NA SRDCE NEKLEPEJ...

SAVE WITH SPICES

When Herbert Richter walked around Adršpach in the sixties, he had a decent spread. He could choose not only free lines, but whole virgin towers: the Whale, the Wardrobe, the Parrot… Today, 60 years later, it’s increasingly rare for someone to find a long and logical line, especially a crack. It’s hard to say what will be left for climbers in another 60 years… Probably mostly bouldering.

Adršpach expert Honza “Tatuš” Žwak knows about 20 nice free lines, but only does about two or three a year. “Sure, I could blow it up in a month, but I think it’s a waste… Every now and then someone has a baby, every now and then someone dies, and you want to make a memory for them on that occasion… It’s good to have a nice direction in reserve. It’s kind of the spice of climbing. For me to spend most of my time pounding rings into the rock is not meaningful.“

He decided to dedicate one of his last first ascents (VII, 6a fr.), which he did together with Ondra Mrklovský, to the Adršpach pub U Tošováka. He felt that the place was in the best shape he could remember and that it deserved to have a mark in the rocks. So far there was only one climb grade four from the nineties called Tošovák is our mother in the rocks, which could not even be found in the old guidebooks.

In the new route we decided to film Tatus and we also interviewed him about how the preparation of the printed guidebook to Ádr was going — what was behind it and how he managed to follow the work of Standa “Cikán” Lukavský. It was Cikán who produced the hand-drawn map of Ádr, from which almost everything is based. This technical and artistic work on 84 A4 sheets of paper is glued together from the bottom with duct tape. So watch out, don’t twist on the map too much. Anyone who damages it will face Torture and Murder. More in our new video.

CO-AUTHOR’S VIEW

by Ondra Mrklovský

July Monday, 2022. Since yesterday, Tatus has been recruiting “everything that has legs” for a hearty human pyramid he would like to carry out. Fortunately, in summer in Adro, no one is bothered about the days of the week, and a decent bunch is coming together. We spend most of the day building on Velebníček and after the rapelling the group disperses. Tatuš, however, has a forge with him and asks me if I would like to go with him to do the first ascent he has reserved. Such an offer is not to be refused in my opinion, so I don’t hesitate. We head to Jezerka area.

Tatuš knows (not only) every nook and cranny in Adr thanks to the preparation of the new guidebook. But we don’t have to go far. We turn into the gorge behind Eliška, then to the right and soon we are looking at the intended direction. I stare at what the right eye can find in the rocks even today. It may be towards forty metres of climbing. First a chimney and then a varied crack to the top.

Tatuš climbs steadily, puts slings along the way. The crack is quite clean, so nothing’s holding him back. He stops just below the final off-width. I’m sending the forge. It’s so high, I can barely see what’s going on. Then I hear a thud, and in a moment the ring is in place. (They didn’t have an electric drill, they just took a hand drill. They didn’t really count on getting it done that day, so they didn’t want to pull it. So the ring was still fitted with an old-fashioned pipe drill, ed.) The climbing is really nice, it’s not a crack like a ruler, but it twists and changes in different ways — it’s playful.

From the ring, I’m sent to the top. I’m honored to be able to pull a little bit. I put the monkey fist in the middle of the off-width and climb to the top without much trouble. Soon we are both enjoying the view of the early evening Ádr — it doesn’t get old!

Tatuš is still not sure of the name of the route, but it doesn’t matter, because this is a new massif and there is no book. We celebrate with the feeling that a really nice route has been created, which will be climbed by many climbers. The protection is good and the difficulty is friendly — we agree on the untricky classic VIIa. (6a fr.)

In the evening Tatuš informs me that he has already decided. He will name the route and the rock object in honour of our favourite pub. And so the line Don’t knock on the heart, come straight on to the massif Tosovak was born.

THE STORY OF THE PUB CONTINUES

Soon after we premiered this video at Sherpafest in Prague, we received a phone call from the Ádr: “The Tošovák will be closing. Do you know yet?” It was too much for the manager Jirka “Blbon” Nešpor over the years, so after the April party the pub was closed. No one knew what would happen to it…

Fortunately, the blackout didn’t last too long. The climber and artist Vojta Fröhlich, who already has experience with running a “similar” place — he runs the AVU (Academy of Fine Arts) Club in Prague and opened Tošovák on the fourth of July 2024.

“I would like to keep the pub exactly the same, I don’t want to change anything at all,” says Vojta, so neither the local regulars nor the bear have to worry about their space. “The past two months have been an intense experience,” laughs Vojta, “we’ve been going at 100 percent — trying to manage everything somehow and learn the operation of Tosovak.” With his friends, he also set about cleaning the cellars, but mainly restoring the old attic. In fact, Toshovak has a large attic space where they made a new floor, toilets, shower…

And Vojta has visions for the attic? He suggests that he could expand the circle of Tosovak beyond the climbing sphere and invite artists from different parts of the world. To organize studio open-air events, to grasp it as a multifunctional space for groups of people, meetings, joint creation, screenings… “The space is worth it. It has a huge potential, and that’s what I like about it,” says Vojta.

So when Tatuš thought of making a path in 2022 in honour of Tosovak, he could not have known that one day it might be a place where life would happen on different floors and sectors. So good luck!

TOMÁŠ KLOS RECALLS

There are so many towers all around where my foot hasn’t set yet, and I’m supposed to climb a massif? But when I got below it with my friend Ember, of course I followed him. It may be a massif, but it’s a long, long route in the classic Adršpach style, where you don’t get bored from start to finish. It is assumed that one likes the local pleasures…

Next year when I go to climb it on the first one with Wallda (Petr Waller), who once had this direction in his sights, I hope that the chimney crossing will still have the birch tree, or whatever stump it is (In the video below Tatuš calls down, “Karol watch out, yeah?” 5:24) because once it rots, the adrenaline might be more than it should be for some of us older second league players. I really wouldn’t want to smile there without a sling, even on a tree stump. But otherwise, great! Although — I like almost everything here in Ádr that I am able to climb not only on the first, but nowadays also on the other end of the rope.

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Thanks for all those who supported our editorial team during 2024. For the new year you can buy our new sandstone climbing calendar. Happy climbing!

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