alot of people say they had to quit ice skating b/c it got too expensive.why?what makes it so expensive?

$40 or more per hour for a private coach, times 3 hours a week, + ice time + club membership + $500 skates + outfit for competition.

greedy b4st4rds

First off, skates themselves r pretty darn pricey. For a beginner, skates r still around $100, but the more advanced u get, when boots & blades r sold seperately, skate costs go waaaaay up..into the thousands of dollars. Ice time is not cheap. You might save a few bucks of u contract ice ahead of time, but when 45 minutes costs u $8 or more bucks, use ur time wisely! Lessons can be anywhere from $15 on up for just a half hour, depending on the calibur of the coach. On top of that, add club dues (at least $100 a year), testing fees (anywhere from $50 a test on up), competition fees (depends on how many events u enter, but even low levels can be at least $100 for one event), dresses/costumes ($50 into the thousands), off-ice training, transportation (gas, airline tickets, rooms, etc.) & more quickly become very expensive...and that is for just ur average singles skater. Elite skaters get sponsors to try to defray costs.

it can cost $109 for an 11 week class, $25 dollars for private lessons, & it is currently costing me $800 dollars for new skates. Also, the synchro team at my rink charges $1300+ to join the team. $1300 for the team fee, $225 for the dress & tights, & 75 for the practice dress. Also custom dresses cost a lot of money, & good dresses have a lot of rhinestones, which r exteremely pricey. And practice ice can range from $6 to $27. Competitions & club memberships r a whole nother expensive story. And annual maintaining of the skates(polishing, sharpening, getting them re-built) is also pricey. It takes years to get to where the Olympians are, so u would need lots of dedication & money to get there in a short amount of time.

its really expensive because you have to pay for coaches fees, practice ice, skate sharpenings and other fixes, competition fees, outfits, gas to get to your lessons, if your on a synchro team you have to pay the monthly bill, and over time it can really add up. also depending on your level skates can cost a lot. my skates themselves were 800 and the blades were about 200.

For a 5 week class, it is costing me $100. Each session is only 1 hour long and it is once a week.
On top of that, just one of my dresses was almost $200. Tights are also about $15 per pair.
Skates can run into the $1,000s, and when you grow out of them, obviously you have to pay that price all over again.
Sharpening the skate blades is $12 each time.
Not to mention competition prices, gas just to drive to the ice den, etc. the list goes on!

mainly things such as lessons and skates. also my bill always racked up every-time l had a performance l had to get new outfits. usually good skaters have them custom made so the cost alot, plus keeping your blades sharpened and new skates when your feet grow. oh yeah and the traveling prices for competitions.

ice time, coaches, choreographing, off-ice training, skates, blades, outfits, competitions, travelling (a lot of gas),. theres just so much commitment.

Ice Skating Dress- $200 + for a nice one
Figure Skates- $1000 + if you want to be competitive
Lessons- $40 + and thats just one. usually you have 3-6 a week
Tights, Gloves, Jacket- $50 +

Figure Skating is a very expensive sport. But, you can do it more for fun, than competitive and it would not be that expensive.

people have to be paid right?

do u think that a nice pair of perfect leather boots that boot makers slaved over r gonna cost $20? no.

and sewing stretch fabric to & designing outfits?

and the people who own the rink have to keep the rink cool & still pay all of their employees. so ur session times will cost money.

and ur coaches r coaching people all day. so they need money to live off of.

and during competitions.judges have to sit & score skating all day. dont ya think they need to get paid? that is why there is an admission fee.

this is why it is so expensive.

The cost to run an ice rink is HUGE. Especially recently as electricity bills have gone up. It costs so much that management have to increase the prices of hiring ice, so that when the coaches hire the private ice to teach on, they have to pay more, & they get their money from us, unfortunately.

As u get to a higher level there r so many more lessons u need to do, which means more ice time, & there will be off ice, competitions, which r DARN expensive, travel, boots, blades, clothing etc. It all adds up.

A good pair of ice skates would be around $200, & if their feet r still growing, then u would have to spend more & more each time. Plus the ice time, coach (you need quite a few), equipment (boot covers, blade covers, cloth covers, skating bag, tights, clothes), & if you're REALLY dedicated (like olympics, nationals, etc.. ) tutor, etc.. There r a lot of awesome figure skaters who could have gone into the olympics, but the cost is really high, & they do not have enough money.

well, good skates cost money, especially custom fits, and blades come seperatley at higher levels, plus skating costums, private ice, and lessons

Well, like everyone said, skates r not cheap at all. Besides buying the skates, they gotta be sharpened, like, twice a month, depending on how much u skate. My coach charges $48.00/hr. Public sessions cost $7.00 for 2 hrs.. but it is crowded, so if ur really serious about skating, u gotta get private ice time, which costs $180/hr. Skating skirts, tights, jackets r not cheap either. l have to say that figure skaters like me who love figure skating, it is an addicting sport. l spend a lot of money on it. l am 23 yrs old, & have been skating for 4 months only. l go to the ice rink 5 times/week at least. And l try to go to the gym as much as l can. Plus l am addicted at buying figure skating apparel. l love buying practice skirts, dresses, soakers of different colors, skate guards, etc. l have not started competing yet, but l have already bought some dresses that were on sale. Honestly, l think l spend about $500/month on figure skating stuff, including private lessons twice/week for 1/2 hr each, ice rink 5 times/week, gym membership, skating club membership, tights, skate sharpening, etc etc etc. l am advancing & l want to buy new skates.. boots plus blades r gunna cost me like, $600.00. It is an expensive sport, but it is only because it is so addictive & l friggin' love it to death!!!!!!!!