LAKE PLACID — The ice surface is a stage for figure skaters. They get dressed up, their music is playing, and everyone in the crowd is watching them. In that moment of performance, there is nobody else.

Figuring skating is a deliberate act, but it’s also a means for young women to express themselves in ways that they otherwise could not conceive. The sport has countless skill levels, and every skater has her own personal threshold for pressure.

It is impossible to ignore figure skating at the Empire State Winter Games in Lake Placid; skaters and their families flood the village with glitter and those little suitcases on wheels that store all their paraphernalia. Spectators sigh when a skater falls and cheer when she nails a jump.

Trisha Roohan, of Delmar, who won a Gold medal in the Junior Ladies’ free skate on Saturday, said that figuring skating is like a blank canvas. “It’s a picture, and you paint your picture,” she said. “It’s like acting. Depending on the music, you kind of have to be an actress, act to the music, and adjust your style.”

Roohan trumped the other skaters despite having just recovered from a serious left ankle sprain. She was the only skater in the group to do double axel and triple-flip jumps. Roohan’s Skating Club of New York coach, Elizabeth Commerford, said that the ESG competition can be a confidence booster.

“It’s a really big step; it’s nerve-wracking and there’s a big crowd,” said Roohan, 15, who has struggled with nerves in the past. “Some people don’t always root for you. They’re not your best friends even if they act like it.”

To cope with judges, Roohan has learned strategies and spoken with others. “I listen to music before I compete,” she said. “Today, I danced downstairs with some Ariana Grande in my headphones and broke some moves to distract myself.”

All four skaters in the Junior Ladies’ event fell. Roohan hit the ice once and skidded out on a spin, but she completed an impressive triple combination, and, overall, was attempting more difficult elements.

Skaters must erase mistakes, Roohan says. “It can either bring your program down or be a motivator to keep you going and be an inspiration to help you stay on your feet,” she said. “Sometimes, it goes the opposite way and you start second guessing yourself. But, it’s done, it’s over with, and I think of the next element — I have to move forward.”

After she fell on Saturday, Roohan said that she got inspired. “It brought out my attitude and sass with the Spanish music,” she said; she was skating to “Hernando’s Hideaway.”

Roohan’s mother, Dorothy, told The Enterprise that picking the right music is challenging and takes a long time. Roohan started figure skating at the age of 4 and is currently enrolled in an accredited online high school, The Keystone School, so that she can skate during the day when the ice rink is clear of other skaters.

“It’s easier for her to do school after the normal hours of school,” Commerford said.

^{_{Flexibility: Fresh off of recovery from an ankle injury, Delmar’s Trisha Roohan skated to a Gold medal in Lake Placid last Saturday. Here, she grabs her blade while spinning on the 1980 Rink ice. The Enterprise — Michael Koff}}

Figure skating is a sport because it requires athletic ability, but it can also be seen as artistic expression. Roohan says that every skater has her own spin on this frozen stage.

“You have your own characters and twists; it’s all your own perception,” she said. “You have to pursue that inside of you, and make sure that it really stands out.”

Best friends get Gold and Silver

Amanda Vititow and Emily Balmer share a close friendship through their escapades of learning how to become better figure skaters. And last Friday they shared a spot on the Empire State Winter Games podium.

Vititow, of Altamont, in dark blue, won the Gold medal in the Preliminary Girls’ Test Track event. Balmer, of Latham, in a lighter blue, won the Silver.

Both girls skate for the Hudson Mohawk club; this wasn’t the first time they’ve competed against each other. “It happens a lot and I want her to do well, and she wants me to do well,” Vititow said.

“We’ll be friends no matter what happens,” Balmer added.

Vititow and Balmer mimic each other’s elements. Vititow does a hydroblade, which is a move where the skater glides on a deep edge with the body stretched in a very low position, almost horizontal to the ice, and Balmer says that she has been attempting the move.

“We learn and grow from each other,” Vititow said. Balmer started doing axel and double jumps before Vititow, which in turn helped her get through the moves.

“She’s better at spins and I’m better at jumps,” Balmer said.

^{_{Head held high: Emily Balmer, of Latham, extends her arms during her figuring-skating program last Friday on the 1932 Rink in Lake Placid for the Empire State Winter Games. She won a Silver medal in the Preliminary Girls’ Test Track. The Enterprise — Michael Koff}}

Figure skating has taught Vititow perseverance, while Balmer says that it has allowed her to be her true self. They’re at the rink almost every day.

“Whenever you try something, you’re not always going to get it right, but you keep working at it,” said Vititow. “Our coaches say, ‘Fake it until you make it.’ If we’re not landing something or having a bad day, we just keep going and make it look good.”

“There will always be a better skater,” Balmer said. “If you don’t put an effort in, you won’t get anywhere.”

The joy and future possibilities of figure skating have kept the laces tight and blades sharp for Vititow and Balmer. They were pleased with how they skated last Friday, but were quick to point out some improvements they could make.

“I could have tightened it up more,” Vititow said. “But, fake it until you make it — make it look like you know what you are doing. No one knows your routine except you and your coach, so, if you forget some moves, you can improvise. Convince the judges that you belong.”

Skating through a fluke accident

Michelle Puzulis spun so fast on the ice that her eyeglasses flew off.

“I don’t know what happened,” said Puzulis, 11, of Berne, after she skated to a Bronze medal in the High Beginner Girls’ event in Lake Placid last Saturday morning. “I’m getting contact lenses.”

Puzulis might have won Gold if her glasses hadn’t succumbed to the physics of her speedy spin; points are automatically deducted from a skater’s score if any accessory falls to the ice. However, Puzulis was still feeling good about the two Gold medals and two Silvers that she won in Lake Placid two weeks prior during an International Skating Institute competition.

Coach Glenn Ziehnert was afraid that Puzulis would stop after her fluke accident, but he’s proud that she kept going. Ziehnert, who has his own skating school in Clifton Park, teaches his skaters to continue skating through unplanned mishaps.

“Keep it going, don’t stop,” he said. “She did the best she could have with that.”

^{_{Michelle Puzulis was shocked when her eyeglasses, bottom right, came flying off as a result of a fast spin during her free skate on Saturday morning in Lake Placid. Puzulis, 11, of Berne, kept skating as if nothing had happened. The mishap cost her point deduction, but she won a Bronze medal in High Beginner Girls. The Enterprise — Michael Koff}}

Puzulis has been figure skating for six years. Ziehnert sees much potential for her in the way she picked up on technique quickly as well as because of her flexibility. “She’s a gymnast as well,” he added. “Athletic and flexible people are well fit for skating.”

At ISI Worlds last July — featuring 108 skating teams from around the world — Puzulis placed first, second, and fifth. The Ziehnert School team placed 16^th overall.

Puzulis told The Enterprise that spinning fast does not make her dizzy. In that shocking instance when her glasses flew from her face last Saturday, she felt sad.

“I kept going because I had to,” she concluded. “Getting down would have wrecked the routine.”

^{_{Spinner: Trisha Roohan skated with a higher level of skill than her competitors in Saturday’s Junior Ladies IJS event, winning the Gold medal at the Empire State Winter Games. Here, Roohan tightens up during a jump. The Enterprise — Michael Koff}}