Calgary man creates ultimate epic Canadian backyard with ice rink, fire pit (VIDEOS)
Calgarians are all about their ODRs – that’s “outdoor rinks,” for anyone not in the know –and one Canadian man has taken it to the next level by building his own backyard ice rink.
Michael Anthony Sorgiovanni, who just moved to Calgary from Vancouver, told Daily Hive in an email that his father would always tell him stories of building a rink when he moved from Italy to Edmonton in the ’60s. “It was something I always saw and always wanted to try,” he said.
Sorgiovanni got COVID-19 in December and wasn’t able to see his family back home. His friend wanted to cheer him up after quarantine, so she suggested that they build a rink.
“The idea was quite simple,” Sorgiovanni told Daily Hive, “add some boards and drop in a plastic sheet.”
“My father is an engineer,” he continued, “and he always insisted we participated in projects around the house, finishing a basement, building a shed; he always pushed us to try, learn, fail, and succeed.”
Sorgiovanni flooded his yard to make a skating rink that fills the width of the space, surrounded by his fence on two sides with the front of the rink framed in hay bales.
Courtesy of Michael Anthony Sorgiovanni
Sorgiovanni said that he got the engineering mindset from his dad, and “with an abundance of time, I actually made a drainage pipe from one-inch PVC pipe and heat traced the entire rink.”
When he’s ready to drain the rink, Sorgiovanni can simply plug it in, extend the pipe to the storm sewer, and “away she goes.”
In addition to the backyard rink, the space features a fire pit to warm up by, plenty of colourful lights, and music to create an epic fun atmosphere that brightens those chilly winter nights.
Sorgiovanni wanted an outdoor event to celebrate New Year’s Eve, and he was able to get sponsors such as Nude Vodka Soda, Green Owl Vodka, Olé Cocktails, and Greta Bar to help out.
“The idea was to build a winter wonderland,” he said, “but I experienced my first chinook and my igloo tiles had melted, thank God I made the rink 12-inch thick, so it was able to survive.”
“Ever since I was a kid I dreamt of having a sheet of ice with lights and a fire pit in my backyard,” wrote Sorgiovanni in an Instagram post.
Looks like his dreams have come true – but not without obstacles.
“I did not however imagine the amount of work it would take to free my garbage and recycling bin from the clutches of ice that leaked out the back,” he continued in the caption. “Great news, you can now skate through my back alley, really assimilating into the ole neighbourhood.”
This isn’t the first time Sorgiovanni has been behind a fun home improvement project either. While living in Vancouver in 2018, he built a tiny “mouse condo” inside of his colleague’s home to surprise the man’s children when they came back from vacation.
View this post on Instagram
The mouse-house came complete with a tiny bed, dressers, and a miniature lighting fixture.
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