Iceless Skating Rinks in Japan

[TallRobby]

first asian - brit i have ever heard lol!

[SuperExpressway]

@Revis did he take an arrow to the knee?

[Kryistalia]

my question is what happens when you tear it up to much to skate on anymore...i mean its gotta get ripped up like normal ice right?

[IceMagicInt]

Synthetic Ice rinks are available from Ice-magic com

Come visit us

[HelTra91]

i'm not a figure skater, but i would think it would be scary to dig your toe pick into that for jumps.

[bunnyinskates]

What happens when figure skaters make holes?

[MrGrog88]

i love how the bloke almost lost it

[TheRaceface22]

Ive seen one of these near where I live .  It was a promotional thing . I didnt try it but I watched .

I was surprised at how well people were able to skate on it but you could tell it wasnt all that good . I will stick to inline skates for my off ice practice .

cool idea though

[ManMadeOfSugar]

omg!!!! i would melt  XD

[RickeyFelkner]

More than 20,000 people have learned to speak Japanese with our videos, visit it and learn today! - youtube.com/watch?v=wfseANZtMN­g

[cama9103]

What a shit o_O I dont want it in my city!

[peden64]

You stop as you would on the ice...you only have like 30% of the resistance...its wayyyy slower...but it works

[girlygirl127]

how do you stop on plastic??

[fanboys7]

it's frictional. once you get off the plastic ice, you can feel the blades all warm from the friction.

[lalajonas4]

k thats cool

[buignerry]

beautiful and when i stop they have to change that part of the "ice"

anyone who have seen plastic ice closely have seen it is full with such deep graves which could easily make you fall down.

I have seen that the plastic was like peeled up it was looking really horrible.

[fanboys7]

synthetic ice can make your blades dull

[ggd210]

they save on ice, you waste on blades! lol!

[cutecavity]

Jumps? Not possible? Seems a bit... eugh.

[ggd210]

I hear they can, even spins!! :S

[fanboys7]

it's possible. i saw a boy one time do double axel in there.

[looneybun1]

i think many people are missing the point...its NOT meant to replace ice, it is just something that in countries where ice rinks are shutting down, its at least something they can do to get a little more practice time in... Maybe they cant do everything, but they can at least work on SOME things that without it, maybe they couldnt get to...maybe ice time is limited due to the shutting down of rinks. wouldnt hurt us to do that here, save some US bucks, even if just a few dollars here and there!

[willsing4ramen]

i agree

[willsing4ramen]

i have skated on the nonice plastic surface before it is pretty awesome.

[SimpleAndCleann]

that is fucking awesome.

[BoTheCrazy]

I'm waiting for this my whole life - really ;-)

[leerothuk]

try a snow plough on that stuff OUCH...lol

[Saxaphone140052]

lol i still would do the ice then plactic i the best on my team and i think plastic is bull

[nicksalegend]

i cant ice skate anyway :P

[tylerriendeau]

whaaat? i saw this plastic imitation ice stuff at a hockey rink by me at least 5 years ago.

[icedandfrozen]

its sounds like a great idea...i know for sure ice skating is a costly and demanding sport :)

[ikachanusa]

I wonder what it feels like...

This is a great idea!

If this ice-less rink is used in Countries in South,we may be able to have Winter Olympic in Africa and South America!

[dropdeadobnoxious]

Never tried it but heard it's a bit slower and it takes more energi to skate on the iceless-ice.

[glovesave1995]

yea it does

[JenShima]

yeah, and this would just be used for ametuer practice or recreation, ice would still be the official surface.

[Revis]

@ikachanusa

my friend used to have one of these that was basicly a treadmill for skaters...the coolest thing ever

[MrJohnnyDistortion]

@ikachanusa Very unlikely because of the other sports,skiing for example.

[bbyiceyxxx]

I wonder how it really feels...

I wanna try it!

[waddleduckie1]

Hockey is for clowns. Figure skating is all about grace, beauty, inspiration and passion.

[sophialeb]

Bravo!

[valaistuscinematics]

have you ever watched hockey

get a clue waddleduckie

[sketchWLA]

just because you can't keep up with hockey players, doesn't mean you have to cry about it

[coliquid]

sooooo.

[coastergurl7]

I think that is an awesome idea! I really like how it would cut costs.

[smurfiennes]

i was once skating on that kind of wax/fiber surface but not with blades but with somekind of inline skating but the wheels were much smaller and there was somekind of metal (as wide as the normal blades) around each of that plastic wheel. i dont know the name of the skates though - it was back 25 years ago.

there was somekind of zamboni as well but for shaving the wax/fiber surface -thats correct.

does anyone know the name of the skates?

