Is there a temporary ice skating rink in Los Angeles?

I love ice skating but the rink i go to is really crowded, does anyone know any good rinks in Los Angeles?

• Answer:

  It's getting into summer right now, so the rinks may get more and more crowded during public sessions. Normally if the rink has a morning public session, that's usually the least crowded . . . but when school is out, that could mean more kids will be at the rink. There are some good weekday evening sessions, but it can't be guaranteed that it will always be "good". Weekends are really crowded no matter what day or time. You might want to call ahead to see if any summer camps are headed to the rink . . . it's super busy and super crazy when they're there. In fact, you might want to call "that" morning because sometimes the schedule changes unexpectedly!! You can also ask around - skating regulars . . . or even if it's a skate guard or someone who works there . . . they might give you the scoop on the best time to be at the rink. If you mean freestyle sessions, it's possible many of the real early morning fs sessions (like 5-6am) would be less crowded once school is out. But if you go to a seriously competitive rink, say like Pickwick in Burbank, many of the kids will still keep up their routine - and there is a set summer schedule in which everyone is supposed to pick a day/time (and I think pay) in advance. But remember you have to be of a certain level to go to a FS session. Valley Ice Center (Panorama City) They offer both morning public and early FS Public skating http://www.valleyicecenter.com/Pages/publicskating.html Freestyle http://www.valleyicecenter.com/Pages/figure.html Iceland (Van Nuys) Small rink - not the best neighborhood - it may be less crowded there depending on when you go Public skating (they're rather long sessions, perhaps people won't stick around for all of it) http://www.valleyskating.com/public.htm Freestyle (because it's smaller, not everyone wants to go there) http://www.valleyskating.com/freestyle.htm Pickwick (Burbank) Limited public sessions (no mornings) http://www.pickwickgardens.com/sqs/dsk.aspx?tabindex=0&tabid=46 Freestyle . . . you can check online, but the summer schedule I mentioned above starts in a couple weeks. http://www.pickwickgardens.com/sqs/dsk.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=44 Culver Ice Arena (Culver City) Public skating (I've gone to some excellent weekday evening sessions there) http://www.culvericearena.com/public.htm Freestyle http://www.culvericearena.com/freestyle.htm Then there are the rinks in the outskirts of Los Angeles, like the one in Simi Valley (I think it's an Iceoplex now) and Ice Station in Valencia. I've had luck at both rinks in the past . . . but it depends on when you go there. I haven't gone to Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo yet, but you might see skating biggies there . . . not sure how crowded it actually is. There's Pasadena too . . . and that's sort of a "square" rink. Anyway, you'll find most all of these website listings here: http://www.arenamaps.com/search.php?position=0&state=CA&arena_name=&city=los+angeles&sort_field2=city_sorter&sort_field=arena_name (by the way, the Iceon one in Sylmar does not exist anymore). Lots of choices - good luck!