For many in Mintaka, the Mahana Winds offer a warm reprise from the freezing temperatures. These relatively warm winds blow down off the Blizzaria Mountains, giving the area its cool, dry temperatures. However, for Johan Talos, they are a bit of a hindrance.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Ok4qEzc3o
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Talos is one of a handful of volunteers who help keep traditional outdoor rinks open during the winter months. He’s been maintaining the outdoor rinks around Mintaka for over forty years, including during the war and subsequent Siege of Mintaka.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKw1t4437Td
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“During the war, people always need some thing to take their mind off the suffering, and the outdoor rinks were favored more than the indoor ones which many felt would have been bigger targets than the outdoor ones,” he said over the phone when we called him. “But all that gunpowder mixed with the Mahana Winds made for a terrible two years, because all that heat generated meant the ice was more prone to melt a little and refreeze in a rough, uneven surface.”182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcMO5e1Vym
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We found him out at 3:30am, putting down some fresh ice at the temperature hovered around -4C. This day it appeared he had help, as Minister Lin was out keeping him company and helping to smooth out the ice and clearing the snow from the storm that had passed through earlier in the month. It took us some coaxing to get him to stop working and after about 10 minutes and some extra help from Minister Lin, we were able to conduct a short interview with him.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3pK7d5tRH
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The lake they were using froze around mid-November, and since then he’s been adding layers of ice to help freeze and create a thick layer for residents to use. “You have to plan ahead for these things,” he said as he watched Minister Lin continue around the far edge of the lake, “once the lake freezes, you have to be ready to help thicken the ice layer so that when you get those random Mahana Winds it doesn’t completely weaken the ice and make it unstable. Once its unstable you have to start from scratch and close the rink down for about a week depending on the weather, to regain its strength to be able to support skaters, and sometimes ice fishers.”182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡns2HDdqY3B
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“The fortunate thing for us is that the sunlight is low angled and the winds don’t come as often as they do a bit further north, so keeping an eye on the weather forecast helps tremendously.” Like the kids, he tends to enjoy the coldest of nights as that means no work for him. “The really cold nights below like, minus 10 or 15, I don’t have anything to do. If we bring out our resurfacers, they are bound to freeze to the rink, so we only might come out here to check make sure there isn’t a large deal of snow, as that might put undo stress on the ice as well as hide any cracks or fractures we need to fix.”182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Tc8jB3HFV
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It’s at this his phone rings and he answers it. After a brief conversation, he hangs up and smiles at us,“My wife. She wanted to make sure I was alright. She’s happy I have this as a hobby and gets me moving and out of the house. While the city doesn’t pay us to do it, I take joy in seeing the younger folk skating, be it figure skating or playing hockey.” He then added with a chuckle, “I’ve been doing this long enough that I’ve watched kids grow up on this rink and now I do it for their kids. And some of those parents will come with their kids and are surprised I’m still doing it, and thank me like they’re still the new child on the rink, and that’s an amazing feeling too.”182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5lKqkwR7u
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