"Medeu" ("Medeo") is one of the largest alpine sports complexes in the world. It is located in the tract of the same name in the Trans-Ili Alatau, 13 kilometers from the city of Almaty at an altitude of about 1700 meters above sea level.

History of creation 

The construction of the Medeo sports complex began in the fall of 1949, and although the first official competitions were held in February 1951, the stadium with artificial ice was built only in 1972.

From the collection "The History of designing sports facilities in Almaty", covering the period from the 1950s to the 1980s, it became known that the architects of the project of the Medeo alpine sports complex were Vladimir Katsev, Arystan Kaynarbayev and Marat Zhaksylykov. 

The idea was ambitious, the authors had to fit the sports complex into the natural environment – a mountain gorge, to erect a grandiose structure in a seismic zone. 

It was necessary to determine a durable material that would be able to repeat the contours of the mountain terrain, and high–quality concrete became such a material. It was from concrete that the Medeo sports complex was built, with an area of more than 10,500 square meters. meters.

Medeo is protected from the destructive effects of mudflows by the dam of the same name, built in the late 1960s and located south of the rink.

A special "reservoir" allows you to hold about 6 million cubic meters of water. It was this factor that made it possible to hold competitions in speed skating, bandy, figure skating and other winter sports. 

More than 200 world records in various disciplines among men and women were set at Medeo. This skating rink became known as the eighth wonder of the world, the opening of the sports complex was covered by the allied and foreign media. 

The team of architects was awarded the USSR State Prize for their work on the project.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Medeo competitions were not held for a long time, and the unique complex had difficult times. 

Its complete technical reconstruction was carried out only in 2003, and now the complex is open to visitors all year round. 

Medeo today

The Medeo Ice Arena is one of the most popular attractions in Almaty not only among athletes, but also among residents and guests of the "southern capital" of Kazakhstan who come to skate on weekends. 

The complex is famous for its ice rink with the largest area of artificial ice covering - 10.5 thousand square meters.m., which operates 8 months a year - from October to May. 

The purest mountain water is used to fill the ice,

this allows athletes to achieve high results here. The thickness of the ice on the Medeo rink is 2.3 m. The ice is maintained in perfect condition thanks to a special freezing system that has no analogues in the world. 2-3 thousand people can be on the ice rink at the same time.

Above the sports complex is the famous ski resort - "Zimbulak" ("Shimbulak"). It can be reached directly from the Medeo Stadium on the modern Medeo - Cimbulak cable car, built in 2011 for the Asian Winter Games. The mountain slopes around the rink are very picturesque, covered with coniferous forests.

The high-altitude skating rink "Medeo", as an original architectural monument, remains one of the important business cards of the country.