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12/29/2014 Roseville's John Rose Oval has good skating for all skill levels - TwinCities.com Roseville's John Rose Oval has good skating for all skill levels Updated: 12/26/2014 02:33:41 PM CST TwinCities.com Roseville's John Rose Oval has good skating for all skill levels Last week when all the neighborhood ice rinks melted into puddles, I took my children skating at the Guidant John Rose Minnesota Oval in Roseville. Thanks to refrigeration the ice was solid, if a bit pebbly, beneath our blades. None of us is a great skater. But the nation's largest sheet of outdoor refrigerated ice welcomes beginners like us during open skate hours. It seemed like the perfect family outing on a weekday during winter break. I took my 12 -year-old son and two of his friends and my 8 - year -old daughter and her friend. "When did you last skate?" my son asked his buddy as they laced up rented skates inside. "Two years ago," answered his friend. "I can't tell you how many times I'm going to fall." "I'm going to fall more than you," boasted their third friend. In the midday drizzle, we stumbled onto the massive 400 -meter track. Only a few dozen people were skating laps on the overcast day, because, really, who would think of skating on a day with rain in the forecast? An older man on long skates sailed around the track in the inner lane, focused on his workout. A few families with children weaved back and forth in the outer lanes while couples leisurely skated and talked. Four hockey rinks in the infield were filled with adults and kids playing pickup hockey. The entire oval surface is 110,000 square feet, twice the size of a football field and six times bigger than the indoor sheet at Xcel Energy Center, where the Minnesota Wild plays. It's also lovely, partially enclosed by a wall of towering evergreen trees. UNIQUE FACILITY The Oval opened in 1993, the result of Minnesota's short-lived aspiration under Gov. Rudy Perpich to host the Olympics. "They needed a facility for speed -skating," said Brad Tullberg, Roseville Skating Center superintendent. "The flaw is that we don't have any mountains for the skiing." More than 20 years later, Roseville's Oval is one of only four 400 -meter refrigerated tracks in the United States, and, according to Tullberg, the busiest one outdoors. On sunny winter weekends, several hundred people show up for open skate and pickup hockey. The rest of the schedule is booked with youth hockey teams, speed -skating sessions http://www.twi nciti es.com/Features/ci_27202403/Rosevi I I es -John- Rose-Oval-has-good-skati ng -for -al I -ski I I -levels 1/3