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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Blade Runner: Bryan Oliveri, 8, reluctantly packs up his skates after a spin on the ice at San Jose's downtown ice rink.
A Date to Skate
Ice skating under the stars is a San Jose winter tradition
By Jessica Lyons
I'm waiting in line at the downtown San Jose ice rink for my size 8 skates, balancing my sock-only foot on top of my shoe. Four people ahead of me--a mom, two young girls and my skating partner, Tom--assume similar flamingo positions, as we all try to keep our feet warm and dry.
"I'm scared," one of the girls says. "If I'm in the middle of the rink and I don't know what to do, I'm just going to crawl."
That sounds like a pretty good idea, I think. Especially after Tom offers a few encouraging words: "If you bail, you're on your own."
We hobble into the rink and join the masses skating in circles to Top 40 tunes.
The Nortel Networks Downtown Ice rink at the corner of Market and San Carlos streets has become a San Jose tradition. Together with its next-door neighbor, Christmas in the Park, it provides a healthy dose of holiday cheer to even the sourest Grinches in the area. But 1999 is the fifth and final year for the ice rink's holiday home. In March, the corner lot will become the site of a new 494-room convention center hotel.
"It's a unique experience for many native Californians to be able to skate under the stars," says Noell Knell, a spokesperson for the Downtown Association. "We're used to having to do all these winter activities indoors. The downtown rink gives us a taste of what the East Coast residents get to experience."
The association hopes to keep the rink near the Plaza de Cesar Chavez' Christmas in the Park, Knell says. Downtowners are considering a parking lot at Market and San Carlos streets; a lot under construction behind the convention center; Park Avenue in front of the Tech Museum; and even the park itself as potential skating grounds for the new millennium.
Like every ice rink in the country, Downtown Ice has its fixtures: kids wearing Santa hats, dads skating hand-in-hand with tiny daughters, and a handful of "good" skaters, the kind who take up the entire rink.
Willow Glen resident Linda Tumas is one of the many skaters enjoying the mild December weather at the downtown rink. Tumas is also a member of Big Sisters. Her "little sister," 8-year-old Yui Enomori, had the idea to skate today. Yui says she's been skating once before--last year, at the downtown ice rink. She's says she's a "pretty good" skater, and she likes to skate "fast, but not too fast."
Big Sis and Little Sis lace their skates and glide away. My feet are sore, and Tom's ears are cold, so we exit the rink. We take off our skates, make the one-footed hop back to the rental window and retrieve our shoes.
"It was fun," Tom says. "I would have skated longer if I had ear muffs."
Downtown Ice is at the corner of Market and San Carlos streets through Jan. 17. Admission is $6 per 90-minute session, and $3 for skate rentals. Skate sessions begin at 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 4, 6, 8 and 10 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m., noon, 2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; and 10 a.m., noon, 2, 4, 6, and 8 p.m. Sundays.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
