Ice Skating - Nordic and Hockey

For the first time in my life, I tried ice skating. I have always wanted to do it when I stayed in Selangor. We have Sunway Pyramid with an ice skating rink but I did not attempt it. I did not have the lust then to try. It was more like - okay, I will try one day, but I did not have any urge for it.

Now, that I am in Sweden, and one obviously ice skates during winter (one of the winter sports), I thought I should join the crowd. Since I was tight on budget, I was very happy when I found an activity in Meetup to try Nordic ice skating for free. I did not know the difference between Nordic and hockey ice skating, and I just clicked yes to go because it is ice skating! 

I read that one is prone to falling down a lot while learning to ice skate. So, I invested in elbow, wrist and knee protection which is sold in one package for SEK200/RM100. This thing is not sold in many places though as they are uncommon to be used which I find it unusual. I guess everyone is invincible when they ice-skate except for me. 

5 December 2017

My first ice skating session. It is located in Ostermalm Ice Skating Rink. The free trial was for 1.5 hours and was for 3 months. I think Nordic Ice Skating is still rare and so this is their way to encourage it. The only thing I paid for is the helmet which I rented for SEK20/RM10.

Nordic skates have longer blades than the usual hockey skates and be used on frozen lakes. As skating on frozen lakes involves walking between lakes or around sections not suitable for skating, the blades can be easily removed from the boots. 

A small stall where one can rent ice skates and helmets.

That is my shoes in Nordic Skates. Gosh, my feet felt so heavy with them attached. My ankles felt really heavy. It felt like there was a rock under my feet and it felt heavy to lift the foot.

There were 2 helpers from the Skating Club that helped me to find my balance and taught me about shifting weights between both legs. I did not fall because I kept saying - Don't let me go. So, during the first session, Bo (the gentleman with the yellow jacket) held me the whole time. 

All photos of me at Ostermalm Skating Rink were taken by Greger Lindkvist.

6 December 2017

The next day, I tried ice skating with hockey skates. The shoes were lighter and more stable. I rented the skates and helmet for SEK70/RM35. It was at Kungstradgarden. There was a small ice skating rink and it gets really crowded though. I did this once only because I can't afford to rent SEK70 each time. 

19 December 2017

I tried to go almost every week for the free Nordic ice skating sessions. This is my second time with Nordic skates and I fell down this time. It was such a shock when I fell on the ground. But I got slightly better at skating, although still stiff.

9 January 2018

Another time with Nordic ice skating. This time, I could skate around the rink without assistance but it was super slow. I took 20 minutes where it usually takes 1 minute. Sometimes, I stare too hard at my feet that I lose my rhythm and I wobbled.

In total, I think I did ice skating 7 times. Still not an expert yet. I will try again this winter!