Top skaters such as Michael Weiss have used them for off ice practice because he likes to keep that "skating boot feel" even when off the ice. Yes, PIC skates do have that! You mount the PIC frame with your favorite pair of ice skating boots or purchase them as a set, which includes a beautiful GAM boot from Harmony Sports at http://www.picskate.com

"Figure skaters Daniel Eaton and Alexis Conside study pairs skating under the expert guidance of coach Andrei Bannikov a former Russian skating star with his partner Rosanna Tovi." The News Review

PIC Skates are serious skating equipment but give you the freedom to practice your program and moves anywhere indoors or out on any smooth surface. Jumps, spins, 3 turns, Mohawks, rockers, they are all possible on PIC Skates. In this tight economy and with gas prices hitting an all time high this summer, PIC skates can save you a lot of money on ice time and traveling back and forth to the ice rink. A wise investment, those two factors alone could have them paying for themselves by season's end.

How does one learn how to use PIC Skates to improve ice technique or just for the fun of skating on inlines? Well US-RollerSports which is the main organization for artistic quad rollerskaters has a Moves in the Field video. They even have a special competition category for Inline Artistic Figure Skating. They recommend PIC skates but none of the skaters are using them in the video! A much better video / DVD is now available from http://www.SkatingTheater.com It is entitled Inline Figure Skating Lesson and is fantastic! It's creator, Rosanna Tovi is an International Figure Skating Champion. With her partner Andrei Bannikov, Rosanna's combination of innovative choreography and costuming has been written about in numerous publications including The Village Voice NYC, Skating Magazine and Professional Skater Magazine.

This video shows you how to gain control of your inline "edges" and make them work as an ice blade. Rosanna and Andrei go through change of edge pulls, steps, crossovers, Mohawks, 3 turns, jumps and spins. What I like is the fact that each element was repeated then slowed down. Rosanna also offers coaching tips as each move is executed so that you grasp the entire technique. The music is so upbeat and the graphics really creative. Truly excellent, Rosanna and Andrei are quite believable and encourage the viewer that they too can do these skating moves. Rosanna's website, http://www.rosiewear.com/training_tools offers a full line of off ice training equipment such as PIC Skates, spinners, slide boards and balance discs. All of these can be used off the ice to help strengthen your technique on the ice. Their Inline Figure Skating Lesson video/DVD is also available there and is this issue's MUST HAVE OF THE MONTH! For more information, click the link below to order this video / DVD visit online at http://www.rosiewear.com or call Rosiewear at 877-836-6150.

Appearing in Northern Michigan Family Magazine Junior Skate FX skaters training on Pic-frames (inline figure skates) with Skate FX founders Andrei & Rosie

PIC Skates are indeed amazing. They made my daughter's transition from inline skates to the ice, nearly seamless. She advanced quickly and competed in her first ice skating competition in April of this year. I don't think we would have seen that kind of progress without PIC Skates. When we skate at the indoor rink, they always turn heads and get a lot of attention. This is because they really give the illusion that your are somehow ice skating on a wooden floor. You look and feel as if you are ice-skating.

So what are you going to do this off season? Get rusty or get with it? We're choosing the latter! Check back next month for more summer ideas to give you the edge in ice skating during the off-season