Hard ice and ROH

When I got my skates sharpened in NJ, Jim told me the ROH was 9/16. I was a little surprised, as I had been convinced the ROH of my blades was 7/16" as is advertised for Pattern 99 blades! I mean, I never had the ROH changed...

In any case, I like it this way, and especially after he sharpened them. Back in Singapore, I have enjoyed sharp blades for the last 5 weeks, although there were several occassions, usually when the ice is hard, where the entry edge for the Axel or double Sal felt like it was sliding across the ice!

Then, this morning, I tried figures. Nothing fancy, just forward outside and inside edges. BUT the ice was hard. Terribly hard... and I could literally feel my blade starting to move sideways! EESH!!!

To top it off, the ice was not fresh. There were so many marks on it I had problem finding my own tracing. Heck I couldn't even make out where I started! Forget it... I gave up after 3 minutes.

[Afternote: In case some of you are wondering what ROH is, it is the radius of the hollow between the two edges of a blade. It also referred to as the grind.]