Soon we will stop at the ice stadium Medeu.
Sport complex Medeu is located in the mountain valley of the same name which received this name in honor of the nomad Medeu who lived here a century ago. The entire sports complex is located at an altitude of more than 1600 meters above sea level, and the ice stadium occupies 10.5 thousand square meters. There are competitions of various levels on speed skating, hockey, and also in figure skating. Since its founding more than 200 world records have been established here. A special staircase leads to the rink and it is available for eight months. In the summer, music festivals are held here, when the ice stadium turns into an arena for artists.
It is impossible not to talk about the history of the ice rink.
The skating rink was opened in 1951. It was a skating rink with natural ice, it worked only a month and a half a year. But the quality of the ice created from the mountain water, low atmospheric pressure, winds and other natural factors very soon made it the fastest ice rink in the world. Soviet athletes achieved many records here. And only in the late 60's ice rinks with artificial ice appeared abroad, which allowed athletes to increase the training period to 6 months a year. And Medeu began to give up its positions and then was completely destroyed because of the construction of the mud protection dam. But in 1972 it was re-opened as a sports complex with artificial ice. And just for 2 sports season it regained all world records. He regained the title of the best rink of the world and held it for two decades. But the appearance of covered ice stadiums with regulated climatic conditions was again moved Medeu from the occupied position. Despite everything, Almaty people love their skating rink and have a good tradition of skating on the weekends.