Mikael Karentila knows how to maintain a good ice rink
Hot water and quick freezing make for an optimum skating surface
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By Mari Koppinen
It is only 7:00 in the morning, but Mikael Karentila, 60, is already on his plough clearing off the snow from the skating rink at the Pirkkola sports park in the north of Helsinki.
A dazzlingly beautiful even ice surface emerges from under the cover of snow. The ice is so clear that the sand below it can be clearly seen.
It is excellent for skating.
“Pirkkola has the best ice in Helsinki”, Karentila exhudes.
“However, the reason for this is that we work in two shifts.”
Karentila knows what he is talking about, beause in his free time - surprise, surprise - he skates!
“I always end up comparing the different rinks in the city”, the ice master says.
This year Karentila and his colleagues began to set up the first skating rink in mid-December. He was mortified when the ice melted away in just a week, and he had to start again from scratch.
Long hoses were pulled out to the area, and cold water was sprayed as a foundation.
Preparing an ice foundation about two centimetres thick can take up to a week. After that, there is a daily freezing ritual involving a device referred to as the “pot”.
The pot is a big container that is filled with hot water, and is pulled by a tractor. The device makes it possible to spread water evenly over the desired area.
There is a reason why the water is hot.
“With hot water we can make a thin layer that freezes more quickly.”
When it is very cold, the water, which is heated to between 60 and 70 degrees Celsius, freezes in seconds. In milder weather it takes a few minutes.
All in all, it takes Karentila about three hours in a day for the ice to be ready for skating again.
He needs to start his day at work already at five in the morning. Two rinks need to be ready for use by eight, when the first skaters arrive.
“You can’t go there and mess around. The rinks are for skating. Let the people skate.”
Mikael Karentila has maintained the sport facilities at Pirkkola for 39 years.
The work has not changed much in that time. The same techniques have been used for freezing the ice rinks from when he started out.
Has climate change affected the work much?
“Not so much. We’ve had to do the ice again in previous years as well”, Karentila says reassuringly.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 25.2.2009
MARI KOPPINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
mari.koppinen@hs.fi
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| 3.3.2009 - THIS WEEK |
 Mikael Karentila knows how to maintain a good ice rink |
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