For figure skaters, the ice should be 2.5-4 degrees, for hockey players - -5-6. Water for filling must be prepared:
- with no impurities, including chlorine (i.e. you cannot use water from the tap or from the heating system);
- water temperature + 45+55 degrees, hot water allows you to make ice of better quality (i.e. it melts small roughness and fragments);
Ice thickness
For both figure skaters and hockey players it should be 3-5 cm from the concrete base. It should not be too soft - the ribs cut strongly and deeply, it is impossible to make a good stopper when performing such elements as the Axel, the top jump. But it should not be hard, as they say, “overfrozen” - the edge flies off and the skate “does not roll” due to the lack of lubrication, which should be formed when the skate comes into contact with the ice. Some people like hard ice, some like soft ice, but the main thing, as skaters say, is to skate.
After training, there are always many holes, holes, potholes, and deep marks from the teeth. Our pourers simply sprinkle them with “wet snow,” compact them and fill them. But, for example, in Japan there are special devices like fire extinguishers, with a mixture of snow and foam, which immediately freezes on the ice.
"Working day" of the ice field
It starts at six o'clock in the morning and ends around midnight. Hockey players, short track speed skaters, figure skaters, and, finally, mass skating pass through it. And this does not take into account the hourly cleaning and filling. The main mystery of ice preparation begins at night. A special small machine removes ice deposits along the side, then the ice is cleaned so that it becomes “dry”, potholes and holes left after training are “puttyed” on dry ice, and the ice is leveled with water from a hose. In the morning the ice is poured.
The task of the cold shop is to correctly determine the required ice temperature at which the ice will melt and slide when in contact with the ridge.
Refrigeration machines are controlled by processors, all parameters are monitored by electronic sensors. But the human factor still plays an important role. The refrigeration unit itself operates automatically, but the condition of the ice in several arenas needs to be monitored. It can be identified by its tracks on the ice. The combine operator must work together with representatives of the refrigeration department. And, of course, the quality of ice largely depends on factors such as time of year, humidity, air outflow and inflow. Double pouring improves the quality of ice - when the ice is poured once, it is allowed to stand and poured again.
There are many brands of ice melters. Some run on gasoline, others on gas, others on batteries, and each is equipped with a planing knife (which is sharpened after 5-7 days on a special sharpening machine), a hopper for receiving cut ice and snow, a tank with prepared water for filling and a grinding mat , which evenly distributes hot water and “polishes” the ice.
Interesting numbers
It takes 6 hours to freeze the initial layer of ice from a concrete surface. To prepare the arena for competitions – 24 hours. Ice freezing usually involves 2 units, the electrical power of each of them is 250 kW/hour, and only one is used for maintenance. During pouring, to form ice 4 cm thick, 75 cubic meters of water are poured onto the field, which corresponds to 75 tons.