With Christmas almost here, skating outdoors makes a festive pursuit, followed by hot chocolate and a roasting fire (chestnuts optional).
Following is our guide to the four local outdoor skating rinks.
TSAWWASSEN SPRINGS
The latest outdoor rink in Metro Vancouver, Tsawwassen Springs opened earlier this month.
It was built by businessman and Vancouver Giants owner Ron Toigo and partners as part of a development that also includes a golf course, residential real estate, world-class fitness facilities and Pat Quinn’s Restaurant and Bar.
“There’s nothing like skating outdoors,” Toigo said. “And when it’s crisp out at night and the ice is good and hard, it’s just great.”
When Toigo was growing up in the Lower Mainland, local ponds such as Trout Lake and Lost Lagoon often froze over and would fill with skaters and shinny players.
It’s been a couple of decades since ice on local ponds froze to a safe enough thickness to skate on, so any added outdoor skating venue is appreciated.
The Tsawwassen Springs rink is strung with lights, has a 30-foot Christmas tree adorning one end, and is next to the patio of Pat Quinn’s.
“We wanted to try to recreate a New York atmosphere like at the Rockefeller Centre, on a much smaller scale, of course,” Toigo said.
Admission: $10/adults, $5/kids
No skate rentals
Hours (weather permitting): Saturdays and holidays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 1-9 p.m.; weekdays, 5-9 p.m.; open on Christmas Day
ROBSON CENTRE
The 2010 Olympics saved this Arthur Erickson-designed rink.
Completed early in the 1980s, the rink part of Robson Centre was shut down in the late 2000s but received a $2-million, pre-Olympics upgrade.
It reopened in 2009 and was a popular attraction throughout the Winter Games.
You could get a group of friends together and book the ice for an hour during the Olympics. Even a 5 a.m. shinny game would draw a crowd of spectators made up of Olympic tourists.
The on-ice pace has since returned to casual public skates.
“This isn’t exactly the Rideau Canal,” said Joel McGraw, visiting from the Ottawa area, after taking off his rental skates recently. “But it is pretty cool. It’s just nice to skate and not be in an arena. And there’s so much to do nearby.”
Where else can you skate, check out some Emily Carr paintings at the nearby Vancouver Art Gallery, then zip home on the Canada Line, all within a block’s walk of each other?
Admission: Free
Skate rentals: $4, including helmet
Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-11 p.m.; Dec. 24 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; Dec. 25 Noon-5 p.m.; Dec. 31/Jan. 1 9 a.m.-11 p.m.
GROUSE MOUNTAIN
Nothing says Christmas like snow, of course, and to find snow and outdoor skating you need to head uphill.
Grouse’s 8,000-square-foot rink, with Santa’s Workshop and the Fireside Hut in the background and bonfire pit in the foreground, looks like a Hallmark Christmas card come to life.
“It’s been quite busy, lots of people out on nice days and weekends,” said Grouse spokeswoman Julia Grant.
Skating began in November and the rink is open all day. The ice can also be rented by the hour for shinny games.
There are visits with Santa between noon and 8 p.m. (by appointment, with donations to the SOS Children’s Village) and two reindeer named Dancer and Prancer. New this year is the Light Walk, a tunnel of light around Blue Grouse Lake.
Admission: Included in ticket up the mountain
Rentals: Skates $8; helmets $2.50
Hours: 9 a.m.-10 p.m.; Dec. 24 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Dec. 25 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Dec. 31 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
WHISTLER OLYMPIC PLAZA
Not many places in the world light up at Christmas like Whistler-Blackcomb.
Skating is free at Olympic Plaza, under thousands of lights strung throughout Whistler Village.
Rentals: $5, including helmet
Hours (weather permitting): 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (closed for maintenance 2-3 p.m. and 5:30-6:30 p.m.); Dec. 24 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Dec. 25 Noon-4 p.m.; Dec. 31 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; 6 p.m.-midnight
Dec. 20: Skate with Santa, 3-5 p.m.
