With the winter season in full force and many seasonal or permanent rinks open to the public, it’s important that everyone is able to enjoy their time on the ice. To help make sure you and others are able to stay safe, stay skating, and develop those skills, today we’re discussing “right of way” and what expectations you can have—and what expectations you should make about others—when at a public skate event.

Skate Lane

A concept in ice hockey that directly translates to public rinks is that of the “skate lane.” In short, a skate is entitled to their current lane of travel at their current speed. If a skater is moving at a consistent pace, they should be allowed to continue doing so without sudden, unexpected, or unwarranted obstacles.

Being able to “read the ice” and figure out where people are—and more importantly, where they’re going—is a very important skill not only for hockey games but also for public skate events. Being able to predict how people are moving and which gaps are opening and closing allows you to smoothly continue traveling safely near and around other skaters, even on a crowded rink.

Ensuring that your movements and direction of travel flow smoothly and logically helps you have a better experience as well as properly sets expectations for those coming up behind you. Sudden turns, jukes, or stops all increase the chance of an impact, and impacts are generally where injuries happen.

The onus for following this guideline falls on everyone: an experienced or faster skater should not cut off or surprise other skaters, and everyone should avoid making sharp, unexpected, or unadvertised deviations from their lane of travel—including stops—where possible. Suddenly spinning to the left or right means anyone who is coming up behind you has a new, unpredicted situation to deal with, which could cause them to be unable to stop in time, causing a collision. Even if they are able to stop, now the person behind them has to deal with their sudden, unexpected movement, and the failure cascade continues from there, like a multi-car pileup on the highway.

In this circumstance, the skater that was knocked into is mad at the person who came up behind them, while the trailing skater is mad at the person who suddenly changed direction, cutting them off. Later in this article we’ll talk about general rights-of-way and who should get priority, but it’s is everyone’s responsibility to be aware of how their motions and actions could affect those around them.

In general, something as simple as turning your head to check your “blind spot” before changing direction is enough to signal to people behind you that you’re planning to make a move, and more proficient skaters are likely to pick up on this intent and give you plenty of leeway.

As an additional note, there will undoubtedly be people who end up—either through inattention or otherwise—skating in the opposite direction of the general flow. While these skaters don’t generally have the “right of way” in my mind, they should be given a very wide berth as their actions are dangerous, often unpredictable, and likely to cause issues. I liken it to the old adage that a pedestrian may have the right of way, but in a collision the car always wins.

Never Go 100%

There’s a rule in motorcycling that one should never take a turn at 100% of their skill or capacity; if there’s something unexpected ahead, be it a spot of oil, loose gravel, or a stopped car, you don’t have any room to maneuver and a crash is all but imminent. The same applies to public skating—if you’re going all-out, not only do you not have capacity to adapt to changing situations, such as someone turning suddenly into your skate lane, but you’re also likely not giving enough time or attention to the environment and what is comfortable for others.

While you may feel comfortable and confident in your ability to squeeze between two novice skaters with a dead sprint, are you taking the time to consider how they’ll react to an unexpected person flying between them, invading what they very likely feel is their personal space? Even if you don’t touch them, you could cause them to react and fall. At worst someone could get hurt, and even at best they’ll think less of you and of all proficient skaters.

If you’re just on the ice to have some fun, do some simple drills, or wake up some muscles, do not go full-force or game-speed, and recognize that everyone else is there to have fun too—it’s not a competition to see who can go fastest or stop the hardest, and trying to make it one is only liable to get people hurt and soured on the activity both.

The counter or exception to this rule is that the only way to get better at skating is to push yourself, and many novices are more proficient on the ice than they give themselves credit for. Taking your hand from the rail and pushing off for the first time may feel like an enormous risk, but it’s also the first step into a whole suite of fun and engaging sports.

That isn’t to say that you should ever be out of control, but as you develop your skills you’ll have a better and more finely-tuned sense of what you’re capable of, which goes a long way into knowing just how far you can push before you get into trouble with this rule.

The Right of Way

Whether a public skate session has only a handful or a few hundred skaters on the ice, and keeping the previous suggestions in mind, when skating I always have a general hierarchy of who has the right of way in my mind at all times. This helps me gauge what options and opportunities are available to me, where others are likely to go, and how I fit into the flowing mass of skaters.

In descending order of priority, I give the following groups priority when it comes to their position on the ice and the amount of room I give them:

  • Skaters in front of me – since we don’t have eyes in the back of our heads, I always give priority to those who are ahead of me in the flow; I never assume they can, will, or should move out of their way to accommodate me.
  • Inexperienced Skaters – people who look uncomfortable or otherwise less than graceful on the ice are often at the biggest risk to violate the above guidelines, either through falling or a lack of familiarity with the conventions of public skating (like this article!). I always make sure to give them plenty of room not only for their benefit, but to ensure I’m not caught up in any incidental flailing or falling that may occur
  • Children – even kids who are experienced skaters often lack the ice-awareness to see everything going on around them, and so I always defer to them when it comes to position on the ice

It really boils down that people coming up from behind, those moving quickly on the ice, and more experienced skaters should all defer to the positioning and relative ability of others when choosing their own lanes of travel, for everyone’s benefit.

With that said however, there are some exceptions. Not that I would ever go out of my way to crowd or usurp someone else’s positioning, but it’s reasonable to assume that someone in full hockey gear—including or perhaps especially little kids—have the skills and protection to both know what’s going on with the ice around them and to not get hurt if they do take a tumble. These are also the people most likely to go 100% with no hesitation.

Figure skaters are categorized somewhat uniquely for me in this section, largely owing to their skill but also their relative inexperience with other skaters in close proximity—at least in relation to hockey players. Often during public skates they will inhabit their own spheres on the ice, either in the corners or at the center, and it is usually easy to predict their path of travel since fluidity is a hallmark of that sport. That said, beware of arms and skates being jutted out at weird angles as they practice their tricks; don’t skate too near to their lane.

In Conclusion

The two most important aspects of a public skate are having fun and staying safe, and I take it as a sign of maturity from more experienced skaters if they’re able to subsume a small amount of their own fun—moving at high speeds, quick hockey turns, and the like—for everyone else’s fun and safety. This improves the experience of everyone on the ice, and hopefully leads to them having an overall more enjoyable time as well.

The next time you visit a public skate—and I hope it’s soon—keep in mind these simple suggestions and be patient both with yourself and others on the ice. It’s sure to be a great time!

Header image by Mariakray from Pixabay, my go-to source for royalty-free stock images