The UCSB Ice Skating Club will hold its Xtreme Ice Blocking event near the lawn by the UCen facing the lagoon this Friday at noon.
Xtreme Ice Blocking is an annual event and currently the only on-campus event the UCSB Ice Skating Club hosts. Ice blocking is an activity in which participants drape large blocks of ice with towels and ride them downhill.
According to Sarah Feldman, President of the UCSB Ice Skating Club, the event will feature free food provided by the UCen and is set to accommodate a larger turnout than years past.
“Students are going to have a fantastic time sledding down Lagoon Hill and the Ice Blocks are faster than they appear! We have multiple towels (new this year) that are placed on top of the ice blocks,” Feldman said. “Due to the high demand, Ice Skating Club has ordered twice as many ice blocks as the previous years.”
According to Nathan Ling, a second-year Chinese and communications double major, the club has highlighted this competition every year and focuses on making this event a success.
“We are expecting a turnout of about two hundred people this year,” Ling said. “There’s going to be food, it’s going to be a lot of fun and a lot of excitement. I hope the weather turns out to be good.”
Ice in Paradise, an ice skating rink planned for construction in Goleta, is currently awaiting the necessary funds for completion. Once constructed, Ice in Paradise will be the closest ice skating rink to UCSB, the second being a facility in Oxnard. Earlier this year, the Ice Skating Club joined other members of the community in successfully petitioning city councilmen to reduce the project’s construction fees.
The Ice Skating Club hopes to gain interest and support for the ice skating rink by reaching out to the students through this event, Feldman said.
“Ice Blocking 2013 is meant to raise awareness of the ice skating sub-culture on UCSB’s tropical campus,” Feldman said. “As such contrasting cultures, it is an exciting event that bridges the tropical UCSB culture and the wintery ice skating culture. We hope that the event will also raise awareness for the Ice in Paradise ice-skating rink project.”
According to freshman biopsychology major Hannah Fingerhut, the event will provide a light-hearted atmosphere to introduce — or reintroduce — people to the sports of ice blocking and ice-skating.
“UCSB students can expect to have a lot of fun, as well as network with other students and ice skaters from UCSB and I.V.,” Fingerhut said.
