LAKETON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — A synthetic ice rink is the latest attraction at the Muskegon Luge Adventure Sports Park.
“The surface is not refrigerated,” explained outdoor adventure specialist Dan Bonner at the Glice Ice Rink. “There’s a little layer of silicon on top to let you slide.”
He said the feeling is similar, but somewhat different, to skating on a traditional rink.
“It's 90 percent of the sliding you'd get on an ice rink. You don’t have as much of an advantage as you do on natural ice, but you can definitely use hockey skates or recreational skates,” Bonner said.
The Glice ice rink opened its doors last weekend and will be open again Friday and Saturday.
“People love getting outside and being able to go ice skating and do something unique and new,” Bonner said.
He said warmer winter weather in recent years has caused the nonprofit winter sports complex to look for alternatives. Last year, the park had to rebuild your toboggan run three times due to warmer weather and lack of snow.
“We wanted to add that for our season pass holders and for community visitors because we do everything here in natural conditions. We therefore need at least 4 inches of snow to compact and create a natural covering for the ice rinks. When we wait on the snow, we can get people to put on ice skates and get them to get out and be active,” Bonner said.
The synthetic ice rink adds to the activities Muskegon Sledding offers that do not require snow.
“People can go out. They can hike the hiking trails, the ski slopes, they can skate in Glice and go down the zip line,” Bonner said.
Bonner says the park is counting on the support of season pass holders and visitors to help it get through winters with less natural snow.
“It's hard to be outside and really get excited about winter. We thrive when people, families and visitors come here and enjoy all we have to offer,” Bonner said. “We're just remaining optimistic that we're going to get some snow here soon.”