"ZOBAN"
Radek was born in 1978. He has been a mountain guide since 2006 and a teacher of climbing and ski mountaineering.
From 1996 to 2004, he was a member of the Czech Mountaineering Association (ČHS) alpinism team. Since 1999, Radek has been one of the main organizers of the climbing school H.O. Lokomotiva Brno, and he is also the chairman of H.O. Lokomotiva Brno. In Brno, he runs a climbing wall as part of Hudy.
Radek is the father of two playful boys and, as he describes himself, a "responsible provider" within reason. Despite all his activities, family, and work commitments, he still strives to maintain his own climbing and ski mountaineering ambitions.
Radek grew up around the mountain rescue service on Praděd. According to the stories, everyone around him was a great mountaineer. At home, he encountered many books like Thrones of the Gods or Where the Land Ends. In 1992, the first climbing wall in Brno opened, and Radek began leading children's competition groups with Honza "Drobek" Krch. Then came his first climbs. He writes that he had a desire to leave an "indelible mark." He realized that he simply wanted to be in the mountains as much as possible because they offered something that the world "down in the valley" didn't have.
Gradually, he transitioned from being an instructor at the Lokomotiva Brno climbing club to pursuing his own commercial activities. The Czech Republic started to feel limiting, and he began exploring what it would take to lead and teach mountaineering in the Alps, which naturally led him toward pursuing the IFMGA/UIAGM/IVBV mountain guide license.
For the last ten years, he has managed the HUDY climbing wall in Brno, and guiding has become a form of relaxation and a hobby for him. Climbing and ski mountaineering are the best ways for him to unwind, especially in recent years when he can spend a lot of his free time with his son, "Junior."
An additional hobby is organizing ice climbing competitions for the Czech Mountaineering Association, developing and running the ice climbing difficulty training center on a pillar in Brno, and managing and organizing the competition ice climbing team.
Radek simply can't stay away from new challenges and projects.
Selected achievements:
- Spends over 150 days annually in both rock and mountain terrain, with Chamonix as the summer destination
- In recent years, his winters have been filled with exciting ski mountaineering traverses, heli-skiing in Sweden, and ice climbing anywhere he can find frozen waterfalls between competitions.
- Summer in Chamonix involves several ascents of Mont Blanc (up to 5 climbs, no more), with the rest of his time devoted to more interesting and often new climbs in the massif. In recent years, due to warming temperatures, he has focused more on rock climbing, but Mont Blanc’s orange granite still holds allure.
- He considers his biggest success the fact that he still climbs, skis, and enjoys it more and more—and to date, he’s managed to avoid unplanned bivouacs (though there were a few nights spent climbing).
Most notable climbs: - Tengi Ragi Tau South 6,180 m – first ascent "Like a Dhal Bhat" ED/7-/75°
- Kongde Ri Nup 6,035 m – first ascent of the NE pillar "Cheap Wine" ABO/A2/80°, climb of the year 2001
- Kongde Ri Lho 6,192 m – first ascent of the SW pillar TD/5/75°
- Bergell - Val Qualido, first ascent Time to Leave 9- PP
- Petit Dru - Pasage Cardiac ABO-/7a+/A2, one-day ascent
- Grandes Jorasses – winter ascents of Croz Spur Direct ED/5c/WI4 and Linceul TD/4a/WI3
- Matterhorn – north face, Schmidt Route ED/5a/M5
- Over 400 rock and mixed climbs in the Mont Blanc region, up to 7b difficulty (favorites include the Tacul
Satellites and Envers area); over 400 climbs in the High Tatras, both in summer and winter, including several first ascents. He admits he never kept an exact log, and as he gets older, the experiences become more important than the names or grades.
Why Direct Alpine: "Direct Alpine is a brand made by people who are genuinely engaged in outdoor activities and test their products on themselves. For me, these are products where functionality and practicality come first, and they suit me perfectly. An important reason for choosing them is also that Direct Alpine products are 'made in Czech' from start to finish, so what else should a Czech guide wear? :-)"
