photos by Claire Thorington

Opened in 2002, the Bill Collier Community Ice Arena is a National Hockey League-size arena with an arched tensile fabric roof and 360-degree views of the surrounding area. It is open from the first week in November until the last week of March.

photo by Claire Thorington

The arena—located adjacent to Running Y Ranch—was funded by a grassroots fundraising effort. It is named after a local man who, for many years, personally maintained a local open-air ice sheet for the community.

Operations director Kody Ekstrom drives Suzi Too, which is an Olympia—not to be confused with a Zamboni.

The Olympia uses compressed natural gas for fuel and uses approximately 150 gallons of water for each resurfacing. Resurfacing happens multiple times a day and takes approximately fifteen minutes.