One of my best friends lives in Frederick and when she decided to start taking lessons here, I joined her. I took Adult beginner classes between November 2017 and January 2018, and frequently came up for public skating sessions as well.
The lessons are 25 minutes long; there are numerous different levels of classes going on at the same time in different sections of the ice. There were only 3 people in my class including myself, which was nice since it felt a bit more private. My instructor was Cathy, who was really friendly and nice, and gave me some hands-on help when I needed it. She can sometimes be a bit forgetful or go off on tangents which can eat into class time a bit, but she was a good teacher for my level and always upbeat and positive. If you can't skate at all, just keep in mind that the 1st few classes you might need to slip and slide to your section of the ice for class, but this doesn't last long.
My lessons included 8 free public skating sessions (skate rentals were included for class days, but not public skating sessions). The calendar of public sessions is available on the website, as well as in paper form at the rink. The public sessions were almost always pretty busy on weekends. However, a few times, I managed to come in on weekdays and it was a lot emptier, especially if you got there for an early session. Around the holidays, the rink started providing tons of Cheapskate sessions (public sessions at lower admission prices, and skate rentals were $1 instead if $3). Most of the time the ice was fairly smooth, with bumpy areas, although 1 time I came for the last 1.5 hours of a public skate session on a Sunday afternoon and the ice was crowded and bumpy--pretty bad to skate on. All the other times the ice was a lot better.
There are lockers for rent; they accept quarters only and cost $0.50 to rent. If you need to get quarters, the pro shop will exchange them for cash. Note that you will inevitably lose quarters to lockers that don't work; this is mostly just luck and trial-and-error. The rental skates usually fit reasonably well, although some alternatively gave me toe pain or ankle pain. Some of the teenaged staff are a bit uninterested, but most of the staff are reasonably friendly. Service can be slow, as I believe some people have multiple roles so the pro shop or skate rental might be left unmanned for several minutes if the employee is otherwise engaged. The facilities are usable, if perpetually a bit dirty.
I was able to sign up for classes by phone, although I only got through the 2nd time I called. The rink accepts credit cards, but not Amex. There is plenty of parking. Overall, a pretty okay place to skate. read more