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Sport: Skating
Parabolic Ice Park   (+18)  [vote for, against]
Extreme ice skating

Ice skating is fun, but a little boring. You really just skate around in a circle, and the tricks you can do are limited by the flat surface.

Using Parabolic Pool Table technology, spin water into the shape of a parabola and freeze. Stop the park from spinning, and the equivalent of a skateboard park is ready for ice skaters.
-- Worldgineer, Oct 09 2004

Inspired by http://www.halfbake...0Skateboard_20Basin
Centrifugal Skateboard Basin [Worldgineer, Oct 09 2004]

Other inspiration http://www.halfbake...olic_20Pool_20Table
Parabolic Pool Table [Worldgineer, Oct 09 2004]

If this keeps up, we just might have to make an entire section called sports:parabolic!I think downhill hockey is cool, though. Maybe in winter...
-- croissantz, Oct 09 2004


I would table a parabolic pool (swimming). Holy vertigo, Batman! The water skier in the joke would finally find a sloping lake, but still not get anywhere.
-- spidermother, Feb 11 2006


This would have to be a big rink. If the curve was at all measurable over the length of a skate, the skate would dig itself in at each end. You could of course cheat and curve the skate slightly, but this would only work consistently in a hemispherical rink. Of course the zamboni is another matter entirely.
-- wagster, Feb 11 2006


Ah, good point. A new patented variable shape blade will need to be developed. Start with, say, 10 blade segments, and hold them in a straight line using springs. Pressure on the ends changes the shape.
-- Worldgineer, Feb 11 2006


And a bendy zamboni?
-- wagster, Feb 11 2006


Sure, why not.
-- Worldgineer, Feb 11 2006


//Stop the park from spinning// Why?

Bun anyway.
-- dbmag9, Feb 13 2006


Maybe just different levels in a flat rink would be feasible. Skaters could jump from a low level up to a high level, make a biiiiiiiiig jump off a high level to a low level, etc.
-- phundug, Sep 25 2006


After a bit of research, it appears that both ice hockey skates and figure skates have the "flat" part of the blade curved with a radius between 7 feet and 13 feet. This is called the rocker. There are advantages to more or less curve. Since the radius of curvature of the rink will significantly larger than this, I suspect that any skate in that range would be usable, but people who come here often might want to select skates with a slightly smaller rocker radius than they would normally use.
-- scad mientist, Jan 09 2019


What [dbmag9] said.
-- Voice, Jan 14 2019


////Stop the park from spinning// Why? //

If you left it spinning at the same rate, it would behave like a flat, stationary rink in most respects. However, skaters would experience a Coriolis force if they travelled radially.

Hey, if you spun it fast enough (before and after freezing) you'd have a rink where you could skate up a near-vertical wall as easily as you could horizontally.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 14 2019


Yeah the same concept is being discussed on two separate ideas right now.

Must be a hit.
Now I'm wondering about the chassis needed to support that much spinning ice plus erratic skaters at a constant rpm all winter long.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 14 2019


If it doesn't have to be water ice - other "ices" are available, such as methane and ammonia - you could just get a small moon, gouge out a parabolic pit, then spin the thing up to a high rotational speed.

You'd need one with a rocky core, otherwise it might disintegrate as it got up to critical angular velocity.
-- 8th of 7, Jan 14 2019


And when it isn't being used by skaters, coat it with something shiny, place a downward pointing light source above it to fashion a death ray searchlight.

At least, that's what we tell the military, since it's their budget.
-- DenholmRicshaw, Jan 14 2019


"Ah, Lord Vader. What have you to tell me ?"

"Good news, my master. Your new parabolic ice rink is complete and fully operational."

"Ex-cellent. Everything is proceeding as I have forseen. Now, help me on with these skates ..."

<Wonders if someone will post "Star Wars: A New Hope, On Ice"/>
-- 8th of 7, Jan 14 2019



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