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Tuesday, January 15, 2002

By Ann Rodgers-Melnick, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The Rink at PPG Place is the most beautiful that I've seen in 30 years of working and working out at ice rinks across the nation.

Unfortunately, its greatest visual asset is also its greatest limitation. To quote from Philippe Candeloro's routine to George of the Jungle: "Watch out for that tree!"

	Ann Rodgers-Melnick tries out the ice at The Rink at PPG Place. (Franka Bruns, Post-Gazette)

I am a former figure skating coach (although I'm so out of practice that I no longer skate as well as my long-ago students did). When I first heard that the rink would have a huge, granite-filled Christmas tree in its center, I was furious. I fumed that it was a rink that no one who knew how to skate could use. To practice even simple figure skating moves requires use of center ice, and this ice has no center.

I got over it. Although the rink is limiting, I could do more there than I anticipated. Its design was determined by the plaza's large granite obelisk -- now concealed under the Christmas tree -- and the fact that most of the plaza isn't level. Above all, the rink is so darned pretty that I forgive its impracticality.

When I arrived shortly after 2 p.m. on Wednesday, there were fewer than a dozen skaters. The crowds that overwhelmed the rink over Christmas have receded, though attendance soars on weekends.

All-day admission of $5 for adults and $4 for children is paid in a small office. A 30-day pass good weekdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. costs $25. The rink operates from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

The office has lockers for purses and shoes. It also has single-occupancy restrooms.

I had my own skates, but The Rink at PPG Place has about 450 pairs of figure and hockey skates available for a $3 rental. They are very sturdy and fasten with buckles.

When I arrived the ice was rough and rutted, which makes it hard to skate well. After the Zamboni resurfaced the ice 45 minutes later, I was much happier and could get a real workout. But it would be dangerous to skate at high speed at PPG. The tree creates line of sight problems. Someone skating too fast might not see a slow-moving skater around the bend in time to avoid a crash.

That said, the rink is well-supervised. Two or three guards scanned the ice at all times. The reason that my editors know that I (used to) skate well is that in 1995 I knocked myself out of work for a couple of months after breaking my jaw on a camel spin. That experience reinforced my awareness of the importance of well-trained rink personnel.

So I was delighted to learn that the PPG rink guards have first-aid training. Before it opened, city paramedics came to practice removing an injured skater from the ice. That's a sign of a well-run rink.

I don't jump much any more, and jumping wouldn't work at PPG unless I was alone on the ice. My launch and landing patterns would send me straight into the tree or the railing. But because there were very few people on the ice, I used the corners to do a few spins. Most skaters avoid the corners of this unusual square rink so they don't have to make sharp turns. But that free space would disappear if more people were on the ice.

The Rink at PPG Place has an excellent sound system, with speakers hidden in the Christmas tree. The acoustics were surprisingly good.

Shoppers and business people slowed or paused as they crossed the plaza to watch the skaters. And the rink has tried to make spectators comfortable.

There are rinkside cafe tables to enjoy hot drinks and snacks from Cool Beans. An outdoor cafe might not sound inviting in the dead of winter, but powerful heaters have been placed among the tables. It's a more pleasant place than many hockey rinks for nonskating parents to watch their children.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself on The Rink at PPG Place. I will try to make good use of it before it closes for the season at the end of February. The tree is scheduled to come down Jan. 22. I will miss it. It may be an obstacle, but it sure is pretty.