Aspen Adult Summer Skating Camp
by Autumn Allison
Photos by Nathan Meyers
Many of the kids going back to school will be asked to write "What I Did During My Summer Vacation" essays, and if I were going back to class, I would write about the week in August I spent at the Aspen Adult Summer Skating Camp in Colorado.To be honest, I wasn't sure what a week of skate camp would be like. I've gone to plenty of competitions where obviously the focus is competing. I had hoped this would have the camaraderie of those events, but with less pressure and more time to relax and get to know other adult skaters. I also hoped the altitude (elevation 8,100 feet) would help with stamina training.
There were about three dozen skaters enrolled - men and women ranging in age from mid-20s to 65+ - and we were separated into two groups based on our skating abilities. We had one woman who had only been skating five months, while others were former child skaters who were working on regaining their doubles. I was in the "A" group, and our first class wasn't until 10 a.m. on Monday morning. I went over to the rink before that to see what the early group was doing and was impressed to see everyone skating in patterns with big smiles on their faces.
When our group took the ice, our instructor, Lisa, introduced herself and her first words were "I'm not here to teach you anything. So let's just skate." That surprised everyone, and one skater even said (jokingly, I think) "In that case, I want my money back." We all laughed and then Lisa went on to say what she wanted us to focus on is WHY we skate. Words like "freedom" and "joy" were tossed around, and Lisa suggested we all think about those kinds of words while we did forward stroking around the rink. After one lap, it was easy to see people relax and think about how they felt while just skating - not working on anything - but as they say in yoga, being in the moment.
We had nearly three hours on the ice, including edge class, time for moves and dance patterns, freestyle and what was listed as "power class" - but we chose to call "happy hour." We made our motto "Skate one lap, get the next lap free." In short, the time flew by. Not everyone chose to skate the entire time, but no one seemed anxious to leave the rink.After a lunch break, both groups met at the Aspen Recreation Department facility where the local gymnasts train. We gathered on the mat, and even though it was fun to just walk around on the springy surface, we finally sat down and introduced ourselves. In our midst, we had a professional musician, a pilot, a couple of coaches, a nurse, some people in the computer industry and some who didn't even want to think about work that week. Getting into action, we did some stretching and jumping - half-turns for those who had never jumped before and complete revolutions for those who had. It was so much easier to fall on the soft floor than hard ice that many people were soon rotating more than they would ever try in a rink.
There were more on-ice classes and open skating time after a short break, for a total of close to seven hours a day. Private lessons were available from several coaches. And if that wasn't enough, we could also go to the other rink and skate for free as part of our tuition. That pattern continued throughout the week. In Tuesday's off-ice class we learned to swing dance. It was a great chance to laugh at ourselves since none of the skaters felt like experts at it.
On Wednesday, Ann-Margreth Frei, the former Swedish national champion who is the brains and body behind the "Magic of Style" videos, had us all work on the floor - not on technique, but on performing and flowing. We drew large numbers in the air to encourage full extension of our arms. Minutes later we were doing head rolls and shoulder rolls and high (well, sort of) kicks and learned ending poses. We practiced that routine to some jazzy little piece of music, and then we were told we had new music. When "The Stripper" came on, we all laughed nervously. Despite some trepidation, everyone, even the guys, did the routine to that brassy, sexy music. And we were all so proud of ourselves. Then, we switched gears again and learned the Electric Slide (line dancing).
The next day, we transferred both dances to the ice and it was even more fun. Frei even said she would stay for Friday night's exhibition if we would promise to do both dances.In Thursday's off-ice class we used the gymnasts' trampoline, and a couple of the braver women tried the balance beam. Friday there was a test session for those who were interested in testing.
It seemed the week just flew by between classes, free skate time, eating and touring the gorgeous Aspen area. There were promises to come back again next year, and everyone felt like they had learned something new in a great week at summer camp. Aspen's Adult Summer Skating Camp was what I had hoped it would be, with great ice, fun skaters, lots of laughter and a chance to take my skating to new heights.
