Escape the heat with a visit to Polar Ice

Juliana Kenny has been skating half her life. Ask Polar Ice's skating director why she loves her sport so much, and her answer is quick and simple.

"It's so free," Kenny says, grinning. "It's like you're flying."

Stand in the center of weekday Freestyle Skate, and you'll find it hard to argue. The morning skate features kids, hip-high to teenagers, turning fluid circles through the chilled air. The afternoon skate belongs to adults, and both have a genial, leisurely feel. In an Arizona July, it's hard to feel twitchy or sour when you're cold for the first time in months and gliding counterclockwise to M.C. Hammer's "Can't Touch This."

Polar Ice is one of the few East Valley destinations where you have to fish out your coat if you want to be comfortable. Its massive lobby includes a karate studio for those who prefer their feet on the ground, party rooms, a video arcade and a pizza place for those who prefer watching and chewing.

Its two NHL-sized rinks rotate daily open skates with youth hockey and figure skating classes. "It gets busy without being crowded," manager Denise Love says. "It's even tailing off a little now, as the Chandler schools re-open."

None of this is news to the East Valley's hockey or figure skating communities. But these days Polar Ice also draws crossover crowds: people on "stay-cations," Midwestern migrants, those who want to rediscover a lost leisure activity and those who found that sticking their head in their freezer is precious little relief.

"We do get people who come in because it's cold," Kenny says. "And some of them come back here for skating lessons."

Lessons can be a good idea. If you skated with any degree of skill all those years ago, rest assured it all will come back as sure as riding a bicycle. But if, like me, you skated like a water buffalo with an ear infection, you'll find you didn't improve over time. I did learn that Plexiglas walls come up fast, and pointing your toe is a better braking method that flailing your arms and tipping over. Kenny is patient, though.

"You're getting it, see?" she says. "You haven't been out here long, and already you're improving."

I did learn how to turn. Next time, I'll learn how to stop turning. After the first 10 minutes, you get dizzy.

Polar Ice is located at 7225 W. Harrison Street, Chandler. Public skates run 9:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekends with a Saturday night skate from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for kids, and skate rentals are $3.25. For more information, call (480) 598-9400 or visit: www.polaricechandler.com.