The Arctic Edge Skating Club has been adjusting to an uncertain schedule with limited ice times available in Whitehorse.

The Takhini Arena became the only refuge for anyone with a pair of skates after a June 24 fire closed the Canada Games Centre – and its two ice surfaces – for the beginning of the winter season.

Adapting has been difficult to manoeuvre, said Arctic Edge co-chair Cheryl Van Blaricom.

"It's been extremely difficult,” she said. "And I say that, not being critical of the city and all that, it's just really tough. We don't have consistent ice – and neither does anybody else, everybody is trying to use the same ice – we've been skating very early in the mornings, six o'clock, some days only six to seven, and very little ice time after school.”

The Games Centre's Northwestel Arena (NHL size ice) opened this week and the ATCO ice (Olympic size ice) is scheduled to open within the next two weeks.

Returning to train at the Northwestel ice this week has helped, Van Blaricom added.

Michelle Gorczyca, Rachel Pettitt and Bryn Hoffman ill represent Arctic Edge at the BC/Yukon Skate Canada Sectional Championships in Kelowna, B.C., from Nov. 10-13.

"It's especially difficult for our competitive skaters who are heading to Sectionals next week, they haven't had optimal conditions to get ready,” Van Blaricom said.

"That has helped a lot. This is our first week there, so we're having afternoon sessions most days, which is nice.”

The former Arctic Edge schedule is gradually returning to normal this week and will get better over the coming weeks, when the CanSkate, adult and Special Olympics programs will resume.

However, Gorczyca, Pettitt and Hoffman will each have to exert much mental focus to overcome the bumpy scheduling.

"They just need to focus on what they do well, put together their skate and keep in mind what they're working on, what their individual goals are…and let the results come as they do,” Van Blaricom said.

Take Kelcy Armstrong, for instance.

Despite the uncertain training schdule, Armstrong recently won gold at the Autumn Leaves competition in Kamloops, B.C., from Oct. 14-16.

She took first in the Introductory Interpretive event with a score of 25.32.

"She has an unusual program. It is unique, and that's what those programs are about; not so much about the jumps and the technical elements. Interpretive events are about interpreting the music,” Van Blaricom said, describing Armstrong's program as a mystery piece.

Armstrong skated in Pre-Introductory Interpretive last season and moved to Introductory this year.

"She's progressing nicely in that Interpretive area,” Van Blaricom said.

Pettitt, who was the only other Arctic Edge skater to compete in the Autumn Leaves competition, finished ninth in both the short and free programs in Pre-Novice Ladies.

Van Blaricom said Pre-Novice Ladies is a tough, competitive event that draws high numbers.

The 12-year-old scored 23.58 points in her short program and 41.51 in the free program for an eighth-place overall score of 65.09.

"She's doing extremely well,” Van Blaricom said, adding of her most recent scores:

"That's a really nice finish for Rachel.”

Arctic Edge will be happy to see its schedule return to normal with the upcoming Arctic Winter Games (AWG) scheduled to take place in Whitehorse in March.

There are four groups for figure skaters competing at the Arctic Games: Ladies 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Ladies 1 has a maximum age limit, from 10-12. In Ladies 2, 3 and 4, the age range is 18 and under, and is based on skating test level rather than age category. At Ladies 2, the test level is junior bronze; at Ladies 3, it's senior bronze; and at Ladies 4, it's junior silver, novice or pre-novice competitive.

The tryouts for Arctics will take place Dec. 3 at Takhini during the Yukon Gold Nugget Championships, which is scheduled for Dec. 2-4.

The weekend will begin with a test day on Dec. 2, when skaters will demonstrate their skill for visiting judges and will be evaluated against established test criteria.

Prior to Christmas, Arctic Edge skaters will work with visiting coaches Karen and Jason Mongrain of the Kelowna Centre for Skating Excellence.

The Mongrains will deliver a seminar involving on and off-ice sessions as well as focused training with members of the 2012 Arctic Games team.

They will also begin training senior skaters and community members to become coaches for the club's CanSkate program.

News of another Canada Games Centre fire broke today at press time. The Northwestel rink is closed until damage to air handling units can be assessed. (For full coverage, see pg. 2.)