In the dog days of summer, most head to water parks, the river or swimming holes to cool off, but on one afternoon last week, Vancouverites and out-of-towners went to Mountain View Ice Arena.
The light breeze of 40-degree air conditioning and 15-degree ice rink welcomed skaters as they entered the door. The building is kept cooler in the summer because outside warmth seeps in through the tin roof even though the walls are concrete.
“So when it’s 100 degrees outside, we’re essentially just cooking, right?” said Tabea Kunzelmann, 25-year-old competitive skater and Mountain View Ice Arena employee.
When Kunzelmann started working in February, the ice temperature ranged from 18 to 20 degrees. “Hockey likes it really hard, and figure skaters like it a little softer,” Kunzelmann said. The arena tries to meet in the middle to satisfy both groups.
The Academy
Established in 1999, Mountain View Ice Arena still is the only ice arena in Southwest Washington. Rico Roman, a three-time sled hockey gold medalist in the Paralympics and Purple Heart recipient, trained at Mountain View and still frequently skates there. Tonya Harding, a former professional figure skater and U.S. Olympian, also skates there on occasion.
But like most businesses, COVID-19 took a toll on the arena. After closing its doors for nearly eight months, management launched Mountain View Skating Academy in January 2021.
The academy relaunched Learn-to-Skate, a program for beginners to skate safely and learn basic skills. In the summer of 2022, the Learn-to-Play hockey and Learn-to-Compete figure skating programs launched.
Mountain View Skating Academy’s Learn-to-Skate is one of the top three largest programs in the state this year with only one rink, and the other two programs have multiple rinks, said Leslie Brooks-Foppe, the skating program manager, a skating coach and former competitive figure skater. Currently the academy has 20 figure skating coaches, three junior coaches, six assistant coaches and 10 hockey coaches.
“We wanted to get them here more, but keep it very cost-effective,” said Brooks-Foppe. “So we started memberships just like a gym.”
Performing On Ice
On one end of the rink, 17-year-old Junior Coach Natasha Saladin held 6-year-old Hugo Faison’s hands as she taught him figure skating skills. Hockey players free skated in the middle of the rink as children and other community members free skated along the wall.
Saladin was born in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, but has called Vancouver home since she was 7. For around 11 years, Saladin has dedicated time on and off the ice to practice choreography and strengthen her skills. She’s a gold medalist in freestyle and moves in the field and a pre-gold medalist in ice dance.
Skaters can test at different levels for multiple skating disciplines: preliminary, pre-bronze, bronze, pre-silver, silver, pre-gold and gold.
“With this sport, there’s been so many ups and downs. For me it’s really pushing through and going through my own goals and accomplishing those,” she said.
Saladin traveled to national camps this summer. Last year, she competed in the Excel Competition Series as a national finalist. “The (Excel) Series (has) skaters that might not be able to complete triples and quads yet,” Brooks-Foppe said. “But your skating skills and your spins still have to be just as competitive.”
Figure skaters can take different routes to compete depending on skill level. Now Saladin is competing in the National Qualifying Series, which follows the Olympic route, Brooks-Foppe said.
Saladin said ice skating can be isolating, but the classes in the academy create a community.
The academy offers ballet training to help with balance, choreography and skill. It also offers Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis methods, where joints move naturally through various movements that don’t cause jarring or compression. Both classes increase strength, flexibility and stamina.
“I used to be a dancer, so competitions are similar to ballet performances,” said Kunzelmann, who was born in Germany, moved to Los Angeles and then to Portland. “It kind of feels the same, but a bit more scary because the ice is really slippery.”
Kunzelmann competes in figure skating in the adult division. Ariel Melton, 22, of Vancouver aspires to compete in the adult division as well once the Learn-to-Skate program is completed.
“I’m in the awkward age of an adult where I’m not in school anymore, so there aren’t any clubs or sports for me,” Melton said. “I’ve always wanted to try ice skating, and this place had a program for adults.”
The programs have opportunities for all ages. Hugo’s parents, older brother and sister from Salmon Creek also skate at Mountain View Ice Arena.
As Hugo spun on the ice, his older brother Walter Faison, 10, laced up his skates. Walter started skating when he was his little brother’s age and started competing over a year ago.
“My mom first started taking me (skating) when she found out I had a love of music, and she thought the choreography would be fun for me,” Walter said.
Walter competed at Ice Fest in Seattle, one of the largest Northwest competitions, and placed second. He’s moved up to a more difficult level doing an axel, which involves a forward jump taking off on your left foot, spinning 1½ times in the air and landing. To prepare for a competition, he goes through the basic choreography and footwork, practices spins, presentation and jumps.
“We say that we strive for perfection — but there’s no such thing as perfection, so you must give yourself grace and go for it,” Brooks-Foppe said.
Pass The Puck
Hunter Akey, 19, of Vancouver started in the Learn-to-Skate program. He then joined the arena’s hockey program, Learn-to-Play, when he got a job there about seven months ago.
“I got into hockey for a mental health thing,” he said. “I was looking for something after COVID.”
Akey has learned basic power skating, forward crossovers, backward crossovers, general puck skills, shooting, slap shots and more.
“The Learn-to-Play program requires them to do skating skills on one day and hockey skills on another day,” Brooks-Foppe said. “So they don’t just come in and play hockey like they used to. We got to do both.”
Hockey players can practice recreationally or for competition, and eventually get into a team playing league games. Brooks-Foppe said Mountain View hosts a men’s league tournament every year in June, and teams come from all over to compete.
“If you’re looking to get into hockey or ice sports in general, I think this is probably the best place to come,” Akey said. “It’s made a really big impact on me in a lot of ways, but especially trying to progress in skills.”
