Ice Cap; Scott Hamilton Bids Farewell to Annual Skating Show

Copyright 2001 Denver Publishing Company

It all started at Littleton's South Suburban Ice Arena.

The year was 1986, and Scott Hamilton was two years removed from Olympic gold and months removed from losing his job with the Ice Capades (female, not male, stars were the future for professional skating, organizers said). Starting Stars on Ice was as much desperation as inspiration.

"We didn't have any budget. We didn't have much of anything," Hamilton said. "We just kind of threw it together."

A handful of handpicked skaters stayed with families and friends around Denver, rehearsed "four or five times" at South Suburban, then boarded a bus to tour five small college rinks on the East Coast.

"That's how it started," says Hamilton, who has lived and trained in Denver for the past 25 years. "But when you're slaying dragons every day and you're investing your energies into something that's going to grow, it's a lot of fun."

But those days are dwindling. After building Stars on Ice into a formidable entertainment staple that hits the biggest arenas in 65 cities every year, Hamilton is ready to take a break.

The 42-year-old skater is taking one last lap around the United States before stepping down as the principal star of the show he helped found 15 years ago. He makes his last Denver appearance as part of Stars on Ice at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday.

"I have a few paternal feelings about (the tour). But I look at this as a time for me to let the next generation take it wherever it's going," the skater says. "In so many situations, a style of entertainment or an entertainer runs its course. I'm not saying that I have, but the others won't even get the chance until I step aside. I feel that it's important for me to get along to my next project, whatever that is."

Next up: Think of it as Hamilton's hard-earned freestyle program.

"I'm 42. It's time for me to have a puppy or a family or something," he says. "I need some balance. It's been all out of balance. It's been pure career, pure skating for as long as I can remember."

He doesn't deny the grind of skating on tour, but Hamilton says the aches and pains weren't the main factors for hanging it up. After all, he's the same skater who appeared on ice just seven months after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1997.

"My body talks to me every day, and sometimes louder than others," he says. "But if it were just my body, I probably would have retired three years ago after the cancer was detected. I kind of wanted to prove that I could get back to where I was before, and I could participate and I could do some fun things. I wanted to get control of my life back."

Hamilton's life has comprised a series of cause-and-effect episodes, he points out. A childhood illness stunted his growth but then set the table for skating, which he started as a moderate exercise program prescribed by his doctors. Later, the death of his mother would give him the "focus and discipline and determination" that carried him to four world-champion titles and Olympic gold in '84. And two years later his split with Ice Capades would lead to the formation of Stars on Ice.

"It's been an odd adventure," he says. "I'm at a crossroads again, but it's different. It's not survival instincts. It's not about what will feed my stomach, like it was then. It's about what will feed my mind, what will be the next challenge."

A Broadway ice show, acting, TV commentating and fund-raising for cancer research might all await, but Hamilton says he's trying not to think that far ahead.

"If I can put all of my energy and focus on the next three months, then it will be something that I can look back at with a wonderful feeling," he says. "If I'm constantly looking to the next thing, then I won't be able to savor what I'm doing now."

But what about Denver? Do any of these plans include more time in town?

"I have a second vacation home in L.A. that I've been staying at a lot lately because I've been having so much work done with it. But I spent the holidays (in Denver). I have a real genuine affection for Denver," he says. " I love going back there. I still check the Avalanche scores every game. I have all of my golf clubs there. I love going into the mountains in the summer, ... not so much during the winter because I've been cold for the past 33 years.

"Right now, I'm just trying to roll with it. It's just time to shift gears. "