[Icewolfpromise]

One of the many problems this would have would be when the plastic gets deep scratches in it, they would be there forever, instead of being just smoothed over by the zamboni. The ice skaters would trip and fall if they went over the scratches.

[waddleduckie1]

Iceless skating rink? Woah!!!

[rsim0waterberries]

less air conditioning will be better for the environment

[StarryIllusions]

hmm.. I think there's not much they can do about it. It's gonna cost more if they use the "iceless ice". Plus, that "ice" doesn't look right. xD When I look at it, I feel like I won't be able to skate right.. o.O

[booksandblades]

By cost more, do you mean by when they buy it or by using it? They were saying the whole time that it would be costing less. I personally think this is a smart idea - maybe not for figure skaters but maybe hockey players. I flinch at the idea of using a toe pick here... LOL, I'd like to have this at home so I can just practice spins. I'd prefer this to my skate spinner - it looks more fun.

[macsftw]

Your not supposed to spin on your pick,anyway this would be worse for icehockey where speed and agility is most prevalent.

[bbyiceyxxx]

wow.. but wat is the point of it,, ??

[koibumi2000]

costdown

[Fragacide]

I see problems with this. At the end you notice that just on the demo floor, the plastic had a bunch of indentions. That'll only increase over time and prolonged use. Skating rinks would have to replace it at least once a month or so. May still be cheaper then the icey alternative.

[g4greg2u]

I read some japanese news about it...They resurface using some kind of wax. So the indentations and damage you see in the vid is actually the wax being split by the blades. The actual resin dosent get splintered so easily. So instead of water zambonis, you would have wax zambonies, but no cooling system. THATS where the savings are.

[supadox]

asian guy spekin' de engish?

Now i've seen it all

[hottskatergrl]

how would they resurface?? they said there is no resurfacing but it get cut up.....

[NHspartans14]

First of all who cares about figure skating. this only helps for figur skating not hockey. And HOCKEY IS THE WAY BETTER SPORT BY 100x

[jacksun12]

dont think this will work for ice hockey

[wayngrove]

And if you watch the video closely, the figure skater put cuts in the surface just by gliding around in circles. Imagine trying to come to a full speed stop on it!

[wayngrove]

I Agree Sapien. Can't imagine a plastic surface being too durable. The panels couldn't handle the traffic of more than a few ice hockey games before grooves on the surface become troublesome for skaters and pucks, let alone goalies. Only way would be to design a skate to work on it and not cut, but, like bteeuwen said, you might as well buy roller blades. and peticsu, if you ever fell on ice, you'd know it hurts just as bad or more than a roller surface, but you slide. This stuff's slippery.

[getmewild]

this is a good idea for recreational skaters but not to competing skaters...

they wont be able to jump there..

no lutz.. no flip... no toe loop...

cant imagine figure skating...

[eternalfoxx]

lol@ the guy who almost fell.

[apgully47]

I just like the asian anchor with the australian accent, haha, awesome!

[Sigrafix]

For the kids.. what a bunch of bs.

It's clearly all about profits as this material appeals more to rink owners rather than having to pay and maintain costly ice surfaces.. but to be there with a straight face and say they developed it to help the young up and coming ice skating hopefuls.. LOL.

We all know how important Ice Skating is anyway right.. I mean, didn't all of you practice figure skating as children after school?.. :\

Should of just appealed to recreational users, instead of lying.

[evanjoecool]

XD he does have an accent

[Maddux99]

HA! An Asian dude with an Australian accent.

[bralen24]

They should install this at all local parks.

[urmoma443433]

ya i think this would be neat in a park or sumin but its not the same as real ice.

[havokflicks]

ok ice is important though its almost a tradition the feeling of stepping ont he ice and the cold chill the sound of the ice as you stop its just the way to go... even though this is pretty neat i wouldent want to skate on this

[1011375]

Of course ice is a tradition in ice skating, but we DO live in the 21st century. It's the smarter and more efficient way to go, really.

[havokflicks]

and i agree with that but especially with hockey which is a very traditional sport i do not think that should be changed for hockey. you wont see soccer change much becuase its a very loved sport and tradition

[pantswoot2]

you guys are all forgetting the most important thing... ice hockey is more important than figure skating and figure skating only f*cks up the ice!

I wonder what it would be like to play hockey on this...

P.S. all figure skating enthusiasts should either ignore my message (although it is true) or stop flaming us who tell you the truth...

P.S.S. go get your own damn rinks figure skaters...

[getmewild]

yeah.. like they are hurting each other all the time... what;s good on that... yeah.. ice hockey...

