WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The country's best figure skaters are in Wichita for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. People from states all over the country are represented. A theme with every person KSN spoke to is that there are unique elements to the competition you can only experience in person. The sights and sounds are what make the difference for Shirley Lewis, who's traveling from Seattle, Washington. "You hear all the sounds which are so fun. You hear the banging of the skate on the ice, and you see the facial expressions as they're spinning in their performance," said Lewis. On the other side of the country, the weather didn't stop Debbie Wahls, who flew in from Virginia. Wichita street renamed to honor Brian Boitano’s mother "Tuesday night, I, like, needed to drive into the storm to get to my flight in the morning, and my husband suggested you might want to go to Norfolk and get a hotel room," said Wahls. "So you're near the airport. So I did that, and it was a treacherous drive. It was a terrifying drive." Fans say meeting competitors is an experience that's unmatched. It's the reason Wahls got into skating. "A year ago, I started adult learn to skate lessons, so I'm like, super beginner. But and, what I told Raheem Ward when I met him was he's part of why I signed up to start," said Wahls. For Lewis, it's also about a like-minded community coming together. "People who also do what we do, and they come from all over the country so we have friends now from everywhere, and we meet them once a year at nationals and enjoy just the skating," said Lewis. Tickets are as low as $38 right now. You can also watch the U.S. Figure Skating Championships live from Intrust Bank Arena on Friday right here on KSN, starting at 7 pm. Sunday is the last day of the competition.