Numerica Skate Ribbon at Riverfront Spokane — Attraction in Spokane

I have been avidly going to the rink since it opened, and when it’s not busy it’s hands down the most fun I have every winter. I am a season pass holder which I paid like 40 bucks for. It pays for itself in 4 visits and you still have it for the rest of the winter, and that’s just the price!

Also, I always hear people complain about the skates so I should talk about those too. I am biased, I have my own skates which I sharpen and take care of, but the skates they have there at riverfront are great for learning on. Any pair of skates, brand new or used, will never not hurt if you never go ice skating. You’re learning how to balance and take steps and skate in general. It’s going to feel uncomfortable but learning tricks and new stuff is always fun.

Next is the ice. So another disclaimer, I did work for the ribbon the first year it opened about halfway through the winter season, and all I was told by regulars how choppy the ice can get. I mean the maintenance crew can only do so much. The zamboni only goes on the ice every hour and a half, which is very reasonable. If the zamboni went on the ice every hour there would only be 40 minutes for a session. They really can’t do anything about it. I talk with them with how they keep adding more water, slower passes but at the end of the day it just needs to go on sooner. But then again they can’t.

I think my favorite part of the ribbon is the strict but loose rules. There’s only like two hard rules, skate counter clockwise on the ribbon and don’t skate backward on the ribbon. In the pond you can practice pretty much anything as long as both blades are on the ice. With any business you want the customer to have fun or enjoy the product, but also keeping it safe. Rules are in place to precent accidents obviously, but I feel that people forget that sometimes. You can skate fast (ish) when people aren’t clogging areas and you are in control of yourself. Young kids always try to go super fast and are always asked to slow down. The reason is, they don’t know how to stop themselves in a safe way and most of the time they are dodging people left and right. That’s annoying right? But when there aren’t many people on the ice and you are safe about it. You can go till your hearts content.

The ribbon is a great place to have fun, be yourself, and it really adds a highlight to downtown. I really do believe it can be better, but they are doing a lot of...

This is truly one of the most incredible things in Spokane. As an avid rollerblader since my childhood, I always look for the coolest and best trails and areas to enjoy my sport. This ribbon was very poorly engineered and is much too narrow for large crowds. I find it just plain dangerous when ice skating season is in full swing. This makes it not ideal for ice skating but for roller skating and rollerblading it is truly one of the coolest tracks I've ever been on. The surface is perfectly smooth and the mixed Terrain is so much fun. You slow down and gain a little bit of extra speed and then you have to sort of work slightly up a hill to come around again. If you are in town and wanting to have some fun on blades or roller skates, check this out :-)

Note: because of the danger I did not go ice skating in the first year but in 2019 I did. I found a time when there was not too many people on the ice and it was decent. I just remember the old days with the other ice rink where there would be hundreds and hundreds of people on the ice at the same time. This rink is not developed for hundreds of people. If there's more than 30 or 40, it's just too narrow to get around people and not much fun to use. The original design was supposed to be about 5 to 10 feet wider and it was supposed to also be a dual-purpose facility so in the summer they could have alternative events such as farmers markets. I am honestly happy that it was not designed correctly because I really love to rollerblade more than I skate :-) last summer I spent probably 30 hours on this track :-)

Another note in ice : another reason that ice is really dangerous here is that they do not run the Zamboni very often. When we got there for the first time we use the ice, the ice was already pocked with marks. We were there for I think one and a half hours and it just got worse and worse. I still give this ribbon a five-star because I really only care about rollerblading :-) for rollerblading it is the nicest space I've ever used, much better than any roller rink locally and it's 100% free if you have your gear :-) what an amazing gift to the city :-)

I also want to thank the city for allowing these free helmet rentals :-) that is pretty rad :-) I've never worn a helmet on my rollerblades before but it's definitely cool to have that offering to comply...

The Spokane ice ribbon is a perfect example of how the city continues to irresponsibly use tax payer money on garbage projects downtown. The design and layout of the ribbon looks like it was done by a kindergartner. Because of how narrow the ribbon is, it is impossible for a Zamboni to evenly smooth out the ice. The biggest oversight in this "ribbon" is the fact that it runs downhill to a sharp turn uphill. For an experienced skater this is not a problem but this creates a huge safety concern for younger and older skaters. To make matters worse, right at the bottom of this downhill portion, is a area for people to sit by a fire, which is a cool concept, but when people try to enter and exit this place they have to constantly dodge skaters who have just built up speed and are attempting to take a sharp left turn. I witnessed three collision in this spot during the short time I spent skating with friends and as of today, one person has already died skating at the ice ribbon. Also keep in mind that this rink is completely exposed to the elements, especially the wind. Unlike the previous rink, you will have to be prepared for snow, rain or wind while skating and the capacity for this place fills up fast which may lead to you watching your friends skate if you do not arrive early enough.

Overall the purpose of this project was solely to make profit. If the moron who designed and planned the building of the ribbon is reading this, just know that your incompetence has wasted the money of hard working tax payers and costed bodily harm to unaware skaters. You sir are a giant terd. If I could give you a poop emoji instead one...