[pantswoot]

yo just to let u retards out there know (getmewild for example) you don't hurt each other in hockey...

getmewild you are just another typical ignorant dipshit on this site

plz refrain from commenting on things you know nothing about...

ty ^_^ and have a nice day...

P.S. if this offends anyone other than getmewild plz just hit alt+f4

[getmewild]

yeah.. do you know about figure skating?

sucker! LOL

[pantswoot2]

wow "sucker"

that really hurts...

and i know that it fucks up the ice for hockey players...

you can't skate over the giant holes that they put in the ice

so yeah... i do know

P.S. once again plz hit alt+f4 if you do not wish to view these comments

[getmewild]

LOL.. just keep hitting the "fuck" pantswoot2

[drummerwes81]

so....I'm a hockey player. If I'm skating full speed for a puck against a defender and I need to stop quickly, won't I basically break my ankle and flop on the "ice" like I would if I were to hockey stop wearing roller blades?

[macsftw]

Thats exactly what i was thinking, tight turns wouldn't work also.

[MrJohnnyDistortion]

@drummerwes81 Even worse;your ankles would completely break "off",leaving your skates stuck upright in the "plastice", bleeding to death from your ankles.

[xXrockmeXx]

thats awesome.

at least when you fall and hit your face it wont hurt as much

:]

[macsftw]

It's just as solid as ice.....

[PariseandBrodeur]

It's called synthetic ice. There are a ton of sites on the internet that sell them. Why is this so new for the japanese?

[maxwellcarl]

this sounds neat.... but will never be the same sensation.

p.s. figure skaters destroy the ice with their dumb toe picks. they should use these... and put springs under it while your at it... like the floor exercise

[allshallperishCHEAA]

this doesnt sound like steven irvin

[TooManySnakes]

definately not.

[allshallperishCHEAA]

thank youuuu

[thatniggapaid]

who cares?

[mikesadick]

This has been around in th US since the 80s

[vmkroxmysox]

Wouldn't it be SUPER hard to jump without using ur toe pick to land??

[JonnysVitamins]

uhh...For all my jumps, I need the toe picks like IN the ice...Wouldn't it be a bit hard to restore the plastic w/ huge dents from the toepicks??

[TreUrvawi]

I agree. How would a figure skater use their toe picks on this new ice less rink while performing their jumps? It's a plastic, so wouldn't using a toe pick on it just tear the boards up? (I get the wax coating thing. But still... ;P) Cool idea though.

~T're

[amarmehta01]

they will make skates without toe picks

[vamosnippon]

Evolution to the skates as well.

[thewatcher1966]

i like it..

[Starsfanfrvr]

That would take all of the fun away form hockey. Ice hockey will always be best.

[icecreamman93]

I like normal ice

[WFwolverines]

this isn't new at all. its just synthetic ice.. look it up.. it works great, my friend built a synthetic ice rink in his backyard.. it allows you to play hockey all summer long

[XTHHaseo]

I seen that type of iceless ice in many places. Its actually a good idea.

[wakunahum]

When you completely "bite" it, I wonder if you glide like you do on ice OR get that horrible burn you get from sliding on a gym floor.

[consegleo]

i think were all missing the point. an asian wit a british accent wtf.

[Bloodgod40]

that's an australian accent stupid

[LuvnJCandJB]

"There aren't enough rinks in Japan, so this is definitely a plus. It may be difficult to practice everything on this rink surface, but it's good for partial moves like spins and steps." um that is kind of bad! what about jumps? i don't reall think it's a good idea. When i start figure skating lessons i want to skate on ice

[sapienturk]

How do they smooth it out? I mean, wouldn't there be unrepairable wear and tear? That would suck to buy new panels every few weeks.

[wayngrove]

I Agree Sapien. Can't imagine a plastic surface being too durable. The panels couldn't handle the traffic of more than a few ice hockey games before grooves on the surface become troublesome for skaters and pucks, let alone goalies. Only way would be to design a skate to work on it and not cut, but, like bteeuwen said, you might as well buy roller blades. and peticsu, if you ever fell on ice, you'd know it hurts just as bad or more than a roller surface, but you slide. This stuff's slippery.

[18009011102]

They said they put a special wax on it. Maybe its like really hard or somthing i dont know.

[estskyline]

Interesting.

[vamosnippon]

The amount of co2 produced to keep the ice is way off the chart compared to this.

[sapienturk]

Would you share how you know this? I am curious how much CO2 a zamboni emits.

[peticsu]

youre screwed if you fall down

[guitarfreek39]

if this is the same stuff i heard about awhile ago it will come off on goalie gear, like when goalies go down. I'd assume it would come off on figure skaters skates as well so i don't know what they plan to do about that

[bteeuwen]

whats the point of this? you mine aswell just get a pair of rollerblades.