Sunday ice skating at Medeo skating rink.

"In Medeo, for the word "Ice", the best rhyme is Flight!" 
"Here are mountains on the right, mountains on the left,
And in the middle is the Medeo skating rink.
Beautiful ice and clean air
And the skaters run furiously.
No wonder we proudly
Medeo - the forge of records!"

Poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko.

"Medeu" skating rink in Small Almaty gorge.

Medeu high-mountain skating rink is located at an altitude of 1691 meters above sea level, in Medeu valley, middle part of Maloalmatinsky gorge, on northern slope of Zailiysky Alatau ridge, in Medeu district of Almaty. 
The landmark of the southern capital of Almaty is the Medeu skating rink, which had worldwide fame. "Medeu" is the highest-altitude sports complex in the world. This fairy-tale palace fits into the panorama of the gorge. The Medeu high-altitude skating rink is located at the foot of the Mokhnataya hill, 2278 meters above sea level.
The secret of the "fast" ice of the Medeu skating rink is that in winter the Malaya Almatinka River is fed mainly by springs, since the flow of melt water from the glaciers stops. There are almost no mechanical impurities in such water, and the ice "prepared" from it has ideal qualities.
Add to this mild winter temperatures, generous sun, and the absence of strong winds. A refrigeration unit and 140 kilometers of freezing pipes under the ice field area, providing the skating rink with artificial ice, allow the season to be extended to 7 months.
The field has three tracks and an internal sector of 110 x 70 meters. There are stands for 10,000 seats, administrative buildings, a hotel, a cafe, and a canteen. The ice field of the skating rink with an area of ​​10,500 square meters has no equal in the world.
The large area of ​​ice makes it possible to hold speed skating competitions and bandy matches. The capacity of the complex allows to reproduce the ice surface on the skating tracks all year round, and on the entire area of ​​the rink - eight months a year.
Educational and training events in "Medeu" are held not only by our skaters, but also by athletes from Mongolia, the DPRK, Finland, Japan and others. On weekends, it is visited by about 9,000 skating enthusiasts. At the time, the Medeu hotel, designed for 346 beds, annually received 23,000 Soviet and foreign tourists.
At the moment, "Medeu" is the highest mountain complex in the world for winter sports with the largest area of ​​​​artificial ice belt. The high altitude and the purest mountain water for pouring ice contribute to achieving high results in speed skating; over the entire time, over 200 world records have been set here at all distances among men and women.
Suffice it to say that the best skaters in the world have nicknamed the Almaty rink "the record factory". The mild climate of the tract, the optimal level of solar radiation, low atmospheric pressure, calm weather, clean mountain water from which the ice is prepared, ensured its excellent quality and created excellent conditions for achieving high sports results.
Tournaments and competitions in football, volleyball, basketball, short track are held here. Swimmers, track and field athletes, wrestlers and boxers hold their training camps at the Medeo sports complex. Skating on weekends has become a good tradition for many years not only for residents, but also for guests of Almaty.
On the eve of the VII Asian Winter Games in 2011, the skating rink was reconstructed. At the same time, the ice arena can accommodate from 2 to 3,000 people. The capacity of the stands after reconstruction increased from 7200 to 8500 spectators.
A new multimedia scoreboard was installed, allowing to display the results of sports games, broadcast TV programs, thematic and commercials. New modern refrigeration units allow to maintain ice from October 1 to April 1.
History of sports competitions at Medeu skating rink.
The first shots of starting pistols sounded over the icy tracks of the high-mountain skating rink on February 4, 1951, when the competitions for the prize of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR, which later became traditional, were opened. Scientists immediately determined: the whole solution is in the clean mountain water.
Everyone claimed: speed skaters would set more than one record here. As it turned out, the assumption was correct. Skaters from all over the world flocked here: not only to participate in any starts, but also to train. From 1952 to 1962, almost all world records in speed skating for men and women were improved in Medeo.
Many famous speed skaters "honed their skates" here on the eve of the Olympic Games, European and World Championships. The Medeo sports complex, with artificial skating tracks and a playing field, completed in 1972, is the first structure of its kind in the Soviet Union and one of the first in the world and in Kazakhstan in terms of its universal technical characteristics.
Its authors were awarded the USSR State Prize in 1975. The stadium has stands for 12,500 seats, an ice field measuring 112 by 40 meters, a running track 400 meters long and 15 meters wide. About 1,600 floodlights are installed on eight masts to illuminate the ice arena.
Under the stadium stands there is a cloakroom for 2,500 people, refreshments, a warm-up hall, a lecture hall with video equipment, and a Finnish sauna. A journalist from Holland wrote in one of his reports from Alma-Ata: “Every skater dreams of visiting Medeo.
This ice stadium has become a real “Mecca” of winter sports. It is especially important that this high-altitude skating rink is available not only to athletes, but also to residents of Almaty. This is a wonderful recreation area. When there are no competitions, 2,500 skating enthusiasts can go out on the ice at Medeo at the same time.
It is especially beautiful here in the mountains in the summer – what could be more exotic than skating in 35-degree heat.” In 1988, the World Men’s Speed ​​Skating All-Around Championships were held on the ice of Medeo. The season ended at the beginning of March at Medeo.
There were some hopes for success for the Soviet speed skaters: Oleg Bozhev, Viktor Shasherin, Dmitry Yurkov and Ildar Garayev, who were "unfastened" from Calgary, took part in the competition. But the natural ice of Medeo dashed all hopes.
The strongest group ran 5,000 meters at the beginning of the competition, when the track was simply melting under the spring sun. The weakest group started when the sun had set behind the mountain and there was a slight frost. As a result, only Oleg Bozhev made it to the final ten from the USSR team.
In the end, he took seventh place. The title of world champion was won by American Eric Flame, who beat Dutchman Leo Visser. Bronze went to another American, Dave Silk. The local bandy team "Dynamo" Alma-Ata won the Soviet Union championship in 1977 and 1990 and the European Champions Cup in 1978.
For several years in a row, the ice rink was transformed into a huge concert venue, where the popular international music festival "Voice of Asia" ("Asia Dauysy") was held, in which not only Kazakhstani performers take part, but also pop stars from all over the world. Various competitions were held at "Medeo".
For example, the European Speed ​​Skating Championships in the early seventies of the last century. The World Speedway Championship, national championships and, of course, the traditional competitions for the prizes of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR, which gathered the strongest speed skaters from all over the world in Alma-Ata.
In the early 2000s, Medeo's status as a competitive world-class rink remained uncertain. After Almaty's failed bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, where Medeo would have been the main speed skating arena, Medeo Stadium became the venue for men's bandy, which is planned to be included for the first time at the 2011 Asian Winter Games.
In addition, Medeo will also host speed skating competitions. The closing ceremony will be held here, for which the Kazakh government plans to specially renovate the facility by 2010. The last time it was renovated was in 2003, when it was fully equipped.
The ice temperature is now controlled using the latest computer technology. Today, construction work is in full swing to prepare the arena for the 7th Asian Winter Games, which will be held in Almaty in early 2011. It is planned that the indoor rink will host bandy competitions. From 14 to 15 February 2015, the Medeo rink hosted international ice racing competitions.
Geographic coordinates of Medeo high-mountain rink: N43°09'27 E77°03'32

