DENVER – Shelley Johnson looks like the panicked face emoji. Eyes as round as a full moon, sclera visible. Eyebrows aiming to introduce themselves to her hairline. And a mouth as open as an ill-fated opera singer, all while she navigates the massive blue Zamboni during her inaugural run on the rink at Big Bear Ice Arena. It’s day one of the Ice Resurfacer Operator Academy, and the Denver real estate appraiser, clad in a black parka with fur-lined hood, is lodged behind the wheel of the ice cleaning apparatus as instructor Alex Schidemantle sits to her right, backwards, his legs dangling off the back end. Teacher Alex Schidemantle teaches students the route to drive the Zamboni when resurfacing the ice rink Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, on the first day of the Ice Resurfacer Operator Academy at the Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver. The 12-hour course is one of only two Zamboni certification courses in the nation. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) Her nerves strike as she pulls the machine in close to a curved wall, trying to press the blue brush up against the yellow boards. The Zamboni lurches forward and halts repeatedly, like a teen learning to use a clutch, as Johnson experiments with the gas pedal. Finally, she finds a steady speed and makes the turn. “Keep going,” encourages Schidemantle, who runs the arena’s Zamboni Pro Academy, one of the only two Zamboni certification courses in the U.S. The other is in New York. “There you go, there you go, there you go.” If you’ve never been to a hockey game or public ice skating session, you might not be familiar with the Zamboni, named after Frank Zamboni, who invented the ice resurfacing machine in 1949. The 6,000-pound vehicle, when it’s not filled with water, and 10,000 pounds when filled with water, shaves, washes and smooths the surface of a rink by cutting a thin layer of ice, collecting the shavings, and pouring out warm water that freezes, creating that fresh and shiny pane of glass for skaters. Teacher Alex Schidemantle inspects the ice before resurfacing it with the Zamboni Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, on the first day of the Ice Resurfacer Operator Academy at the Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver. The 12-hour course is one of only two Zamboni certification courses in the nation. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) Johnson’s five classmates stand outside the rink, making small talk about needing to wear warmer socks and shoes for the next day’s class, and waiting for their turn to do something many of them have dreamed about their whole lives. Erik Kieckhafer, a Denver software developer, started playing hockey at 4, while simultaneously developing a crush on the Zamboni. So his wife bought him the $499, four-day, 12-hour certification course for Christmas that combines classroom instruction with on-ice training. Is he hoping to pivot and embark on a new Zamboni career? Probably not; he’s got three kids. But a part-time gig might be sweet. Gabe Wilner, left, takes a picture as students watch teacher Alex Schidemantle dump a load of ice shaving after resurfacing the ice rink Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, on the first day of the Ice Resurfacer Operator Academy at the Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver. The 12-hour course is one of only two Zamboni certification courses in the nation. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) “It seems soothing and calm to get to clean the surface, to make something new,” Kieckhafer said. “I’ve done ice scraping at University of Denver games. My day job is sitting at a desk all day, so it’d be cool to do on the side. My kid plays, too, so it’d be cool to do his games for fun.” As Johnson, the first to tame the big blue beast, brings the Zamboni to a stop and climbs off, her cohort peppers her with questions. “It was really fun,” she says. “You were going pretty fast,” jokes a classmate. “It was crazy.” “I was puttering along at first,” Johnson says. “He told me to pick it up. It was intimidating, but then it got fun. It stops quickly, so if you get in trouble, you just take your foot off the gas. It was my lifelong dream.” Day one began early in the empty ice rink, three hours before the public skating sessions. As a half dozen Zamboni newbies looked on, Schidemantle revealed the inner workings of making and maintaining the ice, the arena’s most important product. The 2-inch thick ice consists of five to six layers of frozen water and sand, interspersed with paint that creates the lines for hockey games. And it’s imperative, Schidemantle tells his captive audience, to make sure those red and blue lines stay in the ice when they’re shaving ice and laying down water. “What are these dark spots?” he asks the group. “Blood?” says a man in a Broncos bobble hat. “Not blood,” Schidemantle says. “Sand.” Chris Weaver sweeps the snow from the boards while learning to drive the Zamboni Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, on the first day of the Ice Resurfacer Operator Academy at the Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver. The 12-hour course is one of only two Zamboni certification courses in the nation. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) And the rink has low spots, another crucial thing for Big Bear drivers to keep in mind. They’ll need to add extra water and remember not to use the giant blade when they’re shaving the ice over those parts. “It’s easy to learn but hard to master,” said Schidemantle, who started driving the Zamboni at the arena three and a half years ago. “It takes a good year before you’re confident in your ability to drive it.” “For the first six months I didn’t even use the blade,” he said. “I thought I was doing a good job, but then you talk to some other drivers, and they’re like you’re not even using half of the machine.” Big Bear began offering the professional training about a year ago, and they proved so popular that they’ve now done five more. Schidemantle hopes to make it a monthly thing. The course ends with a pass or fail certification drive. Schidemantle laces up his skates and hits the ice at the same time as his drivers. They have 15 minutes to do a full ice make, which means using water and the blade to refresh the rink. That also includes driving the Zamboni off the ice and into the bay, scraping the leftover snow off the rink, and slamming shut the arena door. People from around the country have traveled to plant their tuchus on the seat of the $125,000 machine, including one man from Kansas City, who later landed a Zamboni job back home. Schidemantle has hired two people from the course, and altogether, about half a dozen people have scored jobs. “It’s the most satisfying thing I’ve done, aside from coaching hockey, in my life,” Schidemantle said. “Being able to give someone something they never thought they’d experience and also give them a pathway to a career and a job.” Teacher Alex Schidemantle cleans the snow off the ice after resurfacing the ice rink Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, on the first day of the Ice Resurfacer Operator Academy at the Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver. The 12-hour course is one of only two Zamboni certification courses in the nation. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) Details Ice Resurfacer Operator Academy, 12-hour certification program, dates TBA, Big Bear Ice Arena, 8580 E. Lowry Blvd., Denver, $499; 1-303-343-1111, [email protected], [email protected], bigbearice.com Teacher Alex Schidemantle teaches students the differences between a sharpe and dull blade Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, on the first day of the Ice Resurfacer Operator Academy at the Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver. The 12-hour course is one of only two Zamboni certification courses in the nation. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) Frank Zamboni, pictured in a sticker on the side of a Zamboni Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 at the Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver, invented the ice resurfacing machine in 1949. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) Teacher Alex Schidemantle show students how to fill the tank of the Zamboni with warm water Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, on the first day of the Ice Resurfacer Operator Academy at the Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver. The 12-hour course is one of only two Zamboni certification courses in the nation. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) Erik Kieckhafer drives the Zamboni around the ice rink as instructor Alex Schidemantle watches Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, on the first day of the Ice Resurfacer Operator Academy at the Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver. The 12-hour course is one of only two Zamboni certification courses in the nation. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) Teacher Alex Schidemantle demonstrates how to raise and lower the blade of the Zamboni as Shelly Johnson watches Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, on the first day of the Ice Resurfacer Operator Academy at the Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver. The 12-hour course is one of only two Zamboni certification courses in the nation. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) ...read more read less