In the middle of arid Nevada, Helena Shi (11) and Michelle Lee (9) found themselves at The Las Vegas Ice Center for their last ice skating mini-season competition: the Desert Ice Open Competition, Nov. 4-5. Within their perspective age divisions, Shi placed 5th in her first competition, 3rd in the second and 2nd in the last while Lee placed 1st, 2nd, and then 3rd.

Although the regular season has yet to start, both Shi and Lee said they found that participating in these pre-season competitions helps them to train technically as well as asses the judges’ feedback and adjust as needed for the larger competitions. 

For this particular competition, Shi said she found that her foot sequences in between elements could be improved.

“So I got feedback from my first competition because my step sequence wasn’t tight enough,” she said. “So I got half a point, deducted off my score originally.” 

While on the other hand, Lee had difficulty with her musicality.

“If you are early or late with your program, [the judges] can also take off a few points for that, depending on how strict they are,” Lee said. “It [can] change every competition.”

Musicality and timing are intricate details that both Lee and Shi focus on in order to improve their scores. While Lee did her choreography to the song “Feeling Good” by Michel Buble, Shi used a remix of “Castle in the Sky”.

“Musicality is something hard for me to [express],” she said. “[Although] I’m with the music and on time, you don’t see as much from me because my brain thinks too technical.”

Whereas for Shi, musicality is what drives her performance. 

“See, I’m the opposite. I kind of use that musicality to hide the fact that some of my elements aren’t as good as my other ones,” she said. “I really like performing [with the music].”

Figure skating is very much a mental feat. Being watched by an audience and judges can make for an apprehensive environment, and even a slight miscalculation could end in a fall. 

“[Sometimes] you hear the music and you’re pressured,” Shi said. “It’s like you get a sudden pressure to keep up with the music as well as executing your elements perfectly. It’s really scary but exhilarating at the same time.”

Both Lee and Shi plan on ice skating in college, with UCSD being one of their desired programs. 

“I like the idea of putting on a fancy costume and skating to the music as if like, [I’m in a] music video,” Shi said. “The cold air just brushes off your skin, [it makes] me feel free.”