By Gina Chirichella

 My favorite winter activity has always been ice skating. Actually, at this stage of my life, it’s one of the few outdoor winter activities that I still partake in. Now that the kids are grown, I no longer make snow creatures or stand around freezing at the sledding hills. 

For many years, I enjoyed the rush of downhill skiing, but once I hit my late 20s, I realized that since I never mastered the snowplow or any reasonable method of slowing down, it was foolhardy to boldly race down the hill and hope for the best. It certainly was nothing short of exhilarating, though!  Looking back, I probably should have taken some much-needed lessons with an instructor. 

Luckily, I did not make the same mistake when it came to skating ( more on that later)

Growing up in downtown Madison, my brother and I and our neighborhood friends would shovel the snow off an area of Lake Monona at the end of our backyard and have our own private skating rink. We’d spend hours playing tag and red rover and crack the whip.  On weekends, our dad would sometimes take us to Tenney Park rink, which had the added benefits of gliding along underneath the bridges over the lagoons and sipping cocoa near the fire in the warming hut.

We moved to a house across the street from Brittingham Beach on Monona Bay by the time I entered junior high at Madison West. Cool teenagers that we were, our makeshift rinks were utilized mostly at night, adding an air of excitement and danger.

Alas, there is no disputing that the heart of our social scene was the Vilas Park rink, where I’d have to say, my friends and I spent inordinate amounts of time gossiping, goofing around, and trying to impress the boys, but didn’t exactly concern ourselves with perfecting our skating technique. What were we thinking? Obviously, not very clearly, because employing some fancy footwork would surely have drawn attention.

This brings me to my wise decision to finally, whilst attending the UW, enroll in Figure Skating 1. The instructor, Jim, was funny and inspiring. He had the class executing forward and backward crossovers, waltz jumps, turns and stops and ice dancing in no time. He would often state, “Bend your knees, please, if I got a nickel for each time I have to remind you, I could retire early a rich man.” Or “Protect your knees with knee pads–you won’t get a new pair when you turn 40”.  His stand-up comic style delivery always made us laugh, but this was sound advice that I take seriously, ( now).

 I continue to practice many of the moves that I was lucky to learn from Jim, and I still skate at Vilas and other rinks around town. 

Though what I always hope for, as it isn’t possible every season, is to find that window when the lakes freeze yet there is no snow and one can literally sail on skates across the whole lake on beautiful smooth ice. This must be done with a buddy, of course. Each year, I have fewer friends who are still physically able to even stand on skates. I miss the camaraderie and games and silliness, but I love feeling the sun on my face and marveling at the distant clouds and reminding myself that a bit of winter is not so bad.

© 2025 Gina Chirichella

Gina attended the UW, majoring in Theatre, and performs in local theatre and film. She enjoys writing thanks to Sarah’s classes and encouragement. She has had her haikus published in the Isthmus and bus lines poetry. She loves swimming, skating, singing and dancing, music ( especially punk and indie), playing ukulele, reading, and liberal politics.