2024 US Figure Skating Championships

skategal said:
This is a great hack for winter airplane travel too.

I use a white Glad Kitchen Catcher type bag and put my big heavy coat in it while going through the airport and before stowing in on the plane.
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Same. When I’m traveling, I bring two just in case one gets ripped.

As for the venue, I stash a folded string bag in my coat. Once I’m through event security, I can unload my pockets.
 
The door near the southeast corner of the arena is in use. I don't know whether there's a second entrance available.

The arena is putting wristbands on all-event ticketholders. Door staff wanted to see the set of tickets in my Google Wallet to verify I was allowed in for practice. I don't mean they examined every ticket--they just glanced.

I can confirm yesterday's report that the practice rink isn't particularly cold. If you're dressed to walk outdoors at today's temps, you'll be comfortable. Seating in the practice rink is elevated and consists of 8 rows of permanent bleachers along one long side of the ice. There's room to stand behind the last row, which I think might be necessary at some point, because it's so easy to hop back and forth between the main arena and the practice ice.

I entered the arena with a full-size, opaque tote bag. Nothing was said. They're using a scanner to check the bags rather than pawing through them, but I guess a physical inspection could take place if something looks questionable on the scanner.

Empty, lightweight bottles are OK, but there are no water fountains in the arena. They were removed because of COVID and haven't been replaced. Water in the lavatories in the women's restroom ran coolish today. I don't know whether it will be warm later in the week when the lavatories get more use.

We walked to Hill's Downtown Market on N. Grant today for food. I think it's probably at least a mile from the arena, but it's not much more than 1/2 mile from the Red Roof Plus. It's a real supermarket but quite expensive. Examples: Siggi's yogurt $2.99, Chobani yogurt $2.19 and Tate's cookies $8.99; for some reason Pepperidge Farm cookies are the same price as at my Safeway when they're not on sale ($5.09). I don't ever buy bottled water, but a 20-oz. bottle of Aquafina was $2.49--seems expensive, but cheaper than the arena. There was a small salad bar I didn't have time to look at; I don't know how much it costs per pound. I'm guessing things are nearly all more expensive than at Whole Food. The market will apparently have a few hot-food options at lunchtime, but I didn't look at the menu.
 
acraven said:
The door near the southeast corner of the arena is in use. I don't know whether there's a second entrance available.

The arena is putting wristbands on all-event ticketholders. Door staff wanted to see the set of tickets in my Google Wallet to verify I was allowed in for practice. I don't mean they examined every ticket--they just glanced.

I can confirm yesterday's report that the practice rink isn't particularly cold. If you're dressed to walk outdoors at today's temps, you'll be comfortable. Seating in the practice rink is elevated and consists of 8 rows of permanent bleachers along one long side of the ice. There's room to stand behind the last row, which I think might be necessary at some point, because it's so easy to hop back and forth between the main arena and the practice ice.

I entered the arena with a full-size, opaque tote bag. Nothing was said. They're using a scanner to check the bags rather than pawing through them, but I guess a physical inspection could take place if something looks questionable on the scanner.

Empty, lightweight bottles are OK, but there are no water fountains in the arena. They were removed because of COVID and haven't been replaced. Water in the lavatories in the women's restroom ran coolish today. I don't know whether it will be warm later in the week when the lavatories get more use.

We walked to Hill's Downtown Market on N. Grant today for food. I think it's probably at least a mile from the arena, but it's not much more than 1/2 mile from the Red Roof Plus. It's a real supermarket but quite expensive. Examples: Siggi's yogurt $2.99, Chobani yogurt $2.19 and Tate's cookies $8.99; for some reason Pepperidge Farm cookies are the same price as at my Safeway when they're not on sale ($5.09). I don't ever buy bottled water, but a 20-oz. bottle of Aquafina was $2.49--seems expensive, but cheaper than the arena. There was a small salad bar I didn't have time to look at; I don't know how much it costs per pound. I'm guessing things are nearly all more expensive than at Whole Food. The market will apparently have a few hot-food options at lunchtime, but I didn't look at the menu.
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Thanks for the update! Well that’s really disappointing about the water fountains. These places need to get into the new century and install a water filling station. I can smuggle in a bottle, but one bottle won’t be enough some days.
 
Tap water in bathrooms is not always potable, but if it isn't there is usually a sign.
 
Safe travels to anyone not there already. We had 12 hours of freezing rain in my area, which then turned to just rain, and it looks (from Weather Channel) as though the same might clip Columbus tomorrow. Above average temps from Wednesday forward though.

