ALEŠ FIALA

GIVE IT SOME TIME

1969 — GRAMMAR SCHOOL: “There were two Ales in my class, so to avoid confusion, I was nicknamed Fazol and the other one Hrbol. Well, then I said to myself that I wouldn’t be just an ordinary Fazol with a ‘z’, but a Fasol with an ‘s’. Today, many people don’t even know me otherwise.

1999, FIRST 7c. Brunhilda at Sulov, Slovakia. He’s 48 years old.

2004, INDOOR GYM SAREZA, OSTRAVA. Tomas “Chemist” Vitasek remembers… Fasol: “How are you doing with your free time?” Chemist: “I have twelve shifts, so I have a lot of time off.” Fasol: “We’ll see each other more often.” And that’s exactly what it was. They started going to Moravian Karst twice a week from Ostrava for a turn. “He taught us. We didn’t know how towork the routes with Gospa (Martin Gospoš) — we didn’t even think to rest and try the movews… With Fasol I climbed my first 6b, 7a and my maximum 7b+.”

2006, FIRST 8a. Ales sends his first 8a at the age of 53 in Spain.

2008, AT HOME IN OSTRAVA. Fasol has just returned from a long weekend in Osp, where he tried the Oktoberfest 8a. He’s unpacking, washing himself… His wife: “How was it?” Fasol: “Good. I have to go again next week.“

2015, FIRST 8a+. Again, Sulov, a quick send-off and a raising of the personal limit. He’s 61 years old…

2018, CHULILLA. “Because he’s an older gentleman, he gets up earlier. That means he makes coffee and breakfast. That makes your day better right away, imagine that,” says Maugli (Zdenek Novak), describing the trip they took together, during which Fasol sent down the Nueva Zetta 8a+. He was 64 years old at the time. “When he climbed it, he was able to show great fulfillment and joy. That he had succeeded in something that at first seemed very far away. He knew the struggle would be for a long time, but he had the diligence to give it time. I would put it this way: He wasn’t afraid to try.“

2024, ELBE VALLEY. Fasol sits with the author of the article in his big van, barely carried by the ferry in Dolní Žleb. A rope had to be pulled. After a long day on the Left Bank, they are talking. Occasionally a train passes, sometimes Ales jumps into the fridge for something to eat. No rush, wine, comfortable swivel seats, a small table… How to sum up the present? A perfect retirement.

IT WAS ALL DIFFERENT

You turned 70 in June. How many of those were climbing years?
I started late — after the army, when I was about 24…

So not like today…
No. It was different in our time. Actually, there was nothing. There are no rocks near Ostrava. We used to go to Štramberk, Kružberk or Rabštejn. I still remember Čertovky near Lidečko, it’s coarse-grained Moravian sand.

Is that somewhere you climbed for the first time?
No, the first time I ever tied on a rope in the winter Tatras was when we climbed the Kriváň Shoulder II-III. Half walking, half climbing. We were taken there by a friend who had climbed a bit in the mountains. Back then, in the late seventies, the Tatras were the main thing. We devoured books on winter climbing, bivouacs… We went there every other weekend in the winter. After work on Fridays we took the train – at ten o’clock in the evening to Lomnica, went to sleep under the walls, climbed the other day with the bivouac, on Sunday down, in the evening to Ostrava and then straight to work.

Did you enjoy the bivouacs?
When it was planned, it was good. There were a few unplanned ones, like at the Gánok Gallery… We thought that Jarek Jursa and I would be able to climb it in a day and rappel down. We were already on the edge of the gallery, but a guy from another team fell. So we threw them the rope, everything got terribly long and all four of us faded out. We dug a hole in the snow and somehow we knocked it over.

Do you think that the peak of your mountaineering phase could have been the Matča1989 expedition?
You could say it was.

I heard it was the first and last expedition you organized yourself.
(laughs) It’s time-consuming and a bit unrewarding to organize something like this. There were ten of us going, so there was a lot of paperwork… The main destination was Pik Skalisty (the highest peak of Pamir-Alai, 5621 m above sea level, today’s Kyrgyzstan, note by the author).

