Premium ContentClick on Premium Content on the Featured navigation bar for information.
Feb. 4: Smucker's Skating Spectacular, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. (Central)
The Championships at San Jose's HP Pavilion kicked off earlier this week with novice- and junior-level competitions, but Thursday was the start of the top-level events. Competitors in the ladies', men's, pairs and ice dancing divisions will be on the ice through Sunday.
We're there, along with more than a dozen Omaha officials. Omaha hosts the 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and the officials are learning the ins and outs of running the big event, selling tickets — and the city of Omaha — to skating fans.
Watch for updates at Omaha.com and pick up the Sunday edition of The World-Herald for full coverage.
Buy tickets for next year's 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Omaha.
* * *
SAN JOSE, Calif. — At the U.S. Figure Skating Championships here, the crowds are getting bigger — and louder. Thousands of fans are packing San Jose's HP Pavilion, each of them waiting for a gold-medal winning performance.
But as they're watching the skaters, former Nebraskan Cory Portner is keeping his eyes on the ice.
Portner used to work at the Ice Box in Lincoln, and later at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs. These days, he works for a Colorado Springs, Colo., organization called STAR — Serving the American Rinks — that maintains ice rinks for U.S. Figure Skating and USA Hockey events.
In San Jose, he's an assistant ice tech. He's part of the team that watches for — and gets rid of — anything that could make the ice less than perfect.
Even the smoothest skater can tear up the ice.
After a few have finished their routines, the surface can get uneven, dotted with small holes.
Sequins fall off costumes. Once in a while, a skater gets a cut and spills blood on the ice.
Portner's job is to make all of it go away — and quickly.
At a day-long competition, the schedule allows for several ice resurfacing periods. Zamboni machines roar out on to the ice, slicing off a layer and picking up the shavings. The slush is collected in a 55-gallon drum and then transferred to buckets, which are carried onto the ice by workers who patch up any holes.
“At a day-long, nonstop event, we go through a barrel a day,” he said.
With two Zamboni machines, the whole process can be completed in about five minutes.
They've also got to make sure the temperature is just right; Figure skaters like it a couple degrees warmer than hockey players, usually somewhere between 23 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit.
Portner is hopeful he'll be watching over the ice next year in Omaha.
“I've got family in Nebraska and that would be a great trip for me, a good experience,” he said.
-- Erin Golden
SAN JOSE, Calif. — After a couple days in San Jose, the planners of next year's U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Omaha have a pretty good idea of what makes these things tick.
Members of the Omaha Sports Commission, leaders of the local figure skating community and representatives from the CenturyLink Center Omaha are here selling tickets and watching the competition.
And they're getting a hands-on look at all aspects of the competition – everything from how that U.S. Figure Skating logo gets on the ice (a new layer is poured over the regular ice used by the San Jose Sharks NHL team, flash frozen, painted, stenciled, then topped with another layer of ice) to what the athletes like to do in the skaters' lounge just off the ice (play air hockey.)
This morning, the group got a behind-the-scenes tour of this year's venue, the HP Pavilion, from a top U.S. Skating official.
Harold Cliff, president of the Omaha Sports Commission, said many of the details of next year's event – to be held from Jan. 20 to Jan. 27, 2013 – are already finalized. But there's still plenty to learn.
“Your eyes are always open,” he said.
And they're still busy at the ticket booth. On Thursday, a fairly slow day of competition, Cliff estimated that the team from Omaha had sold about a dozen full-week ticket packages and more than 50 for the final championship weekend.
-- Erin Golden
* * *
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Thursday was 19-year-old pairs skater Kloe Bautista's first time on the ice as a top-level skater at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
And her family was ready.
High up in the stands, her grandparents, uncles and aunt waited eagerly for the pairs short program to begin. Her cousins scrawled handwritten signs — "Good Luck Kloe!" and "We Love You!" onto big pieces of poster board.
Aunt Meriann Zabala said she's not sure if her niece always spots her cheering squad when she slides onto the ice — but they do their best.
"I think she knows we're here, but she's really focused," she said. "I think she can hear us, though."
— Erin Golden
Video of the Omaha 2013 local organizing committee touring the setup in San Jose:
Video of the ice sweepers collecting gifts:
BY REBECCA S. GRATZ/THE WORLD-HERALD
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
