Contents
Profile
Ice technician: the job behind perfect ice
- Area
- Ice & technology
- German
- Eismeister
- Workplace
- Ice rinks, ice stadiums, curling rinks
- Core duties
- Ice preparation, ice building, plant checks
- Working hours
- often early, late and at weekends
What does an ice technician do?
No ice rink works without ice technicians. They make sure that youth training starts on fresh ice at six in the morning, that school classes can skate at midday and that the league game in the evening takes place on hard, fast ice. Typical duties include:
- Ice preparation with the ice resurfacer between all sessions (see ice preparation),
- Edge care along the boards, where the machine cannot reach,
- Monitoring the refrigeration plant, ice and air temperature and humidity,
- Building the ice at the start of the season, including whitening, lines and logos (see making ice),
- Defrosting at the end of the season or for other events,
- Maintenance of the ice resurfacer, such as sharpening and changing blades,
- Safety: checking boards, goals and glass panels.
A job that needs a fine touch
Ice reacts to everything: the weather outside, the number of spectators, the session before. Good ice technicians know their rink inside out. They know when to adjust the temperature slightly so the ice is soft enough for figure skating and hard again for ice hockey, and how much water the machine needs to apply without making the ice too thick.
At professional games there is time pressure too: resurfacing must be finished during the intermission so that the ice has frozen in time.
Specialists: curling ice technicians
Ice technicians in curling are a discipline of their own. Curling ice must be almost perfectly level and the temperature extremely stable. Before every game the ice is scraped and pebbled. How the stones run depends directly on this work. At international championships, experienced chief ice technicians therefore work with their own teams.
How do you become an ice technician?
In Germany there is no single state-recognised apprenticeship for "Eismeister". Many ice technicians come from craft or technical trades, such as refrigeration and air conditioning, electrical engineering or pool operation, and learn the job on the job. In addition, manufacturers of ice resurfacers and refrigeration plants offer training, and associations run further courses. Depending on the facility, additional requirements apply for driving the machine and handling refrigerants.
Working hours
Ice rinks are often open from early morning until late evening, plus games at weekends and on public holidays. Shift work is therefore normal. In return, ice technicians work right in the middle of the sport, and at big games hardly anyone crosses the ice as visibly as they do.
A typical day at the rink
| Time (example) | Task |
|---|---|
| early morning | Plant check, first resurfacing before youth training |
| morning | Resurfacing between school sport and public skating |
| midday | Maintenance, sharpening blades, checking boards |
| afternoon | Resurfacing between figure skating and ice hockey training, adjusting temperature |
| evening | League game: resurfacing before the game and in every intermission |
| night | Final resurfacing; the ice "heals" overnight |
Frequently asked questions
+Is there formal training to become an ice technician?
In Germany there is no single state-recognised apprenticeship for "Eismeister". Many come from technical trades and train further through courses run by manufacturers, associations or pool operators.
+What does an ice technician do besides driving on the ice?
They monitor the refrigeration plant, humidity and temperature, build the ice at the start of the season, paint in lines, maintain the ice resurfacer and sharpen its blades.
+How often is the ice resurfaced?
It depends on use – typically between training sessions, public skating times and in every intermission.
Sources & further links
Editorially researched and checked against association and rulebook information. Found a mistake? Write to us via the Contact page.
Read more in the encyclopedia
Background
Ice preparation & ice resurfacer (Zamboni)
The ice resurfacer shaves a thin layer off the ice, collects the resulting snow, cleans the surface and lays down a thin film of warm water that freezes into a smooth new layer of ice. Frank Zamboni built the first such machine in California in 1949.
Background
Making ice & ice temperature by sport
Artificial ice is made by applying water in many thin layers to a chilled concrete slab containing cooling pipes. The finished ice is usually only a few centimetres thick. The ice is tempered differently depending on the sport: colder and harder for ice hockey and speed skating, slightly warmer and softer for figure skating.
Term
Pebbling: why curling ice is bumpy
Pebbling is the spraying of fine water droplets onto curling ice. The droplets freeze into tiny bumps, the "pebble". The stone rests only on these tips, so it glides further and runs its typical curve.
Background
History of ice rinks and artificial ice
For centuries, ice sports depended on natural ice and cold winters. In 1876 the first artificial ice rink, the Glaciarium, opened in London. Since then, refrigeration technology, covered rinks and modern arenas have made ice sports possible in every season and almost anywhere.
Sport
Ice & technology
Everything about Ice & technology: rules, history, numbers and all terms.