"Yes" Im not kidding.

Iv excepted a job in kasakhstan since the airline industry is in the toilet here .
Im going to fly for Air Astana.

So with that in mind I need to find a coach and a place to skate in kasakhstan.
ill be based in Almaty or Alama-Ata ( if you like ) . I need to find a coach Who is willing to coach and adult free style skater . For the applicant I am capable of double jumps and at Gold level in Adult skating on the USFSA system. Your club must be willing to allow me to skate and you as my coach should be willing to train me. I still plan to return to the US to attend next years Adult nationals and the Obertstdorf Adult international event in Germany. I might be an Adult but I skate hard . If your interested in taking me on or have any information on skating in Almaty. I need to hear from you. I have 23 years on the ice
adult male skater . 50 years old and still skating hard.

Are you going to be in or near Almaty? Denis Ten started out there, at the Kiyal Almaty rink. Looks like his coach there was Aigul Kuanysheva. It's somewhere to start!

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Holy cow, Ross! How bizarre, but it's a very exciting and interesting turn of events in your life. Never a dull moment.

Maybe he could do a Borat interpretive number!!!

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Oh yeah, THAT would go over really well in Kazakhstan. . .

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

No Borats for me
Iv never seeen it anyway. Its going to be interesting . Ill be leaving in about 2 months . There giving me an apartment and lots more . All thats missing is a coach and a sheet of ice. Wish me luck Ill try and see some of you at the halloween classic but Im not skating.

Ross

Ill be based in Almaty...and living there.
Id love to hear from you or anyone else who has been there . I need a rink and contacts , people I can call or E-mail before I get there. Id like to have a coach and a rink in place before I get there. I don't know Denis but I would love some information on the coach and the rink . An E-mail address would be great . do you think Aigul speaks English , If not Ill learn Russian. but we all speak skating. Look forward to hearing from you

Thanks
Ross

No, silly. For Adult Nats here.

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Unfortunately, I don't know Denis and have never been to Kazakhstan. I just got that info. from his fan site, here:
http://denisten.kr/xe/enprofile

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

" Anyone else got any ideas about training in Almaty.
There must be some former Russian skaters, coaches , anyone from Almaty ?
Still looking for clues . Id hate to hang them up..... again.

Did you try google search Kiyal Almaty rink? Or just Ice rink Almaty...

There is Medeu ice skating rink in Almaty.
Here is the web side:
http://medey.kz/en/

There are some contact details where you can call or write for info:
Contact telephones:

reception - (727) 271-62-11
hotel - (727) 271-62-10
sports and mass department - (727) 271-62-15

e-mail: katok@medey.kz

Thanks Hanca

I have sent and E-mail asking if there was a coach and ice available for me.
I do hope I get a good response or though they may not be able to read English. I can't type in Russian or Kazak. Thanks again and wish me luck.

Well the E-mail address no longer works. It was sent back to me undelivered .
It was a good idea . I need to try and get in touch with a coach in Almaty. I appreciate all the help everyone. Still looking for ideas...

Well, the next step is to find someone speaking Russian and then try to call on the above numbers. (Or try to call first, they may speak English.) Take into account what time it is in Kasachstan though, you need to call there during working hours

Come on, put some creativity into solving your problem!

If you can't find anyone speaking Russian, you may have to hire an interpreter for an hour, although some exchange students from Russia or students of Russian language could help you too. (Do you have by any chance uni in your city? Are there any Russian courses? Are there any students on those courses? Or befriend the teacher and then ask her to help you with one call.)

If that fails, you may have to make a weekend trip to Kasachstan. Sightseeing etc. I assume that you are going to make some trip to Kasachstan before you move there because you will need to arrange accommodation, won't you?

They way it looks at the moment I may just have to wing it. Ill be leaving now in about 6 weeks.
My job will pay for a furnished apartment for me. Ill spend the first month learning the company policies and they put me up at a nice Hotel. So I plan to do some research on the weekends and Im sure Ill find someone there who can help me answer some questions. I once tried to skate in Germany and the rink kicked me off the ice because I was told i was to old to free style.
That was NOT in Oberstdorf but in Dresden.
I do hope that does not happen in Almaty. Thanks for the help on this . Im asking around at my rink. If anyone out there has Russian coaches please ask around and maybe they have some contacts there.

Thanks
Ross

OMG I can't believe that happened ! Isn't that 'age-ism' ? Or is age the one thing left that can be discriminated against?

Good luck in finding a coach & rink anyway Ross.

__________________
Katz

Saved by Synchro!
I was over it, now I'm into it again !

Seriously! Question is, would they have kicked Dorothy Hamill off the ice, too? She's over 50.

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Well to be honest . I never got an answer from the Dresden club as to why I was not allowed on the ice there but the club said no. The Adults there only dance and even then they only get limited ice. They have a very new rink with 2 sheets of ice . I speak German but not enough to get an answer out of them.

Thats in the past now and I have to focas of Almaty now.

Spoke to a coach at my rink this AM -- he may have a contact for you. I should know more later this week.

" Hey " Thats Great If you can come up with a contact Id be thrilled. Please let me know on this Ill look forward to hearing from you Ill try and send you a PM.
Thanks .

Hi Skater,
i just red your message. Maybe it will be helpfull for you, hopefully not so late.
So, i know Aigul Kuanysheva. She is a good trainer and former figure skater, so as am i. I think it is a good idea to ask her to train you.

I live in Germany and know also a woman who does here professionaly figure skating trainings. She is also from our team as well as Aigul, but live in Germany. She brings her girls and boys to Obersdorf to skate. He name is Swetlana Knorr. She lives in Aaschafenburg. If you have an interesst please let me know. My email - yelena_saewe@gmx.net

I think it is great to skate at any age! We have here also many persons who loves figure skating. I wish you very many happy ours on the ice.
With best regards from Duesseldorf
Yelena

Yelena
This would be GREAT... Iv sent you an E-mail with details of what I need . I would like to find a coach and a rink in Kazakhastan but I would also be able to travel to Germany on my 2 weeks off every 2 months to train there. Ill go where the ice is and the coach. I have been to Germany many times and Oberstdorf of course for the Adult Internationals. I love it there.
If all fails in Kazakhstan Ill be looking for a coach in other countries ( Germany maybe) to spend my 2 weeks off training there. As you can tell Im quite serious about finding some ice. Stay in touch Id love to hear from you on this.

Star

Starskate -- Check your PMs --

I want to thank every one involved with helping me out here.
Iv had lots of response on this . I did discover there are rinks in Almaty and Astana and just waiting to here from some leads. from coaches and skaters who have been there. Thanks again everyone. Ill be leaving in about 3 weeks and staying in the company paid Hotel for the first month.
Id like to meet a coach there for a meeting if there are any more leads.

Ill be there for ground school for about a month then Im off flying .
Still looking for as much info as possible

Thanks
star.