WELCOME TO BAJA CANADA

INTERSTATE BATTLE: The Enterprise women's team cools its heals in a hotly contestedbattle with a Moscow, Idaho, team in a game a couple of years ago. (Photo/LEON WERDINGER).

- JEFF PETERSEN

- Staff Writer

ENTERPRISE - When you think of Oregon, especially people from the East Coast or the Midwest, the first thing that comes to mind is rain.

A group of Wallowa County ice hockey players, however, is working to change that one slap shot at a time.

The group, which expresses its affinity for Canadian hockey fanaticism by calling itself the "Baja Canada Ehs," had been playing for years on a local pond in Enterprise.

About six years ago they decided to make Wallowa County the outdoor hockey capital of Oregon. They organized and raised funds for a plastic liner and designed a rink frame to fit a 150- by 75-foot rink in the Enterprise City Park.

"As far as I know, we have the only outdoor, unrefrigerated and managed rink in Oregon," says Andie Leuders, Wallowa Valley Community Ice Rink manager.

Today the rink remains completely natural. It is 78- by 152 feet, unrefrigerated, with no cover or roof.

The rink is constructed every fall by a devoted group of ice hockey players, rink lovers and good samaritans. Every spring the same group takes it down.

"It's a lot of work," Leuders says. "But this is the sixth season and we still get plenty of volunteers."

Rink materials are stored in a barn until the next season.

The rink offers a nice view of the Wallowa Mountains, if you have the skill to take your eyes off the toes of your skates. Admission is free.

People who want to use the rink should call the hotline (541-263-0715) first to make sure the rink is open and what the day's schedule is. Since the rink is natural, it sometimes must be closed if it is raining, snowing or too warm. Ice gets soft. That can be dangerous if skaters catch an edge and tumble.

Lack of equipment is no obstacle. People visiting the rink can rent hockey skates, figure skates and recreational skates, which Leuders says are more comfortable and warm and are good for just skating around. Skaters can also rent hockey pads and helmets if they want to channel their favorite Edmonton Oiler.

The rink's rental program is operated by Treasures clothing store in Enterprise.

"The owner, Debbie Bales, is a big supporter of the rink and loves having our rentals in her store," Leuders says.

Treasures is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The rink, meantime, is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, weather permitting. Much of that time is available for open skating. Two-hour slots, though, are available for Advanced Adult Coed Hockey and Open/Beginners Hockey. Each gets three slots per week.

The rink also has Youth Hockey Fridays for two hours.

"An instructor is present," Leuders says, "and it gives kids a chance to learn hockey skills, practice them, and play a little pickup hockey with other kids."

The rink usually has about a three-month season corresponding with winter on the calendar. The rink usually opens for the season about Christmastime and closes about mid-March. Due to fluctuations in the weather, the rink is often open for about 50 days total, with maybe 10 days being washouts.

"This season will likely be our longest if the weather cooperates," Leuders says, "as we opened two to three weeks earlier than usual (Dec. 6). Capitalizing on the early winter cold snaps and shorter days — or rather, the longer nights — is the way to go."

The shortest season the rink has had, which occurred a few years ago, is around 33 skating days.

"It isn't just the warm spells that come through that give us problems," Leuders says, "but rather our ability to weather it and recover. So, if a warming spell comes with rain and without a cover or roof, it's impossible to keep it off. Then it eats up the ice and takes much longer to recover the ice. A cover over the rink could easily add another 15 days or more of skating to our season."

The rink is overseen by an ice rink manager, now Leuders. The manager's job is to oversee construction, coordinate volunteers, open and close the rink daily, do some of the ice surfacing (using an ice mower and a ice rink "hot mop"), coordinate programs, publicize the rink, raise funds and so on.

"But I couldn't do it," Leuders says, "without all of our volunteers who help open and close and do construction, the hockey players who help with construction, surfacing, our overseeing Ice Rink Committee, the guidance and advice of our former Manager Marcy Strazer, and the part-time construction and surfacing assistance by two local men, Mike Hansen and Joel Morello."

Hansen played a big role in the design of the rink, Leuders says.

"He is incredibly helpful in construction and ice management," she says. "I couldn't do it without him."

All these people ensure that a little of that Baja Canada spirit thrives in Enterprise each winter.