Winter Wonderland - Free Skate!

Yah, we know, enough of winter already, even with this brief respite from below-freezing temps. If you're thinking of the lake right now, it's no doubt toasty recollections of fishing, swimming, skipping stones or otherwise catching some languid rays in the Hollow during the sun drenched summertime.

Fast forward those thoughts to wintry PHL scenes. You, me and the other kids used to pour onto the icy pond, cutting down by the Columbus statue, slipping down Red Clay hill, charging down the Anderson Grove or Nature Center steps, crunching down the trail or more likely joining the crowd on Boundary Street with skates, brooms and hockey sticks in hand. PHL was finally frozen, and Jack Frost's nip wasn't going to keep us home!

PHL frozen in the twenties (photo from Jean Chess via Parks Conservancy)

Everybody was there. Most of the gang groomed the ice and socialized, while the non-skaters headed for the Boathouse and its hot chocolate. The skaters joined a hockey game or spun in leisurely loops, often catching their breath at the end of the lake by the stone semi-circle, where a 55 gallon drum of blazing wood shared its warmth. The gals were teen-age flirty, and the guys responded with a little chest thumping in between slap shots. It was a real life Happy Days.

They skated in the fifties...(photo by Panther Hollow on Flickr)

They skated in the sixties (Pittsburgh City Photographers Collection via Historic Pittsburgh)

And they kept on skating through the seventies (photo from Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy)

And guess what? They're still skating, though the body count has dropped considerably, victim of progress and the times. The Skating Rink on Overlook Drive opened in 1974, the Boathouse was demolished in 1979, and the Oakland residential community with its mob of kids has by-and-large been displaced by students. But some plucky folk still appreciate the Schenley ice sheet.

A few hardy souls are still skating in 2015 (photo by Ron Ieraci)

So don't curse our far north buds in Canada for shooing their cold fronts toward us. Root through the closet, dig out those old blades, and spent some frosty Pittsburgh wintertime where it's meant to be spent - at PHL. A spin or two around the lake and a couple of old memories, capped by a toddy at the Visitors Center, should keep you plenty warm.