New project encourages Czechs to visit "Thousand-metre-high Mountains"
Spring is here and with it a new project aimed at encouraging Czechs to visit the mountains called "Tisicovky Cech, Moravy a Slezka" - or "Thousand-metre-high Mountains in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia". The inspiration for the project came from the 19th century Scottish mountain-lover Sir Hugh Munro, who in 1891 compiled a list of the country's peaks, which have since become known as "Munros". Radio Prague spoke to one of the organisers of the "Tisicovky" project, Tomas Formanek, and asked him how many Czech mountains reached a thousand metres or more.
"Everyone we put that question to guessed that it would be between 20 and 50 but all of them were surprised when they heard the real number - there are 391 mountains in the country which reach a thousand metres or more. The regions with the highest number of them are south and south-west Bohemia. And the highest mountain in the country is Snezka, which is sixteen hundred and two metres."
Mr Formanek and his colleagues have brought out a glossy book giving details of all the thousand-metre-high mountains in the Czech Republic and will regularly update their website, which is at www.tisicovky.cz. They also organise tours and run a club for real enthusiasts. Is hiking in the mountains a popular activity in the Czech Republic?
"Definitely, because there are many mountain-walking organisations, such as the Club of Czech Hikers, which has over 40,000 active members, and there are several similar groups for young people. The Club of Czech Hikers was founded in the 19th century. Today is our first day of existence but I hope we survive hundreds of years too."
And finally, does Tomas Formanek think the "Tisicovky" project will inspire some people to try mountain walking for the first time?
"One of our main aims is to attract people who just sit these days in smoky cities - we want to get them to come to the mountains because anybody who hasn't been to the mountains has no idea how beautiful it is there, whatever time of the year."
(Photos from book Tisicovky Cech, Moravy a Slezka by T. Formanek and M. Holub)
