A winter wonderland on the Polyterrasse

A group of tourists were rather astonished at what they encountered when they arrived at the Polyterrasse on Saturday. They had come to admire the beautiful views over Zurich’s old town and the Üetliberg mountain; they probably didn’t expect to find an ice rink there too. The visitors were not keen to have a go at ice skating themselves, but they were more than happy to watch skaters performing twists and turns – some intentional, others less so. The ice rink, which opened on Saturday, proved extremely popular even on the first day.

The ice rink will now be open to both ETH members and the general public for a month as part of the Winter Wonderland project. Entry is free, and anyone who does not have their own pair of ice skates can hire some for six Swiss francs. Sledge-like “seals” are available for young children, which their parents can use to help them along on the ice (see the first photo on the left in the gallery).

Next to the ice rink there is a spacious food marquee open to anyone who would like something to eat or drink after their ice skating fun. The heated marquee offers hearty winter food and warm drinks at student-friendly prices.

Getting in a festive mood

The Winter Wonderland programme has been organised by project managers Stephanie Braunwalder, from the Office for Events & Location Development at ETH Zurich, and Michael Hochstrasser from the Polyball organising committee KOSTA. “After receiving positive feedback last year and numerous enquiries asking whether an ice rink would be set up again, we wanted to recreate the festive mood on the Polyterrasse this year too,” said Stephanie Braunwalder.

Michael Hochstrasser was also involved in organising last year’s ice rink. “This year we not only have a larger ice rink and a welcoming food marquee, but we are also open for four weeks instead of two,” he said. Hochstrasser and a team of four ice experts are responsible for maintaining the ice to the required quality standard. Depending on the weather and the number of visitors, they clean the frozen surface – which is 30 metres long, 15 metres wide and seven centimetres thick – up to once an hour.

Other students from VSETH (ETH Zurich’s student association), external pageKOSTAcall_made and the department associations ("Fachvereine") are involved in setting up and running the ice rink and looking after the visitors’ welfare. Every Wednesday, storytellers come along to help create a magical atmosphere – first for children in the afternoon, then for adults in the evening. For those who are keen to hone their skating skills, trainers from the Academic Sports Association Zurich (ASVZ) are offering coaching sessions on one Tuesday in November and one in December.