Columnist Susan Snyder: Party on ice is a true fiesta

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004 | 8:15 a.m.

Winter reminds me of Timmy Broyles' pond.

Central Indiana is not known for its Currier & Ives snowfall. I remember it as mostly gray and very cold. What it lacked in snow, it made up for in ice.

Few of us skied, but everyone ice-skated. And almost everyone I knew ice-skated behind Timmy's house or on the Ball State University duck pond.

Even in the desert, winter elicits fond memories of trying to wait until the Indiana ice was hard enough to avoid making ruts and ridges that tripped us until March.

I remember my dad breaking his ankle on those new hockey skates at Timmy's house. I remember my brother falling into the duck pond's watery depths when he skated too close to a hole.

I remember wishing we had an indoor rink. Las Vegas kids are lucky. They can skate year-round at the Fiesta Ice Arena on Rancho Drive and Lake Mead Boulevard.

And rink manager Rob Pallin says they do.

"We have 500 kids in our youth (hockey) program, and about another 250 in figure skating," he said. "There's so much diversity in hockey now, that it doesn't matter if you play in Las Vegas or in Duluth, Minn. And they can play 12 months a year here."

On Tuesday afternoon the rink beyond Pallin's office door was packed with shouting, laughing skaters of all ages, sizes and abilities circling the ice to Christmas carols.

The open session started at 3:30 p.m., giving kids just enough time to get out of school and over to the ice rink.

"One-two! One-two! Run! Run! Run!" an older woman in a long white coat coached a small girl in hockey skates racing around her in a tight circle.

The woman then took the girl's hockey stick and demonstrated how to hold it differently. She moved back to the center of of the circle, and the youngster began skating around her again. And much faster, this time.

"There you go! There you go!" the woman shouted. "That's easier isn't it?"

Behind them, a pair of girls about the same size -- but wearing figure skates -- twirled across the ice seemingly without effort. And all around the edges, skaters glided in wide circles or moved with slow shuffling steps while clinging tightly to the rail.

Pallin played seven professional hockey seasons on European teams and now coaches Las Vegas teams of 15- to 17-year-olds. One of his graduates is about to enter the U.S. Air Force Academy on a full scholarship.

"Nobody really knows that the hockey in this town is at a very high level," he said. "We have 22 men's teams. Our figure-skating practices start at 5 a.m., and our men's leagues aren't over until midnight."

Tournaments attract teams from all over North America, and games "run around the clock," Pallin said. "There will be games starting at 3 o'clock."

That's a.m.

Residents can check out the results of those pre-dawn practices Sunday during the rink's "Frosty Frolics" amateur ice show. The free, 90-minute exhibition starts at 4:30 p.m. and will feature a range of performances, from the smallest beginners to the arena's top national competitors.

Why not go early? There's a public skating session at 1 p.m. With a casino next door, it's certainly no backyard duck pond.

But I didn't see a single hole or bump.