I guess I made a good decision in passing on this event though, as I came down with norovirus yesterday and feel like complete and utter death. I will look for some of you on Peacock though!
 
AnnM said:
They might have connected through Oakland.
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For skaters coming from the Pacific Northwest, that could be. But it would be a very weird flight pattern to fly north from SoCal to NorCal and then across to Ohio. Most likely they'd connect somewhere NE of LA.

Anita18 said:
Husband wrote back and was like ¯\(ツ)/¯ about the gallery so we really will never know who it was. :rofl:
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I was looking for a list of entrants and their clubs. That would give a hint especially if the name was familiar to me. St. Moritz is sending 3 skaters but 2 are guys and I don't think they all train up here either. I don't know who Peninsula or SF are sending but a list could jog my memory.
 
I forgot to mention there's a small produce stand at North Market. I saw apples at $2.49/lb, the same price as at my Safeway. I thought there were a lot of attractive options for hot food, but they're not particularly cheap. The ice cream stand charges only $1.50 for a scoop, which is shocking.
 
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MacMadame said:
For skaters coming from the Pacific Northwest, that could be. But it would be a very weird flight pattern to fly north from SoCal to NorCal and then across to Ohio. Most likely they'd connect somewhere NE of LA.


I was looking for a list of entrants and their clubs. That would give a hint especially if the name was familiar to me. St. Moritz is sending 3 skaters but 2 are guys and I don't think they all train up here either. I don't know who Peninsula or SF are sending but a list could jog my memory.
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It was also a Southwest flight, and as far as I can tell, no SF/LA-area airports have Southwest flights direct to Columbus. So it would be quite a lot of layovers to get to Columbus if they were traveling from somewhere other than where they lived. 🤔 Especially coach AND skater with mom.
 
Anyone know yet if there will be concessions available in the arena for the first couple of days? I still have flashbacks to the snowy day in Nashville when the one concession stand open ran out of food...
 
Today (Monday) the only thing open was Tim Horton's. I only looked casually at the stand's menu. I think the offerings included coffee, muffins, Timbits and hotdogs. I'd guess also pretzels and maybe popcorn.

I'll be surprised if there's anything else open on Tuesday. Every year we scout the concessions for places that look like they might have reasonably healthy food. Sometimes we see something promising, but often the places we're looking forward to never open at all. I've learned not to count on much of anything being open until the senior events start, and options may still be limited for the pairs short program. The possibilities just don't expand all that much until the weekend, at which point attendance usually skyrockets and the lines are long.

Maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised in Columbus. Watch this space for updates on food available at the arena.
 
acraven said:
Today (Monday) the only thing open was Tim Horton's. I only looked casually at the stand's menu. I think the offerings included coffee, muffins, Timbits and hotdogs. I'd guess also pretzels and maybe popcorn.

I'll be surprised if there's anything else open on Tuesday. Every year we scout the concessions for places that look like they might have reasonably healthy food. Sometimes we see something promising, but often the places we're looking forward to never open at all. I've learned not to count on much of anything being open until the senior events start, and options may still be limited for the pairs short program. The possibilities just don't expand all that much until the weekend, at which point attendance usually skyrockets and the lines are long.

Maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised in Columbus. Watch this space for updates on food available at the arena.
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Did you notice how much the bottled water costs?
 
If anyone goes over to the arena before noon can you please post a report on whether the area in front of the entrance has been salted or sanded?

I broke my ankle at Skate America in the arena (got distracted and missed the step), had surgery and am now pretty much recovered but of course not ready to take another fall. I’m staying at the AC Marriott on Park St which is a short walk but maybe will Uber over for the afternoon and not take any chances walking if the sidewalks are still slick. Temps are supposed to be well above freezing by noon but I need to be careful.
 
I’m sad there won’t be any snow. :rofl:

I’m not gonna get in until Thursday afternoon. See you all soon! My last hurrah before my ACL gets repaired.

I cannot believe there are no water fountains. Yeesh.
 
I've lost track of what I've heard in the rink and what I've read here, so this may be stale info:

Outside the portal to sections 112-113 is a vending machine with small wraps, hard-boiled eggs and salads packaged in plastic cups. I'm told the wraps are $11. I'm curious about the price of a hard-boiled egg. Update: 2 eggs for $3.99.

Today there's a second concession stand open. I think it has the usual hotdogs, soft pretzels, etc. There's also a store selling 85% bottled beverages and 15% packaged snacks. There are a few beverage-vending machines. They should at least take someone the pressure off the lines later in the week.
 
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