# Can older people still learn to ice skate? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 11, 2004, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268 "2004-12-11T04:58:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/1 "2004-12-11T04:58:00Z")
What is the oldest age at which someone you know learned to ice skate? I’m thinking of trying it but I think I may be wasting my time. I tried asking an ice skating instructor and she assured me that she had successfully taught people of all ages. When I tried to get her to be more specific she was enthusiastic about telling me about the three and four year olds but kept dodging the question about the upper age limit. That got me to wondering how bad the truth really is. BTW, if you do know of someone worth citing here, please mention if there were special circumstances. For instance, my wife went from absolute beginner to intermediate in about two hours in her mid twenties but she was already an excellent roller skater and dancer. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/2 "2004-12-11T05:02:51Z")
My mum learnt to ice skate at age 55. She was an absolute beginner, and actually rather afraid of being on the ice. She signed up for a 10 week beginner course at the University of Delaware (this was about 20 years ago now), and as I recall worked her way up through advanced which was something like three or four levels, each 10 week courses; she had no interest in going on to ice dancing, etc. She decided to learn because as a kid she had never been able to balance a bike, and the one time she tried to rollerskate, fell down and broke her tailbone. I think she was simply determined to overcome this lifelong ‘I can’t ride a bike!’ feeling. Believe me, if my mum can learn to ice skate anyone can! ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/3 "2004-12-11T06:27:52Z")
I went ice skating for the first time last year (I’m 32). By the end of the afternoon, I was able to kind of half-walk/half-glide around the rink without falling, although things like turning and stopping were still beyond me. Had I enjoyed it (I didn’t really. My wife used to skate a lot as a kid and wanted to go since we were back in her hometown for the holidays), I don’t think it would have taken too long to get reasonably good at it. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/4 "2004-12-11T07:06:40Z")
There was an article about older skaters in the New York Times Magazine several years ago. It was written from the point of view of someone who was learning to skate competitively in her thirties. She talked about aiming for single axels and simple spins. I’ve heard Peggy Flemming state she doesn’t do jumps anymore because she’s afraid of hurting a muscle. ---
**Author:** ![tsarina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@tsarina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsarina)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/5 "2004-12-11T16:37:33Z")
I took a semester-long class in college when I was 19. I’d only been skating once before and had fallen down and given myself a bruise that didn’t go away for a month, so I decided to learn to do it properly. I had a lot of fun and by the end of the semester I could do fun stuff like skating backwards and spinning in place (no jumps for me, thanks). ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/6 "2004-12-11T21:01:21Z")
[Article on learning to skate as an adult](http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=healthiceskating18&date=20040118) (registration required). I want to give it a try next fall/winter. ---
**Author:** ![Assuming\_facts\_not\_in\_evidence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Assuming\_facts\_not\_in\_evidence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Assuming_facts_not_in_evidence)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/7 "2004-12-11T21:18:29Z")
There isn’t really an age limit to any sport. There are plenty of people who don’t take up a specific sport until they retire and move to an area where it’s popular. This applies to swimming and surfing and water skiing and many more difficult sports that are popular in Tampa. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/8 "2004-12-11T22:27:14Z")
> [@Assuming facts not in evidence](#): > > There isn’t really an age limit to any sport. > There are plenty of people who don’t take up a specific sport until they retire and move to an area where it’s popular. This applies to swimming and surfing and water skiing and many more difficult sports that are popular in Tampa. I appreciate your positive intention and the instructor I was mentioning probably felt the same way, but I think there’s some value in getting some realistic stats before investing one’s body. A close friend took the advice of others and went for it on an expert ski trail about 15 years ago, and his knee hasn’t worked correctly since then. I doubt that the people who encouraged him have even thought about it twice in the last 15 years. Anyway, that’s why I like a board like this so much. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/9 "2004-12-11T22:28:52Z")
