Have you noticed those large piles of ice shavings on the east side of the Chapman Hill ice rink? Why not move the piles to the other side of the facility and spread them over the tubing hill? Natural snow on the tubing hill is worn out after only a day or two. Using the ice-rink shavings could extend the tubing season for the enjoyment of children and families. – Durango D.
An opportunity like this comes along once – maybe twice – in a journalism career. But it has nothing to do with enhancing municipal recreation.
It’s the chance to use the word “Zamboni.”
In fact, Action Line can’t recall ever having written Zamboni. Scratch one off the bucket list.
By the way, Zamboni is a trade name for a brand of ice-rink maintenance equipment invented by Frank J. Zamboni, Jr.
A Zamboni machine simultaneously scrapes the surface of an ice rink, sprays some water and then squeegees the water into a thin layer that freezes to form a smooth ice surface.
Anyway, Durango is all about recycling – and several folks have had the similar notion of reusing the Chapman ice rink’s Zamboni shavings.
“People have asked about that before,” said our good friend Cathy Metz, director of the Durango’s Parks and Recreation Department. “But there are several problems with ice shavings on the tubing hill.”
First of all, the ice shavings get rock hard very quickly, she said.
“It’s not the nice, soft snow. Once it comes off the rink, the shavings start a freeze-thaw cycle, and they turn to concrete. It’s difficult to move around.”
The next obstacle is icky.
“There is a lot of stuff on the surface of the ice,” Cathy said with a wince.
Many hockey games take place at the Chapman rink. When there’s hockey, there’s sweat, spit and blood – not to mention the substance expelled when players decongest via the “farmer’s handkerchief.”
When the Zamboni resurfaces the ice, it scrapes off all those frozen biological materials.
“It’s not in anyone’s best interest to spread that around the tubing hill,” Cathy said. “We don’t want to expose the tubing public to that.”
But just suppose for a moment that ice-rink shavings were put on the tubing hill?
“We’d probably want to put up a ‘Biohazard’ warning sign,” Cathy said with a laugh. “It’s not a good solution.”
So, the tubing community will have to wait for summer, when the Animas River rises along with the temperatures.
Good, clean fun can be had on a tube in the river, right?
Um, maybe not.
Remember the 2011 incident when a pipe burst and raw sewage spewed into the river over an entire weekend before the city posted warnings for tubers?
Then, last week, elevated levels of E. coli from human waste were detected in the river.
Granted, this occurred at the state line, but the quote from a biologist says it all: “The public should have some concern about the recreational use” of the river.
Who knew that tubing, in winter or summer, would require a haz-mat suit?
If you are a connoisseur of tubing, be aware that Durango puts the “sewer” in “connoisseur.”
Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can request anonymity if you went to a fight and a hockey match broke out.
