made of gutta percha, and these are well worthy the notice of the young skater.
HOW TO START UPON THE INSIDE EDGE.
Having risen to the perpendicular, the learner should first ascertain, by moving his feet about on the ice, whether the skates are firmly and comfortably fixed on his feet. ”

“ Crowds of pedestrians were sauntering to and fro on the shores of the Serpentine to watch the rapid and graceful evolutions of the skaters. Rings of spectators were formed on the ice itself around the most practised proficients; while without these exclusive circles little ragged urchins, some without jackets, some minus hats or caps, amused themselves by gliding along extensive slides—their cheeks glowing with the exercise, their faces looking as full of enjoyment as that of the most aristocratic skater who cut the figure S on the ice. ”

“ The mere presence of an assisting hand will often aid the ambitious skater in the first mastery of a difficult balance or the sustaining of a long spiral. Individual skating, when it is highly perfected, tends somewhat toward an over-abundance of dance steps and toe movements, while pair skating remains skating at its best—the long, sweeping, exquisitely poised curves carried over two hundred feet of glistening ice. ”

“ People darted suddenly into the picture, materialising in full detail in the space of a moment, then rushed out of it again, dwindling into insignificant black dots which merged themselves into the continuously shifting throng beyond.
At last she bent her steps towards the lower end of the rink, by common consent reserved for beginners in the art of skating. She had not skated for several years, owing to a severe strain which had left her with a weak ankle, and she felt somewhat nervous about starting again.
Rather slowly she fastened on her skates and ventured tentatively on to the ice. ”

“ They belong to a great class of figures like cross-cuts in all their varieties, beaks, pigs-ears, &c., in which the skater nearly, or actually, stops still for a moment, and then, by a swing of the body or leg, resumes or reverses his movement. By this momentary loss and recovery of balance there is opened out to the skater whole new fields of intricate and delightful movements, and the patterns that can be traced on the ice are of endless variety. ”

“ It was the day following Christmas, and such a day as long dwells in one’s memory of perfect winter days; scarcely a cloud in the sky, and the air filled with a crispness which set one’s blood a-tingle. The world wore her white robes of the season, bedecked with a thousand sparkling jewels. The river was frozen nearly across, and on its glistening surface groups of skaters darted about, or pushed ice-chairs, in which were seated older or less vigorous bodies for whom skating was not. ”

“ It is natural that the art of skating should come to us from the North, for it is in the land of ice and snow that the problem of traversing the frozen surface of the snow-covered ground and the ice-bound water would have to be solved. ”

“ There is an exhilaration and rhythm about ice waltzing which nothing equals. The skating stroke is long and swaying and fits the music better than dancing steps can be made to do. Probably the waltz, owing to its ease of accomplishment, will be the most stimulating influence toward making ice skating popular among both men and women. Almost any couple capable of skating the simplest of the school figures can learn the waltz on ice, whether they dance or not, in a very few trials.
The steps are the forward and backward outside edges and the threes. ”

“ With this kind of unrestricted opportunity the skaters blossomed in all directions, inventing new leaps, jumps, spins and positions, in ways they only the truly artistically expressive can do.
When the time came for that year's Winter Festivals and Carnivals— virtually every prize was won by one of the "Winter Wonderlanders," as they had come to be known that year. . .those for whom a skating life was a joy. . .not work. . .those who wanted to skate more than they wanted the prizes or recognition. ”