Was it a first ascent, or did you repeat something?
Actually, a first ascent in the end. There were very few records of this mountain… We only knew that someone had once climbed it from the south over a glacier… But we didn’t like it, so we thought, “It must be possible from the north as well.” So we chose the northern valley, had a bivouac in the north side and climbed it, which was quite a difficult ridge. From the north summit we then descended to the saddle and there was still a ridge to climb to the main summit. This one was no longer technically challenging, but we got dark on the way. We reached the main summit about an hour before midnight.

So another bivouac?
Yes, on the way back just below the summit in the garden. Again, we hadn’t counted on that, so we didn’t have anything. (laughs) And then we had an alternative descent route. It didn’t let us down and we managed to get down, so that was good.

Otherwise, we were there for a month together and climbed about eight 5,000ers… I don’t remember exactly. We were groping on glaciers and snow… But there was a bit of rock climbing on that Pik Skalisty.

MT BLANC OUT OF CONDITIONS

Today I see you as a sport climber – when did the transition begin?
That’s what I’m saying. Matča was in 1989, the Velvet Revolution came and suddenly the world opened up. So we went to France right away in February 1990 and wanted to climb Mt Blanc. Before Christmas 1989 we were still sorting out our visas. So the French gave us a visa, and before we left they cancelled this formality. With my friends, we came to Chamonix — the conditions there were really bad, so we went to Buoux. In Buoux I saw my first foreign sport routes…

…and then you preferred to “wait for the conditions” for the rest of your life.
(laughs) We loved the waiting in Buoux. Except I was the only one of those people who had climbing shoes. Fortunately, Bohdana said to me before we left, during the packing, “Do you have a pair of climbing shoes?” “What for, we’re going to Mt Blanc?” “Oh, take them. What if by chance?” (laughs) And that was it.

Did the sport routes immediately appeal to you?
Well, look… It was like, back in the ’90s, we were still all about the mountains. My mates were organising an expedition to the Pamirs. I said, “Great, I’ll join. But I won’t organize anything anymore, I’ll just pay the money and you tell me what to take and when I’ll get on the plane.” And it worked out that time. We were on the Korzhenevskaya Peak (7,105 m above sea level), we took the normal route…

But by that time Bohdana was already pregnant. We got married on July 14, 1990 and I left for Pamir a fortnight later… So we climbed Korženěvská and Pavel Trefil said to me: ‘Well, we made it quickly, we still have time… “I’m not going,” I replied. I was scared, you know…

I understand, it’s an objectively dangerous mountain.
We were there in August, it started to get colder, there was a lot of snow on the top, someone in the group was starting to have health problems and I had already summited one peak… Wife at home pregnant… In the end we changed our tickets and came back early from the expedition.

„‘I’m not going,’ I replied him. I was scared, you know…”

Any sense of responsibility for your family left in you?
It’s more that I’ve come to see the mountains as being objectively dangerous… We then went to the Alps a few more times, climbing for example the Bonnati Pillar on Petit Dru, which no longer exists (due to the massive rockfall in 2003 and 2005, author’s note). There were a lot of people on that route, we climbed slowly… We bivouacked behind the hardest place… That was unplanned again, but beautiful. We were sitting on a shelf, swinging our legs in the air, with Chamonix lit up below us… But what I mean to say is, the descent back was a horror. Terribly broken rock — there were so many rocks falling! One hit a man nearby, a helicopter flew in to pick him up… Very dangerous.

So that’s where it broke in you? You figure if you do it too often…
…one day that rock will find you. It was slowly growing on me. I was still trying to hold on to it a little bit. And I thought, “Well, at least once a year I’ll go to the Tatras in the winter and we’ll climb something.” Once I did that with Petya Jursa — we went to Gánok again around 1992, we went up Stanislawski (V+, 300 m). It was nice, but I think it was the last Tatras.

Then I still wanted to climb the rock big wall. On Grand Capucin, Dan ŠImon and I climbed Ó Sole Mio (6b), we climbed it in August 2008, taking turns and climbing all the lengths on OS. In this my “bigwall period” I was also on Rätikon twice. That was a total blast. Grey lime, beautiful. Once with Mirek Mikuš and the second year I was there with my son Adam. With him we climbed Schatila for 7c on Schweizereck, it was in July 2015. On the first day we still took turns and Adam tried the hardest length. Then the second time he climbed it all on RP and I went all on the second.

