Galleria Ice Rink — Attraction in eThekwini Ward 93

I've been skating since I was 3years old and yesterday was the absolute worst skating day I've had. Went to sharpen my skates. For reference, default sharpening is 5/8's of an inch hollow which requires a hollow grinding wheel. I usually skate on 1/2 inch concave. They decided of their own accord to grind out the hollow and give me back a completely flat blade. Flat sharpening has to vibe specifically requested by the skater because it us not a commonly used style of skating. It is used by speed skaters to glide on smooth ice. Anyone knows Durban ice is not smooth. I told them I wanted the hollow and they said they would do it after I was done skating. My skates kept slipping out from under me because there was no bite on the blade for grip. I had to push on the ice because there was no gliding on rough ice with FLAT blades. 5minutes and I went back and wanted the hollow sharpen only to be told that machine broke. I can understand things break and when asked when they will be getting the right wheel in, they could not answer which tells me they haven't even ordered one and didn't bother to tell me before they decided to do whatever they wanted and grind my blade away. They gave me the money back for the sharpening but I'll left with flat blunt blade. I've contacted the hockey team for assistance because at least they know what they doing.

So if your kiddies keep falling on the ice it's because those flat blades don't have grip on rough ice. Don't waste your money on lessons, just get the blades sharpened properly first and then see if they...

Let me simplify and paint a picture of my experience in 3 words: water, falling and blood!

Upon arrival I noticed that the rink had not even been smoothed out from the previous ice skaters. 😳 I brushed off that concern and before I knew it 'bam' someone had already slipped and hit his head badly. Let me describe as to how this situation was handled. First of all my friend who's a qualified medic tried to assist him but was immediately stopped by a minor that was working there, he wasn't even allowed to take a look at the guy that had been injured.

The medic that was supposed to help only had first aid 1!!! We asked for sanitizer because my friend had blood on his arm from helping the victim up. They had to hunt for frikken sanitizer!!!! I don't want to know what their emergency kit looks like! The poor guy needed proper medical assistance but was only given a plaster that was stuck to his 'supposed to be stitched' wound!

I know that people slip and fall on ice but most of the falls could've been prevented IF THE RINK WASN'T A PUDDLE!!!

Just before I left another guy had also fallen and hit his head badly! I am extremely disappointed at the ice rink's condition and at how serious accidents were handled!

First aid 1, attitude and not a sign of management!!!!????...

horrible.

too many people are allowed in, it's almost like you can't even skate for two seconds without crashing into someone. The ice had melted and the entire floor area outside the rink was wet. The skates were dirty and falling apart. When the light comes back on, and you have a proper look at the place, you can see how everything is so dilapidated and broken, messy, dirty and untidy. there was garbage all over the floor, old bottles, chip packets etc

there was a lady with crutches battling to walk as the place is not accessible for people with disabilities.

the gent at the snack counter couldn't understand me, not sure if there was a language barrier or something else.

the lady at the skate hire was very rude, my friend had to get a bigger size of the skate (which actually hurt like hell, as there is no more cushion or sole inside since they're so old), and the lady told her that she has to get a bigger size because she is so fat. When I asked for my shoes back, she threw them across the counter and had such an attitude.

since this is the only ice rink in Durban, I just wanna know why they don't try to make an effort to make it a pleasant experience, the amount of money they'd make would be insane, but shame, keep running it down...