Roughly 71 hours and 58 minutes before most adult hockey pickup games in Bend, a ritual ensues. Phone alarms go off, cars pull to the side of the road, ski days and vacations are interrupted. Wi-Fi connections are checked and meetings are put on hold. Many take a deep breath. Some crack their knuckles as they log in to their Bend Park and Recreation District (BPRD) account. The world, for these die-hard hockey players, comes to a stop. They settle in at their computers or focus on their phone as the clock moves forward. When they’re officially 72 hours from game time, registration opens. Sixty seconds later, it’s over. The rosters are full. The unlucky ones—those unfamiliar with the process or who foolishly logged in a minute too late—rattle off a text to their buddies  that usually begins with “Damn it!” [First image: Adam Oroslan, Bend Rapids Hockey 12U]

“I feel like I spend the whole winter living 72 hours in advance so that I can get signed up,” said Kirsten Romney, a veteran of Bend’s adult hockey D-League. “I do the sign ups for my wife too, so I have this pressure to not let her down. The exhilaration of getting a spot is unbelievable, but the crush of defeat is pretty rough if I don’t get in.”

This ritual will happen dozens of times through early April as the ice season at The Pavilion comes and goes. Because while Bend has been known as a ski town since the 1960s, it’s an ice sports town now, too.

Bend Ice

For more than 100 hours each week, Bend’s only full-size sheet of ice is filled with open public skating sessions, adult and youth hockey leagues and lessons, figure skating programs and curling leagues. Today, there are 375 players in BPRD’s adult hockey league and another 80 were on an initial wait list, hoping to get in. A separate lunch league features 60 players and 100 more on a waitlist.

But even more telling about ice sports in Central Oregon: 350 people are registered for learn-to-play and learn-to-skate programs with 150 more on waitlists.

“More and more people are getting interested in hockey. It’s a growing sport,” said Pavilion Manager Clare Gordon. “Our learn-to-play programs are doing really well and more kids are interested. We’re really trying to guide people through that process if they’re interested in playing—to promote growth through fundamentals.”

Outside BPRD’s programs, the Bend Rapids youth hockey program has nearly 125 participants across multiple age levels, and the Bend Ice Figure Skating Club has about two dozen members.

“Every season for the past five or seven years has filled up,” said Aaron Olson, president of Bend Ice, the organization that includes the Bend Rapids, the Bend Curling Club and Bend Ice Figure Skating Club. “The popularity is definitely there…the big struggle is availability for use. We have one rink to run all this programming on.”

Rusty Merritt, an adult-league hockey player and president of Bend Ice Figure Skating Club says the camaraderie among hockey players is “phenomenal. It’s all walks of life—young and old playing together—which I think is special in its own way,” he said. “I think you have a group of people who are really committed to persevering and participating in whatever level they have here, but would enjoy more opportunities to see programs develop and participate at a higher level.”

If You Build It, They Will Skate

It wasn’t always like this. In the ‘50s, BPRD flooded part of Juniper Park and Troy Field downtown for public ice skating. In the ‘70s, small ice rinks were built at Seventh Mountain Resort and The Village in Sunriver. The facilities hosted skating lessons and makeshift youth hockey programs, but it was a far cry from the real thing.

Ice sports options were limited until voters narrowly passed a $29 million park district bond measure in 2012 that called for, among other projects, an NHL-sized sheet of ice at a multipurpose pavilion near the Old Mill District. Construction started two years later, and The Pavilion opened for business in 2015. It’s been a frozen frenzy ever since.

No Skates Required

“I feel like we’ve seen the excitement over ice sports grow since The Pavilion opened,” rink Manager Gordon said. Merritt said he’s had conversations with people who have moved to Bend because of the rink. One of the biggest attractions at The Pavilion has nothing to do with skating.

Curling enthusiasts say all you need is an interest in the sport and a desire to have fun. Few people grow up with a curling background, so everyone kind of starts at the same level. “It’s a really accommodating sport and a really welcoming sport,” said Billy Duss, the social media manager for the Bend Curling Club, which has nearly 70 members.

