At Work With: You’re skating on thick ice with this Portland Zamboni driver

Tanya March has been making the ice clean and smooth at the Lloyd Center Ice Rink for over a decade. But she’s been in ice rinks as long as she can remember.

“I am Canadian. I think we think children should learn to skate before they learn to swim,” she said.

For this month’s installment of At Work With, we’re gliding behind Tanya March to learn what’s like to be a Zamboni driver.

Technically, Tanya March drives an ice resurfacer - Zamboni is a brand name like Kleenex. “Everyone thinks of every ice resurfacer as though it’s Zamboni,” said March, “Mine is an Engo.”

An ice resurfacer, like the Engo, is a boxy vehicle that makes fresh ice on skating rinks by shaving off uneven layers, collecting the shavings, and spreading a thin layer of fresh water that freezes into a smooth surface. The machine replaces the laborious, if amusing, old method of resurfacing.

“Prior to having resurfacers, they had a Ford sedan drive what looks like a plow,” said March. “It’s what was used at baseball diamonds to clear out the infield area. You would have a person driving it and then a person standing on [it.],” said March.

“Between periods of hockey games, there [were] women who were scantily clad who would shovel all the loose ice off,” said March. “It would take an hour to resurface.”

The Engo that March is driving was selected specifically for the Lloyd Center ice rink after the mall was remodeled in 2017. It’s a bit smaller and electric. “Because of the remodel to the mall, it was required for the safety of the occupants that we do not have a propane-driven machine. And this was the one on the market that was available at the time,” said March.

Some ice resurfacers have computer panels and touch screens, but the Lloyd Center’s Engo is much more stripped down. March, who likes to work on old cars, likes the more manual nature. “It has a lot of levers, so it has the intellectualness that you need,” said March.

She does have one thing on her wish list: “I’m missing something that’s on an Olympia or a Zamboni. I don’t have an icebreaker,” she said. An icebreaker helps prevent the machine from getting jammed up.

“Think of a blender when you can jam a spoon in that blender when it gets stuck when you’re making your margaritas,” March said.

That might be extra helpful at a rink like the Lloyd Center, where artificial snow, made of soap bubbles, falls from the ceiling during public skating sessions. March describes those bubbles as “majestically beautiful,” but they can be hard on the machinery and the ice. If you don’t get the soap bubbles off quickly, “It feels a little bit like Swiss cheese,” said March.

March said that good water is essential to create good ice for skating. “You use hot water because it does melt out those mounds and help solidify the existing ice. It also has less air. The hotter the water, the less air,” said March.

“If you go to a good bar, they make those ice cubes that have perfectly clear, instead of having crystalline structures. That’s what I’m aiming for. Some rinks do a lot of work to filter their water quality. We are so blessed here in Portland that we have such high quality water,” said March.

March can tell when the water and air quality has gotten worse. “If we have a fire in the area, in the Gorge, it turns my ice that I pull off the sheet brown,” said March.

March arrived at 8AM to do an ice cut before the crowded public session begins.

After the resurfacer is disconnected from electricity, it’s time to fill it up with hot water. “It takes a long time,” she said. “Maybe 20 bathtubs of water going in right now.”

It takes almost as long to fill up as it does to do the full ice resurface. How much water she uses depends on the condition of the ice. “We measure the ice. We have a laser device and we measure the thickness of the ice [twice a week], and so we are told where we need to shave more and where we need to lay down more water,” she said. “I sometimes will actually resurface in a reverse direction,” she said, “I think it’s good different people go from different angles.”

During the winter, there is a large three-story artificial Christmas tree in the center of the rink surface. That means March will have to maneuver around an obstacle. She uses her board brush, a street-sweeper looking brush on the side, to get in close when she drives in a circle around the tree.

When the rink is closed, she’ll come in with an edger, which is a non-riding ice resurfacer meant for getting tough spots the big vehicle can’t reach. The edger is about the size of a large lawnmower.

Winter is the busiest time of year at the Lloyd Center rink — the ice will see as many as 1,000 skaters over the course of the day, especially during school breaks.

“

There are three things in life people like to stare at: a flowing stream, a crackling fire, and a Zamboni clearing the ice.”

— Charlie Brown in "She's a Good Skate"

It can get chaotic, and can make driving the resurfacer a little nerve-wracking. “Have you ever had your dad watch you parallel park? That’s what it feels like during Christmas when you have 400 people staring at you and you’re like, any little mistake, you overthink it,” she said.

Some people come just to watch March do her job. “There’s people who come just to watch the ice cuts and look at our website to look at when the ice cuts are,” she said.

Can I drive it?

“Unfortunately, no. It does require a certification process.”

March started working at the Lloyd Center while getting her doctoral degree in Urban Studies at Portland State University, to get free ice time for her son who skated.

She is happy to say there’s more women drivers getting certified to operate the ice resurfacer. “I’ve always really appreciated Don Baldwin, the former general manager, allowed a lot of women to drive the Zamboni. And that’s not true across the country - [it] is a male-dominated profession,” said March.

Is it street legal?

No, it has hand-studded tires to stay upright on the ice. “I went to Les Schwab one time with one of the tires,” said March. “I needed some studs replaced and they were like, ‘We can’t do this. This isn’t street legal.‘” said March. “This never goes on the street,” said March. “Now, we just do them ourselves.”

How do you make sure stuff like rocks and small pieces of garbage don’t end up in the ice?

Mostly, she picks small things before resurfacing. “I would chip it out if there’s a small thing, we’ll take it right out before it goes in deeper. Metal really sinks quite quickly in ice,” said March.

“If people throw things when I’m on the ice, it’s a challenge. I remember one time asking the mall if they could ask all the food court to use black silverware instead of white silverware. I’ve never been laughed at more in my life. I’ll never ask again, but it’s because it was harder to see,” she said.

“Fuzzy gloves are a problem when people wear mittens and gloves,” said March. ”You want to make sure your towel is good, you don’t want fuzz because that can cause trip hazards," she said, referring to the towel at the back of the resurfacer machine.

Who is the most famous skater who has skated here?

“Brian Boitano. When we opened after the remodel, he came here for the grand opening,” said March.

And controversial Oregon figure skating legend Tonya Harding “used to teach here and these are where she got her first lessons as a skater, but she also was an employee here,” March said. Although, Harding’s main rink when preparing for the Olympics was the now-closed Clackamas Town Center rink.

What’s your favorite part of the job?

“My favorite part of the job is seeing an individual who is scared, who has never tried skating and then have success after they’ve overcome that obstacle and challenge on the ice,” said March.