To create an opportunity for additional, diverse, recreational activity, and fitness, through ice sports to the communities of Bonner County.
9/10/25
It's been a nice summer, but fall is in air. With that, NIICE and the City of Ponderay are looking forward to another season on the ice.
Our fundraising dinner is scheduled for October 18th at the Bonner County Fairgrounds. Doors open at 4:30 with dinner served at 8:00 by Ivano's. Sweet Lou's will have a bar.
We are planning to open the rink on October 31 with a public Halloween skate. Costumes encouraged! The following days (Nov 1 and 2) will bring "Pucks at the Pond", our second 3v3 pond hockey tournament. Email or call 208-255-8969 for more information or to claim a spot for your team. Free for spectators!
New this season is a recreational hockey program that is designed to get as many people as possible interested in being on the ice. This is meant to be a non-threatening way for those interested in hockey to get on the ice! See above tab!
In preparation for the season, we'll be needing some help getting the ready. Keep an eye out for work parties.
See you on the ice!
7/19/25
NIICE is continuing to push forward with bring recreational ice to the City of Ponderay. We are organizing work parties to help ensure that the rink is ready to go in late October. Tentative plans are to have the ice ready for a tournament similar to the last year's inaugural “Pond” tournament Nov. 1-2 and opening to the public on October 31 for a Trick or treat Halloween public skate.
The first of the workdays is scheduled for the 27th of July. On the agenda is:
Bring tools, trimmers, gloves!
5/12/2024
We are through our first season and it was a great success. Over the course of the season, there were over 13000 visits to "The Pond presented by STCU". The need for a local ice rink is there!
As summer moves on, we are focusing on improvements and preparing for the upcoming season. Plans include adding to and repairing the deck, netting around the entire rink, additional parking, and igloos!
As far as programming goes, we are hoping to add times for beginner and "Learn to Play Hockey", Figure skating, Curling, Broomball. We hope to continue to add diverse, recreational activities, that are not currently offered in Bonner County
NIICE will continue to work toward a full-size, four-season rink. We have begun planning for our annual fundraiser and are looking at dates in late September or early October. Last year sold out! Get your tickets early!
We are also looking to upcoming sponsorships and advertising on the dasher boards. STCU has committed to naming rights for the upcoming season. Expect more information in the near future!!
12/4/2024
Our first weekend is behind us now! The "Pond" looks great and is up and running. Thanks to everyone who made it for our opening weekend. It was a success and great to finally see people skating here, in our community!
At this point we have regular hours on the weekend and will be expanding to seven days a week for the holiday season. Drop-in hockey and "stick and puck" sessions have been added too. Check our schedule at skatethepond.com. Come join us on the ice!
Skate with Santa on Saturday, December 14th. Santa will be at the Pond spreading cheer and delivering Santa Sacks to the boys, girls, and senior citizens of Ponderay and Kootenai
g locally. Additionally, we still have sponsorship options available. All proceeds go directly toward putting our community on the ice. Contact Travis at niicearena@outlook.com, Tim at tim@niicearena.com, or through this website for more information.
If you are interested in donating to this cause, donation, sponsorship, and advertising opportunities are located on our website (niicearena.com). There’s also a GoFundMe (Fundraiser by North Idaho Ice : Ponderay Community Ice Rink (gofundme.com)).