An Afternoon on the Ice
- The Zamboni -
 As you may or may not know, ice skaters aren't actually skating on the ice itself, but rather a thin film of water caused by the pressure of the skater's own weight causing the ice to melt slightly. Thus the skating on water. Since we are melting the ice, this leaves grooves and such in the ice, making the ice not only ugly after a while, but also can eventually become a hazard. Thus the ice is regularly resurfaced by the Zamboni, which scrapes off the top of the ice, and also lays down a layer of water to create a new, smooth surface. The whole process takes about five or ten minutes, tops.
On this particular occasion, the Zamboni resurfaced the ice before a hockey practice. Open skating is over for now, and now it's time to get down to business. So let's scrape the ice!
The Zamboni machine lays dormant for now, being filled with water and otherwise being readied for its run around the ice.
Meanwhile, the skaters are beginning to head towards the exits, in order to get off the ice so the Zamboni can resurface.
IT'S ALIVE!
The first thing that the Zamboni does before laying down the new surface is to get its bearings and get ready to go. Here, it's going around the perimeter of the ice in order to be in position to make the first lap.
Starting at the middle of one side, the resurfacing begins.
The water sprays up, and then is channeled out through the back of the Zamboni.
Just notice the difference in the surface - the lighter areas are from before the resurfacing, and the darker areas are after resurfacing.
And with lap number one completed, it's now time for lap number two...
After the second lap, the Zamboni operator ran a swath across the center of the ice long-ways, splitting the ice into two separate halves.
The first to get resurfaced is the nearer of the two sides.
The Zamboni operator continues...
The Zamboni goes across the ice, just plowing away, being handled so nimbly by its operator...
The Zamboni stores the scraped ice behind the back wheels, where it's held until the end of the job.
Almost there... just one more swath to do, and the job is done!
And now to finish the job...
With the work completed, the Zamboni operator brings the beast back to its garage.
But before totally going back in, first the Zamboni dumps its shavings at the edge of the ice. The Zamboni operator then has to take a snow shovel and clean this mess up by hand.
Ta-daa! Isn't the finished product awesome? |
