A big open stadium with cooling machines allowing to maintain ice quality even when the air temperature is above freezing (up to 10 C); therefore it is open roughly from end of October to start of April and has probably the best ice in the city. During this period, the stadium is a place for lots of competitions and sport events, but on Fri-Sun evenings (roughly from 16:00-18:00 till 20:00-21:00, better check before you go) it is open for public skating. It is also open for public skating every evening during public holidays, most notably in the first week of January. Have skate rent service and a cloakroom inside a small building; also rooms where you can change your boots to skates. You will also find stalls selling hot tea and snacks inside. Being the most popular of skating venues in Nizhny, it is often overcrowded. Come early if you want to experience good ice, as it is renewed every day before the stadium opens, and then gets worse (and really bad) during the evening with all the crowds rushing there.