Before the ice rink at the Tahoe ski resort Heavenly had even opened to the public, a well-known local bear named Charlie decided to test the ice out for himself, and no one was going to tell him he had to leave.

San Francisco opened its outdoor holiday ice rink last week, as so many communities do this time of year. Though for this story, we will draw your attention to the outdoor ice rink at the Tahoe ski resort Heavenly, or rather, their open-air collection of stores and restaurants known as the Shops at Heavenly Village, located at the California-Nevada border. That destination opened their outdoor ice rink this past Thursday.

But the first visitor the ice rink hosted was very unauthorized, and probably didn’t even pay. KRON4 reports that a black bear hogged the ice rink all to himself. The bear is a male black bear known to locals as “Charlie,” and is known to stroll around the ski resort and local communities.  

“We just opened the ice rink today,” the Shops at Heavenly Village spokesperson Dreu Murin told KRON4. “He was the first one who took to the ice this year.”

Speaking to the Reno Gazette Journal, Murin said of Charlie that "He has become somewhat of a local celebrity, often wandering through the village at night or early mornings on a stroll." He added, "I guess he wanted to try it out."

Charlie apparently spent all of ten minutes on the ice, and we will say, he observed the posted rules of “No shoes on ice!” and “Do not carry children on skates. And as always, the Shops at Heavenly Village stressed the more important rule that you should not feed or interact with Charlie, or any other bears.

The Shops at Heavenly Village’s ice rink and other attractions are currently open, while the ski resort Heavenly opens for skiing and snowboarding on Friday, November 21.

Related: Black Bear Commandeers Tahoe Ice Cream Shop, Woofs Down Strawberry Ice Cream [SFist]

Image: Visit Heavenly Village Lake Tahoe via Facebook