A sign in the elevator that lifts you from the ground floor up to the sky rink at Chelsea Piers reads “A great place to learn to skate!” alongside pictures of adorable children and an awkward couple on ice.
A half-hour later, as I negotiate the ice in a pair of cracked, half-plastic rental skates, struggling to hang onto the top of the wall around the rink, I’m not so sure I agree. A “great place to learn to skate!” would feature thick, padded handles on the wall to grab onto, a stand serving Mast Brothers hot cocoa and a masseuse on call. There is none of that here, just hockey dudes and graceful women skating in circles in the middle of the rink while I cling to the side, desperate to remain upright.
In front of me, a middle-aged newbie warming up before our lesson and grabing at the rail trips and body-slams himself against the Plexiglas wall. I am filled with dread.
I grew up in California, so strapping blades to my feet and learning to slide around on a cold, hard, slippery surface wasn’t part of my childhood — save for one unpleasant day at a slushy Sacramento rink that left me with damp jeans and burning shins. But, for many New Yorkers, especially those who grew up in cold climates, it was, and they seem to regard ice skating as some sort of necessary-for-survival skill most everyone just knows how to do, like swimming or driving (both of which I’m quite capable of, I’ll have you know).
A few years back, my colleagues at the time went so far as to deem a Bryant Park ice-skating trip an appropriate holiday party. I skipped it and maintained my dignity.
But, it seems I’m not so alone in my icy ineptitude. Every Monday night at 7, about 40 or so adults — typically professionals in their 20s and 30s — go to Chelsea Piers to learn to ice skate. For $37, students get 20 minutes of warm-up time, a 30-minute group lesson, another 30 minutes of practice and skate rental. More advanced skaters can take private lessons, or just enjoy skating on ice that is blessedly free of maniacally sliding 3-year-olds and preteen Michelle Kwannabes. “It’s very popular,” the rink’s director of figure skating Ken Benson says of the adults-only night. “Adults are more open to trying new things in New York City than they are in the rest of the country.”
Jabaz Mathai, the Plexiglas body-slammer who attended the most recent class, is a case in point. Mathai, a banker who grew up in India and now lives in Long Island City, had never been on the ice before when he and a pal, fellow rookie Dee Dee Smith, 42, tried it. It’s “just another adventure for me!” Mathai, 41, says.
Smith, a native Texan, says, “I was petrified.” Another neophyte, administative assistant Olivia Ansong, 35, from The Bronx, was surprised by how many people were there to learn. “I visit Citi Pond [in Bryant Park] quite a bit, and I thought everybody knew how to skate,” she says.
Instructor Greg Wittrock, 50, is charged with teaching the absolute beginners, and he seeks to eliminate any fear from the start by teaching students how fall. “It’s inevitable,” he tells our group, in a moment that doesn’t exactly reassure me. “So I’m going to teach you how.”
He has us squat down and then shows us to fall to the side and safely land on a hip. After getting back upright, we’re instructed to stick our arms straight out in front of us, bend our knees, lean forward and work on transferring our weight from one skate to the other, picking our feet up off the ice just bit. Then he has us do the same while turning our toes out, and suddenly we’re moving slowly across the ice.
Wittrock, who’s been teaching for 18 years and skates professionally in theatrical productions, makes an effort to see the comfort level of each of his students, rather than stick to a set lesson plan.
He tries, Wittrock says, “to see where they are in their body and their physicality, to see what their relationship is with the skates. It’s really about the relationship [between student and instructor] and bringing somebody into a state of peace with their body.”
While it might all sound a bit new age-y, on the ice it works. “I enjoyed Greg’s teaching style,” says Richa Malhotra, a 35-year-old Midtown-West resident who works in digital marketing and has already signed up for six sessions. “It was very encouraging, yet he was firm and clear about the right and wrong ways to do things, and prompt to call you out on the spot.”
By the end of the lesson, Wittrock has taught us to go forward and backward, slow down, perform a snow-plow stop and practice making swivel patterns by moving our skates in and out as we coast. No one has fallen. “It was much easier than I expected,” says Smith, the Texan, who took to the ice like a natural. After a while, she says she “wanted to go fast and just take off around the rink.”
As I glided (sorta) across the ice, my unpleasant childhood memory was replaced by a thrilling feeling of vague competence. I felt the same way.
While I still maintain that the only ice holiday office-parties should involve are the cubes chilling my gin cocktail, I’m planning to return to the rink next week.
Adult Skate Night at Chelsea Piers; 23rd Street at Hudson River Park; 212-336-6100, chelseapiers.com. Monday nights from 7 to 8:20.
Breaking the ice
My trusty instructor-miracle worker Greg Wittrock shares his tips for first-time skaters:
Tied right Be sure to lace up your skates correctly and all the way to the top. “They should be tightest around the ankle joint,” Wittrock says. “Your want the support that the boot is going to offer you.”
Make an entrance First-timers stepping on to the ice should keep their hands out in front of them. Doing so, Wittrock says, “brings the weight onto the ball of your foot, where it should be, and starts directing your energy forward.”
Easy does it “Take your time and really feel what your limitations are,” Wittrock says. Concentrate on your own skating, and don’t worry about others who may be struggling or have fallen. “Be a hero to yourself, especially when you’re out there for the first time.”
We all fall down If you feel unsteady, put your hands on your knees to regain balance. Too late? Fall correctly to avoid injury. “Contract your stomach muscles, bring your head forward and surrender your weight to the ice,” says Wittrock. “You want the majority of [your] weight to fall on your hips.”
Hit the ice
Chelsea Piers isn’t the only place where adults can learn to skate. Here are some other options:
Aviator Sports & Events Center
The Brooklyn mega-venue has a small adult “learn to skate” program.
Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to noon; $270 for 10 weeks plus $35 Aviator membership, skate rental included. Floyd Bennett Field, 3159 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn; 718-758-7514, aviatorsports.com.
Trump Lasker Rink
The kids’ program is popular, and many parents and nannies decide they want to learn, too.
Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. Four sessions for $114. Each session includes a half hour of instruction, half hour of free skating and skate rental.
Near the Central Park entrance at 110th Street and Lenox Avenue; 347-880-0528 laskerrink.com
The Rink at Rockefeller Center
Take a private lesson for one or two people at the famed rink.
$30 to $35 for a half hour of instruction, plus an hour of free skating; $10 for skate rental.
Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th streets, 212-332-7655, therinkatrockcenter.com
Trump Wollman Rink
The adult “foundation” program works similarly to a gym membership. For $375 for the rest of the season, you can drop in for unlimited lessons six days a week and enjoy public skating hours at no extra charge. Getting your own skates is recommended.
The season runs through April 6; classes are held one or two times daily, Sundays to Fridays.
Near the Central Park entrance at 59th Street and Sixth Avenue; 212-439-6900, wollmanskatingrink.com