> [@Ms Boods](#): > > My mum learnt to ice skate at age 55. She was an absolute beginner, and actually rather afraid of being on the ice. Now that’s encouraging! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/10 "2004-12-11T22:30:12Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > [Article on learning to skate as an adult](http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=healthiceskating18&date=20040118) (registration required). > > I want to give it a try next fall/winter. Thanks. I hate registering for those newspapers. I’ll try it later on. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/11 "2004-12-11T23:55:43Z")
> [@Plan B](#): > > Thanks. I hate registering for those newspapers. I’ll try it later on. [www.bugmenot.com](http://www.bugmenot.com) If you use Firefox, you can add it as an extension. Never register for a news site again. 😉 Sorry for the hijack. I love ice-skating. I used to go every year as a kid. We’ve got one of the nicest arenas (or so I hear) here in town and I’ve never been to it. I hope to take the family there sometime in the next couple of weeks. My boys are 13 and 17, and I think they’ve each only ice-skated once, when they were like 4 and 8, so it should be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/12 "2004-12-13T00:21:25Z")
> [@psycat90](#): > > [www.bugmenot.com](http://www.bugmenot.com) > > If you use Firefox, you can add it as an extension. > > Never register for a news site again. 😉 > > Sorry for the hijack. I love ice-skating. I used to go every year as a kid. We’ve got one of the nicest arenas (or so I hear) here in town and I’ve never been to it. I hope to take the family there sometime in the next couple of weeks. My boys are 13 and 17, and I think they’ve each only ice-skated once, when they were like 4 and 8, so it should be interesting. Thanks for the hijack - I love it! It’s much better than the article; the oldest skater mentioned started at 29. I’m happier thinking about ms boods mum. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/13 "2004-12-13T00:53:53Z")
> [@Plan B](#): > > Thanks for the hijack - I love it! > > It’s much better than the article; the oldest skater mentioned started at 29. I’m happier thinking about ms boods mum. 🙂 She’s 75 now, and still goes occassionally. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/14 "2004-12-13T02:01:10Z")
> [@Plan B](#): > > … I think there’s some value in getting some realistic stats before investing one’s body. A close friend took the advice of others and went for it on an expert ski trail about 15 years ago, and his knee hasn’t worked correctly since then. I doubt that the people who encouraged him have even thought about it twice in the last 15 years. > … This is a hijack from your OP but this has been one of my pet peeves speaking as someone who only took up skiing as an adult. There seems to be this need within a subset of the people who have been skiing since they were kids to get adult-learning skiiers onto REALLY DIFFICULT SLOPES! They don’t realize how intimidating this is to someone who is still learning to stop and turn properly. I don’t know how many times over the years I’ve heard variations on “Oh come on, you can handle this triple black diamond iced-over cliff!”. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/15 "2004-12-13T02:34:20Z")
I think the danger is really how much longer muscles and bones take to mend. Also, if you have had a previous injury, it may rear its ugly head. I used to skate every week as a young child, then didn’t touch skates until 30 something - it was like being a beginner again, and man, did it hurt when I fell down. My ankles also hurt like buggery, forcing me to stop before all the others. All this said, you are never too old to learn anything, it just has a different risk attached. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/16 "2004-12-13T02:58:27Z")
My great uncle John took up uce skating for the first time in his 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/17 "2004-12-13T03:01:08Z")
I taught a non-skier in his mid-70s how to telemark ski. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-older-people-still-learn-to-ice-skate/279268/18 "2004-12-13T03:02:25Z")
> [@Laughing Lagomorph](#): > > This is a hijack from your OP but this has been one of my pet peeves speaking as someone who only took up skiing as an adult. > > There seems to be this need within a subset of the people who have been skiing since they were kids to get adult-learning skiiers onto REALLY DIFFICULT SLOPES! They don’t realize how intimidating this is to someone who is still learning to stop and turn properly. I don’t know how many times over the years I’ve heard variations on “Oh come on, you can handle this triple black diamond iced-over cliff!”. Wise words. I’ve come across quite a few people who have been turned off skiing because of this.