On January 16, all – ice pourers and professional ones working in large ice arenas, and amateurs pouring skating rinks in courtyards for children, – celebrate their professional holiday.
The date for it was chosen due to the fact that it was on January 16, 1901, that the American engineer Frank Zamboni was born. Frank Zamboni, who invented the – ice harvester resource for restoring ice on skating rinks (before the invention this was done manually).
In any ice arena, all attention is usually focused on athletes. However, for successful performances, not only their skill is important, but also the conditions for competitions, in particular ice. How successful the skaters’ performance will be, whether it will be possible to make a – skate brightly and without blemishes, all this depends, among other things, on the quality of the surface, and the ice makers are responsible for it. However, these people always remain in the shadow of the wings.
Very often, former athletes who know from their own experience what is good and what is bad« master the specialty of an ice maker. Engineers and builders often retrain.
The ice makers' schedule is quite complicated. During the competition, the ice should be ready for the first training sessions. Therefore, on days of big competitions, ice makers work shifts from dawn to late at night.
The process of «ice melting» is very painstaking, it takes about seven days. First, the temperature of the concrete slab at the base of the arena decreases from room temperature to zero, gradually turning into minus. All this happens within a few days. After washing and cleaning the concrete, hose filling begins. When an array 1.5–2 centimeters thick is collected, ice coloring begins. For figure skaters to train, the ice must be grayish in color. Therefore, first white paint is added, then – gray. After painting, water is poured again, then annealing follows: the temperature of the stove rises, a special combine comes out and, as it were, pushes through the ice so that air and salt come out of the pores, removes «slags». After this, the last layer of ice is applied.
In general, the technology for preparing ice in arenas for figure skating and hockey is almost identical. However, hockey players should have somewhat stiffer ice, and the thickness – is the same.
But athletes, coaches, and simply ice sports fans can today congratulate ice makers on their professional holiday and say thank you for the contribution of these people to their sports victories.
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