As the game of hockey continues to grow all across Colorado, one area has eyes on joining that trend by making plans to have a brand-new rink and accompanying youth hockey association built and created in the next year.

The board of directors for the 501c3 Ice Rink for Chaffee County (IRCC), including president Jon Fritz from Salida and Mark Hammer from Buena Vista, is working many days around the clock to get everything in order for a new rink sometime next winter after land was acquired this past winter.

Chaffee County has around 20,000 residents and sits right in the middle of Colorado, up against the tallest mountains in the state. It’s known as a river community and is surrounded by communities that have rinks and robust skating and hockey programs.

“There has been growing interest in hockey in Chaffee County since 2008 and there have been several efforts to create a program,” said on-ice programming director for Ice Rink for Chaffee County Andrew Jasicki. “Locals have been skating and maintaining the pond since 2008 and hosting pick-up hockey Thursday nights and Saturday mornings. The pond (Frantz or Long Lake) is located close to town and has easy access for local residents.”

Since 2011, local tennis courts were flooded and maintained with city of Salida permission, said Jasicki.

“While interest in hockey and skating is strong, our local governments have been unable to provide the necessary resources to build a rink,” Jasicki said. “IRCC acquired the boards and refrigeration from Colorado College’s Honnen Arena in 2021. We seek to build a rink to support Learn to Skate and Learn to Play Hockey programs. Over the years, we have collected all needed equipment including a chiller and a Zamboni.”

Learn to Skate and Learn to Play Hockey have been run on Chalk Lake and Long Lake for the last three winters. Chalk Lake freezes earlier and gets more shade so the events start with three weekend clinics there that lead into the six- and eight-week programs.

This year, IRCC had a huge number of participants, around 75 total between all the clinics and programs. Ten girls from IRCC program joined Gunnison for a combined 10U girls team as well.

All programs are donation-based for a facility and volunteer run to grow skating sports. Pam Kelly is lead skating instructor with years of figure skating experience and instruction. Jasicki is in charge of the hockey side of things. He was previously a skills director for Boulder Hockey Club and a coach for the Rocky Mountain RoughRiders AAA program.

“Pam and I agreed that our program should be skating based as it is a very important skill and adds to the success of what we are creating on the pond,” Jasicki said. “Our pond is a special place, and everyone feels it when they come here. This year, we had one week of warm temperatures but were able to finish with games against other clubs. In late February, Alamosa 12U and Gunnison 8U teams came to play kids from our programs and over 100 people gathered at our local pond for games and a great season ending atmosphere.

“I hope we continue to grow our program and continue the culture we have created on the pond.”

Anyone interested in donating to the cause can visit icerinkforchaffeecounty.org for more information.

Photos/Ice Rink For Chaffee County

— Matt Mackinder

(March 27, 2025)