The Last Flood of the Season...

55 coats since Dec 06, 2021

Sorry to see it 

 As you may or may not know, there has been ice in this same area since 1965. And without the core group of volunteers passing down the knowledge of making outdoor ice, there would be no rinks to skate on.

Big thanks, and shout out to all the volunteers this year who came out to carry on the tradition of making Rosemont the best ice in the City of Calgary. This year has been one the most challenging years battling the weather and Covid-19.

Tonight we put down three coats. Bill, Peter, Kris, Chris, Andrew P., Dave, Andy and Kurt finished off the 2021 - 2022 season. 

Grant Parks, the shinny coach, wanted me to say THANK YOU for all the great work in keeping the ice alive. Especially after we thought it was gone two weeks ago with the big melt.

Celebrating the last flood of the season...

Started a fire without Craig, and the first match.

The team tonight

Mike the owner of Tucker the puppy. Out for a walk in the park.

Andrew P., on the nozzle laying down the third and final coat of the season.

Best ice in Calgary.

Kris and Andrew putting away the hose for the season.

We discussed a new Date for our Annual BBQ. Wrap up party Friday, March 25th at 6PM. It's a family event so make sure your wife and kids are informed. 

Keeping the hose on the ice,

Kurt

Another Week of Shinny...

 52 Coats on the lower, -12º overnight.

Bill, Daniel, Kris, Craig, and Kurt helped to lay down two coats to flatten the lumpy sheet.

Shinny hockey is tonight and it looks great for them.

A Cameo appearance from Matthew last night. Inspecting the work done after one coat.

Crescent moon over the rink last night.

We are planning the wrap up party at the end of the month. 

Keeping the hose on the ice, 

Kurt

Friday Night Flood...

 50 Coats on the lower.

As we are battling the elements this year, weather is all over the map, we were able to squeeze in two coats last night. "We" are Bill, Craig, Dave, Chris and Kurt. We scraped and pushed as much of the snow left over from the blower as we could. Surface is very uneven and lumpy. So the best we could do is put a heavyish coat on first , Wait Wait Wait for about an hour, then put a second coat.

All-the-While, watch snow fall a bit, then stop, then start again. But it's skate-able.

Kurt was down in the morning blower off the overnight snow. Out door Kindergarden class is the background having fun in the fresh powder.

2.5 hours later we have a clear rink.

We are scraping the aftermath from the morning blower.

Let's see what Monday will bring and keep the shinny program alive for another week.

Keeping the hose on the ice,

Kurt

Thank You "IceGuys"...

 Grant, the head coach of the shinny program, wrote;

"Hello Ice Guys, thank you for resurrecting the ODR over the Family Day weekend. It was in sad shape and I know you put in a lot of work to bring it back to life. Shinny was cancelled on Tuesday because it was too cold. It’s been an odd winter. We rescheduled it for tonight and the ice was fantastic!

 

There are 34 kids signed up for the shinny program this year and about 13 kids participated tonight. There was a lot of snow on the ice and the parents basically cleared the entire rink. It was very kind of them and greatly appreciated.

 

Your efforts have brought a lot of joy to the public and to the kids participating in the shinny program.

 

I have attached a few videos to this note to say: THANK YOU ICE GUYS!"

To all of the volunteers that make Rosemont's Ice the best in the city, and who have sacrificed there time by braving the cold temperatures at night... Put down your shovels and take a bow.

Keeping the hose on the ice,

Kurt

Better than Ever...

 3 Coats tonight brings the grand total to 48 coats on the lower.

Mother nature is giving us a second chance.

Big thanks to Daniel, Bill, Andy, Kris, Craig and Kurt for laying down the water tonight. Shinny was moved from Tuesday night to this evening. The snow was removed by the parents and we cleaned it up  before the H2O.

Its all ready for the weekend now. Nice job everyone!!!

Keeping the hose on the ice,

Kurt

It's ALIVE again!...

 We have successfully brought the lower rink back to life. Upper is dead!

Lower rink 45 coats (laster year 75) at -20ºC

The the surgeons that helped to keep the ice alive broke in to two teams. The first team was Peter, Kurt, Bill, Chris, and John. Peter and Kurt got down early to start blowing off the packed down snow from the night before. Then incomes the two specialists, John and Bill. It took the four of them another two hours of prep. Foot by square foot, with shovels sometimes upside down to get off the caked on snow that stuck to the surface.

Peter in the background and Kurt blowing off .

We needed to get something to eat after 3 1/2 hours of removing the snow. 

Second team arrives at 8 pm.  Like clockwork this team of specialists,, Bill, John, Daniel, Willem, Craig, Chris and Jeff managed the freezing temperatures by the fire and laid down 4 coats of H2O to bring the total this year to 45 coats.

The second team got close to the fire and also got close to freezing the nozzle at -20º C.

Shinny is supposed to be tonight with 24 kids that last week could not skate because the ice was melting. Tonight it is -25ºC and too cold to skate. CRAZY weather we are having. 

They should move the shinny this week to Thursday at -5ºC.

Well done everyone!

Keeping the hose on the ice,

Kurt

Before Easter, Resurrection...

Upper 38 ice and is not good, toast, bye bye, next year...

Lower 41 coats at -10ºC 

Resurrection is the word!. We almost gave up on the season, but we have another week of weather that is looking good to keep the frozen water together.

Bill, Andrew P., Craig, Chris and Kurt were very happy to find the lower ice was cleared. Peter, and his wife Elizabeth, came down early in the afternoon to blow off the 5" of snow that fell the night before. THANKS!

We put down two coats on the lower and managed to salvage it on the west 2/3rds. The run-off from the parking has left it lumpy. Good news is the drain gate that we have maintained over the winter is working to let the run-off flow down to the creek. Good Idea... I think it was Kris'.

Calgary Flames on the radio and another win. Solid first in the Pacific Division.

Looks to warm to flood tonight, so lets keep on alert for a weekend clear of snow. Sunday may need some help blowing and scraping.

Keeping the hose on the ice,

kurt