Indoor Ice Rink

The bright white ice shines with the everlasting smiles of the children as they happily bounce around the rink, hammering into each other, careening this way and that, seemingly without a care in the world, be they vertical or horizontal most of the time. You stand to the side, holding on for dear life, trying not to slip onto your bottom as obviously the skill to skate left you ages ago and does not seem to be returning anytime soon. An ice rink is a frozen body of water and/or hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Besides recreational ice skating, some of its uses include ice hockey, figure skating and curling as well as exhibitions, contests and ice shows. There are two types of rinks in prevalent use today: natural, where freezing occurs from cold ambient temperatures, and artificial (or mechanically-frozen), where a coolant produces cold temperatures in the surface below the water, causing the water to freeze. There are also synthetic ice rinks where skating surfaces are made out of plastics. Many ice rinks consist of open bodies of water such as lakes, ponds, canals, and sometimes rivers; these can only be used in the winter in climates where the surface would freeze thickly enough to support human weight. Rinks can also be made in cold climates by enclosing a level area of ground, filling it with water, and letting it freeze. Snow may even be packed to use as a containment material.