Curling is always a hit during the Olympics, and local interest jumps a bit every four years, Duss and Gordon both said. The game is relatively simple: “Get your stone closer to the center of the target circles—called “the house”—than your opponent,” according to the Bend Curling Club’s Curling 101 Facebook page. The club’s website has a ton of useful videos and information to help people get started and learn the game. There’s beer, funny outfits and plenty of camaraderie during every curling event at The Pavilion.

Duss has taken to the ice and curled in a variety of costumes over the years. He’s dressed as a chicken, curled in shorts and a tank top and competed dressed as one of those old-school concession-stand plastic cups. “It’s a quirky sport,” he said. “You can be as serious about it or as social about it as you want and have a great time. I’ve never met a curler who was a jerk.”

The park district runs leagues and learn-to-curl programs, and the Bend Curling Club runs several more. “That speaks to the growth of the sport and the potential of the sport,” Duss said. “There’s a huge interest in the learn-to-curl programs. It’s just hard for The Pavilion to try and balance it all. There’s so much demand—it’s wild how full it is.”

Figure Skaters Glide for Time

Figure skating in Bend is also growing in interest, and the BPRD lesson programs are as tough to get into as the ever-popular and always-full swim lessons. Most currently have a waitlist. Lily Clark started ice skating at the rink in Sunriver when she was 10 years old. Now, the 17-year-old competes regionally and helps coach younger skaters with the Bend Ice Figure Skating Club. “The club has grown so much since I first joined,” she said. “Our new development academy has really brought in so many kids, which is amazing because it’s growing our town’s next generation of skaters.”

Ice, Ice Maybe?

About the only thing missing from Bend’s ice sports repertoire is the opportunity for more ice sports programs. Talk to anyone involved in the hockey, figure skating or curling community and the one thing they hope for is a second full-sized sheet of ice that’s open year-round. “So much of this town is seasonal,” Olson said. “To have an opportunity to have a seasonal sport year round, where kids can develop and be more competitive across the state, region and nation will only benefit the region as a whole.”

There’s long been whispers of the possibility of an indoor rink, but nobody’s holding their breath. A new Central Oregon SportsPlex Alliance (COSPA) has recently mobilized and started community discussions on a regional multisport facility with eyes on the Deschutes County Fairgrounds & Expo Center, which is looking at ideas for its next phase of expansion. It’s a massive project that even its organizers say is years, if not decades, from coming to fruition. It’s still very much in the exploratory phase. “It’s never as quick as any of us wants it to be,” said Derek Berry, a Bend resident and president of the alliance.

His 12-year-old daughter is part of the Bend Rapids hockey program and also plays for the Coeur d’Alene Girls Hockey Club. “We need more ice here in Central Oregon, not only for providing more youth opportunities and growing youth sports, but we need more space to meet the needs of all our ice sports, like learn to skate, curling, adult hockey, figure skating and adaptive ice programming,” he said, adding that his daughter practices at 5:30 a.m. due to limited ice time at the rink. Berry believes our region is “closer than we think we are” to adding at least one indoor facility. But it’s not currently in the plans for BPRD.

“The next 10 years are going to be interesting as ice sports continue to grow,” The Pavilion’s Gordon said. “For us, as a parks district, we have to be cognizant of the overall recreation needs and the overall community needs.” And the community needs change when the weather warms up. Come summer, The Pavilion’s sheet of ice transforms into a sports court for roller hockey, skating, basketball and a child care program that’s critical for parents while school’s out.

Before the Melt

As the final skates hit the ice at the Bend Ice spring figure-skating showcase in April, the community celebrates another season of growth and camaraderie. From fierce competition in pickup hockey to the quirky joy of curling and the elegance of figure skating, The Pavilion has created a thriving hub of ice sports. Although ice time remains limited, dreams of a second rink and expanded facilities are alive, fueled by rising demand and unwavering commitment. For now, Bend’s skaters, curlers and hockey players continue to carve out a unique place in this town’s recreational landscape, proving that Central Oregon’s love for ice is more than a seasonal affair—it’s a way of life.