Medeo

Medeu

Medeu – the skating rink of highest altitude in the world
Location	Almaty, Kazakhstan
Owner	City of Almaty
Capacity	8,500
Construction
Built	1949–1951
Opened	1951
Renovated	1972, 2003, 2009
Construction cost	19.4 billion tenge (approx. 131.8 million $)
Tenants
2011 Asian Winter Games, 2012 Bandy World Championship, 2017 Winter Universiade

The Medeu, (Kazakh: Медеу; Medeu) is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley (Medeu Valley, or the valley of Malaya Alma-Atinka River) on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits 1,691 metres above sea level, making it the highest skating rink in the world. Medeu holds this distinction as long as rinks such as the Stephen C. West Ice Arena in Breckenridge, Colorado (elevation 11,300ft / 3,445m) are not counted due to a significantly higher elevation. It has 10.5 thousand square meters of ice and utilizes a sophisticated freezing and watering system to ensure the quality of the ice. The mountain valley was named in honor of Medeo, a wanderer who lived in the last century and established own aul in this picturesque. site.

Construction of the stadium began in the fall of 1949, and the first competition took place at the stadium on 4 February 1951. Medeu switched to its current system of artificial ice in 1972 by a team of Soviet engineers.

The Medeu Dam, built in the late 1960s, stands immediately south of the skating rink, protecting it – and the city of Almaty itself – from potentially devastating mud flows. Viewpoints on top of the dam provide great views of the stadium. The dam has 3 successive altitude levels. Special water reservoir allows holding about 6 million cubic meters of water. Stairs known to city inhabitants and tourists consisting of 842 steps leads to the dam. Contests on ascension along this unique stairs are regularly carried out.

Medeu has seen many world records in all the speed skating distances from 1951 until the 1980s: 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m, and the 10000 m. In 1972, the rink made a very successful transition from natural ice rink to artificial ice rink.

The bandy team Dynamo Alma-Ata played its homegames at Medeu and won the Soviet Championships in 1977 and 1990 and the European Cup in 1978.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the costs to uphold the arena as a top ice rink proved too expensive for the independent Republic of Kazakhstan. The last great championship event for a long time on this ice rink was held in 1988—the Men's World Speed Skating Championship—which was won by the American skater Eric Flaim.