6b TOURS

Since when did you start training?
It came in between, right. In Buoux, we first got a beating — we climbed one 6b, I think. (laughs) After we got married, Bohdana and I started travelling abroad for sport routes and taking little Adam, who was a very good kid. We liked France and Buoux in particular — I bought a Ford Sierra and we went there.

What did you do for a living at that time?
Right after the revolution I went freelance. I’m a structural engineer. Now I can take my work with me on the road.

How were your first sport climbing trips?
When Adam was two and a half years old, we spent a month in Buoux. Pen Sindel went with us — we took him as a nineteen-year-old boy. There were four of us — two climbing and one guarding. It was great and on the way back we stopped in Frankenjura. Great trip, we climbed all September…

Then I fell in love with Buoux and some years I went there three times. March, May and then again in the autumn… Nowadays the area is seen as oldschool climbing, but back then it was very trendy. It was also the place to go to Finale — that’s where I bought my first real climbing shoes in 1990.

Once we were on Matča, you traded anything there for Russian ice screws. For example, I had my own sewn trousers made of solid chamois fabric. The Russians were hungry for it. Or a helmet — the big one. For that we got ice screws, which we then sold in Italy for a pretty good penny, and I bought the climbing shoes in Finale. By the way, as we drove there in the old Škoda 110, we carried four 20-litre tin cans of petrol in the back of the seats. (laughs)

At what stage of your life did you have the most time for climbing?
I guess I have that now. (satisfied smile)

And when did you feel the best shape?
I climbed my first 8a when I was 53. It was Primera Linea in Terradets, but it’s been dropped to 7c+.

And the first 7c?
First 7c when I was 48. And that was Brunhilda on Sulov.

How did you get stronger on the harder stuff?
I was never good on campus, but I built a small bouldering gym in my garage at home — I think I got a lot of training there. It helped me a lot. The main thing I kept seeing was the artificial wall and endurance training. But in Ostrava it’s a terrible misery. Even now. If you want to climb with a rope, there’s still only the gym at Hlubina.

It was such a time back then that I trained in two stages. In the morning I climbed on the bouldering wall and in the evening I went to the gym with my friends. And I did that about three times a week.

Then you’re also known to have “sieged the roads”. For example, here above us Skuruti beh (Xb, 8a)… Forty tries…
I’ve sieged that one, that’s a fact. I’ve been trying it all year. And do you know what it’s like to go to Labak all year on one trip from Ostrava?

I don’t know. (laughs)
I tried it all the time, but I always fell at the top at the end of the bouldering part. At that time Dalibor “Lepra” Jančar was still climbing quite a bit and he says to me: „I take the small hole with my left hand, than the pinch and jump to the good ledge.“ I kept trying it my way and it didn’t work. Then one day I tried it the way he said, and suddenly it worked. Once I changed the software, it got better and soon I got it out.

So what’s the hardest thing you have to do on the rope?
Ten minus, or 8a+. I have one on Sulov — Nový Opus, it’s right next to the legendary Opus dei 8a, which I climbed just before my 60th birthday. Then my friend says: “Hey, I’d like to try the 1624 Edge (7c). Would you go with me?” I said, “Okay, at least I can try the New Opus next door.” It’s a straightening of the legendary Opus. So I went back to the whole Opus after a year and added the passage above. I was 61 years old by then.

How many times were you on that?
Not too many times. I knew the way. It wasn’t terribly long, it went pretty quickly.

And that suits you best — the technique in the perpendicular or slightly overhanging?
I think so. The Sulov, that’s a bit of sandstone-like movements. Overhangs and power stuff are not my thing.

THE NEW ERA

How was your second 8a+?
Then the era started when we started going to Spain and discovered Chulilla. The first time I was there, I think, was in 2015. And since then, actually twice a year. (laughs) I climbed a lot of 8a’s there. I have about 16 in total.