Medeu skating rink news in 2012.

On October 8, 2012, the most famous skating rink in Kazakhstan, Medeu, opens its season, reports MTRK Mir. Almost $60,000,000 was spent on the skating rink restoration. Almost everything was updated: from the locker rooms to the ice surface.
A special cooling system regulates the temperature by zones: on the sunny side, the cooling is stronger than in the shade. The ice layer should be exactly four centimeters, no more and no less, that is when the proper sliding will occur. The ice of the high-mountain skating rink was recognized as the fastest in the world.
Only mountain water is used to freeze the ice. The surface of such ice is very smooth - without cracks and bumps. This allows skaters to develop high speed in a very short time. That is why more than 200 world records were set at Medeu. Thanks to the new refrigeration units, the season at Medeu has become three months longer.
You can skate here from October to mid-March. Prices for services have not changed. Tickets will cost from 7 to 15 dollars, and skate rental will cost 6.5 dollars for two hours of skating. Medeo has several dozen instructors who help you take your first steps on the ice.

Authority:
Evdokimov V. Ice pearl .- Alma-Ata, 1978, 64 p. ; "Medeo", sports complex. In the book. Alma-Ata. Encyclopedia / Ch. ed. Kozybaev M.K. - Alma-Ata: ch. ed. Kazakh Soviet Encyclopedia, 1983.- s.s. 352 - 353; Malinovskaya E.G., Proskurin V.N. "Medeu", sports complex. In the book Collection of historical and cultural monuments of the city of Almaty. - Almaty, Kazakh Encyclopedia LLP, 2006, pp. 285-288; Proskurin V.N. Medeo. The tract and the person. In the book: Alma-Ata courtyards. Almaty, 2002, pp.145-148 (with a portrait of Medeo). Vladimir Proskurin (Berlin). Advertising booklet "Kazakhstan wonderland". Astana, 2011. Mass media of Kazakhstan.

Photos by:
Alexander Petrov.