Divito Park owner tells humorous story about his only ‘trip’ onto the ice rink
Doug Corteal laughs as he recalls his only close encounter with the icy surface at Divito Park, a business named after his great-grandfather, which he has owned and operated on a former coal mining site in Leisenring for the past eight years. The humorous story took place about three years ago when Corteal and his employees were trying to clean the Olympic-sized ice rink, which is the largest of more than 30 rinks scattered throughout western Pennsylvania.
Corteal said one of his employees was operating the Zamboni, an ice-conditioning machine, when it became jammed with snow and ice and came to a sudden halt.
The Zamboni, a natural gas-powered machine that cleans the icy surface, would not budge despite repeated attempts to get it moving again.
Corteal explained that the machine normally travels across the surface to pick up snow and ice fragments created by skaters. As the Zamboni scrapes the surface of the ice to make it flat, it drops a layer of water onto the ice to smooth the surface.
As his employees unsuccessfully tried to push the Zamboni back into operation, Corteal, who was standing on the solid concrete surface surrounding the 100-foot-by-200-foot ice rink, watched patiently from the sideline.
And then Corteal decided it was time to take matters into his own hands – or feet.
He mustered up his courage and cautiously stepped onto the slick surface of the ice rink. He immediately began to slide, and he quickly realized that he couldn’t stand up long enough to help push the Zamboni from the ice rink.
After falling onto the ice several times, Corteal found himself desperately clinging onto the Zamboni and his employees as he struggled to lift his body into an upright position on the slippery surface. He finally managed to pull himself back onto his feet. He then slid across the icy surface and was relieved when he reached the safety of the concrete.
But then a light bulb seemed to turn on in Corteal’s head. He had what he thought was a bright idea, and he knew exactly what he needed to do. If he could only get some traction, he was certain that he could stand on the ice long enough to repair or push the Zamboni.
Corteal, who doesn’t know how to ice skate and had never even attempted to glide across the slippery surface since the ice rink was built in 1995, thought it was time to strap a pair of ice skates onto his feet.
“I thought maybe I could use a pair of skates to get some traction so we could push the Zamboni off the ice,” Corteal said as he continued to laugh.
Corteal rushed to the skate rental area, grabbed a pair of ice skates and then ran back to the concrete surface surrounding the ice. He sat down and tightly strapped the skates onto his feet.
As soon as he mustered up his courage again, he felt ready to tackle the Zamboni and the slippery surface for a second time. But as he stepped onto the ice, he realized that he didn’t know how to ice skate, and the skates strapped onto his feet seemed to make the situation worse.
“The Zamboni actually made a big puddle of water on the ice,” he said. “When you’re standing on wet ice, you have no traction. I found out that it was worse with the skates on my feet than it was with my shoes on. I guess it was a bad idea.”
Corteal slide and fell onto the icy surface. As soon as he managed to pull himself to his feet again, his skates would begin to slide, and he would fall onto the hard, icy surface – again and again. By the time he gathered enough strength to get off the ice, he was wet from head to toe because the snowy ice had melted all over him.
When his second plan failed, Corteal didn’t give up. He had another bright idea.
But by this time, he had learned his lesson.
He wasn’t going to tackle the ice without some help.
He drove his Bronco into the ice rink and used the horsepower from his vehicle to pull the Zamboni from the ice.
“I learned my lesson right there and then,” Corteal said. “I never tried to ice skate again. The kids, who ice skate here all of the time, make it look really easy. But it’s not so easy if you don’t know what you’re doing.
“Adults can learn how to skate, but they have to be really determined that they’re going to learn how to do it or they end up like I did – falling all over the place,” he added.