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 things right!!