Then my son Adam went to Canada se we went to visit him in 2017. “It’s totally awesome here, perfect!” I said to myself. He lived in Canmore and they climbed in the Lookout sector, where he sent a beautiful 8b+, Adam Ondra was there too, they climbed together… “Next year I’m coming here for two months,” I decided right away. The first month I climbed with my friend Jerry (Pavel Mynář) and the second month Bohdana came with our youngest daughter Verunka.

I’ve been on the Lookout maybe 15 times, and that’s training for you! It’s mostly powerful climbing and endurance. On top of that, you walk 600 m of elevation gain every time, to a height of about two thousand metres above sea level. There, you’ll find a totally awesome, sporty limestone.

So you got a kick out of it?
When I came back to Europe, I was much stronger… The very next autumn (2018) I went to Chulilla and managed to climb my second 8a+, the Nueva Zetta route. And two more 8a’s for the same trip.

Isn’t that sometimes a bit demotivating for your fellow climbers who are 20 years younger? If you send the route and they can’t do it?
You’re right, I climbed this trip with Maugli (Zdenek Novak). He tried the route with me, but he couldn’t do it and he didn’t give up. I did it then and it was a complete euphoria. I got a lot of congratulations…

So your body listened to you more when you were 60 than when you were 30?
There’s no comparison at all. I wasn’t an athlete from 30 to 45, let’s say. Not at all! I used to party a lot and so… It was a very different time. Then I started to look at training, diet, and overall I changed. I even lost a lot of weight.

And had more time for everything?
When it comes to training, preparation and climbing, I was always a bit selfish and went about my business. (laughs) My wife likes to remind me, “Look, you went to the Pamirs 14 days after our wedding. And when Verunka was born in 1998, you went to Yosemite a month later.” (laughs) She’s got something to remind me, but it’s more of a tease.

SWEET PRESENCE

Do you have any more multi-pitch goals?
I don’t see much in the way of multi-pitches. (laughs) Probably not anymore.

I know some climbers who quit when they stopped improving… How are you doing?
Well, look. I had that good year in 2018 and then 2019. That left me with one nice hard 8a in Chulilla, La Boca de La Voz. That’s pretty valuable too — they say it’s a real 8a. Otherwise, the consensus is that Chulilla is pretty soft. The route was quite good for me. “I’d like to climb this one more,” I think to myself. So I deliberately went for it in the fall of 2019. I spent a week on the route, almost climbed it, was past the hardest point… And in one I injured my back. I spent a week getting myself together. I nursed it back to health, went back to the spot and climbed it. So it took me three weeks, but it was euphoric.

Then we came back in the spring of 2020, but by then the 8a’s were starting to resist. I haven’t climbed one since. It stopped going out for a while, we bought a house in Zdoňov, and I started fixing it up there… But occasionally there were some Xa’s (7c’s) in Teplice.

I take it as part of life that I’m not getting better. I still have fun in the crags, for example today was a great day. We had a great time, it’s beautiful here in Labak. I love climbing. Plus, for the first time in my whole life, I’m living by the rocks! We used to go to Sulov three times a week, which was almost five hours in the car per visit.

Where would you like to be born in your next life?
Probably the Adrspach region. It’s such a vast area when you add Teplice, Ostaš, Broumovské walls…

What does climbing give you?
Well, look. It’s the thing that motivates you to keep fit and have a purpose in life. I wouldn’t have to work or climb anymore. But what would I do? I’d probably be lying on the couch watching TV or something? Or go to the pub… Swear at politics…

I find the climbing lifestyle amazing. I’d hate to lose it. It requires you to keep to a lifestyle, but that’s the point. And the other thing is the people you meet through it. When we were in Spain for those five weeks… There were about ten of us there — a great bunch. Perfect.

I know an awful lot of people through climbing. And most of them are at least 20 years younger than me. Basically, I don’t hang out with anyone who’s the same age as me. Plus, my wife is 15 years younger than me, so that’s another thing that keeps me going. Actually, we only have a high school reunion once every five years…

And how’s that going?
We’ll chat a bit for that night, but I don’t know if I’d go on a two-week climbing trip with these people. I don’t think so. (laughs)

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