I was born in 1986 in Prague, but I grew up in a small village near Nové Město na Moravě. In my youth, I competed at the national level in endurance sports, primarily in athletics, but also in cross-country skiing and triathlon.
At the age of 18, I fell in love with snowboarding and started to dedicate myself fully to it. I competed briefly in freestyle, but for me, snowboarding has always been more about spending time in the mountains with good people. I found meaning in teaching and passing on my experiences to others. After two years of teaching only snowboarding, I also started teaching skiing. I have been fully devoted to teaching since completing my bachelor's degree at the Faculty of Forestry. Later, I also earned a master's degree in Forestry, Water, and Landscape Management.
As an instructor, I am involved in many winter sports. In addition to being the head of snowboard education at APUL, I hold a license for telemark skiing, have racing experience in cross-country skiing, and have licenses for APUL Skiing A and Avalanche 2. I fell in love with the world of instructing mainly due to the relaxed community of people and the opportunity to travel.
Currently, I am focused on developing instructor training in Georgia and helping local people improve service and offerings in the ski industry.
Yes, I do, although in a slightly different way than before. At the beginning, it was more about being in the mountains with friends. Over time, I became a professional. What I enjoy now is that, besides the sport itself, I teach others about respecting nature and mountains, how to work with your own body, and most importantly, that kids learn the world is also outside the screen of a tablet or PlayStation. Right now, I probably enjoy passing on my experiences to other instructors the most.
I believe we managed to assemble a very strong team, with whom we raised the level of education, dare I say, to that of the best global associations. The key projects are the Kaprun Project and the support of young talents that follow.
In the fall of 2023, you also joined the ski instructor team. What motivated you to do that? I completed my License A back in 2018. Only now did I feel that I could be a real contribution. Another important factor was the excellent current ski team, which has great dynamics. I also think that better integration between the snowboard and ski sections can benefit APUL.
All the courses had something interesting about them. APUL has professionals and personalities across all disciplines. Personally, I would highlight the courses from the avalanche section and their guides. Everyone living in the mountains should take an avalanche course.
I would like to further educate myself in avalanche issues and mountain safety, mainly for myself. Increasingly, I am escaping crowded slopes for backcountry. I also want to focus more on soft skills, where I definitely have room for improvement. I am also studying anatomy and physiology.
It was a serie of fortunate coincidences. I was originally going to run only one course for some Gudauri school, but then I met my Israeli friend who owns a school in Gudauri and he arranged a course for locals. Since then, requests for courses have come in spontaneously. Georgia is very unique. Mainly, the mentality of people is different, and the ski culture isn't as developed as we are used to. However, the potential is enormous, and the mountains are beautiful.
Go for it! It doesn't matter if you eventually get the highest licenses and open your own snowsports school. What matters most is the time you spend in the mountains and the people you meet there. The memories and friends you gain through this beautiful work will never be taken away from you.
