Winter and rain did not deter people from visiting Ještěd, the transmitter was inviting

Liberec - Although nothing could be seen from the top of Ještěd today due to the fog, it rained, and it was cold, crowds of people flowed there since morning. They were attracted by the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the opening of the hotel with the transmitter. The unique hyperboloid structure, for which Karel Hubáček received the prestigious international Perret Prize, has been a national cultural monument since 2006, and people elected it the Czech building of the century.
    "When we saw the forecast, we were anxious. But already on Friday, there were responses that people were getting ready," said hotel operator Petr Šmaus today to ČTK.
    "It's not bad weather, just poorly dressed people," stated one visitor, Deputy Governor Hana Maierová. Sixty-seven-year-old Jitka Bouzková and her husband traveled all the way from Karlovy Vary. "We wanted to see it again," said Bouzková, who previously lived in Josefův Důl in the Jablonec region. "I used to go to Ještěd as a child; I remember the old hut," she reminisced. She also admired the restored lounge in the hotel, which looks today just like it did when the unique 94-meter high structure was opened. The hotel rooms were also fully booked, with one even featuring the original bedding from the time of the hotel's opening. The greatest interest, however, was in the tour of the transmitter, which Czech Radiocommunications had not often offered in the past. People were waiting in line in the rain for several tens of minutes. "They got to the areas under the laminate, which is six floors above the hotel," Šmaus mentioned.
    The event traditionally kicked off today with the ascent of brave participants from the lower station of the cable car to the top, carrying a barrel of beer on their backs. Paradoxically, the participants praised the rain and cold. "It's better than if the sun were shining and it was hot," said Zdeněk Pácha from Baška near Frýdek-Místek. Although he was ascending to Ještěd for the first time with approximately a 63-kilogram load on his back, he surpassed the long-standing record by about two minutes. He reached the top in 37 minutes. "If I had known there was a record, I could have gone even faster," added the 45-year-old man. In addition to eight men and one boy, three women also lined up at the start. Unusually fast was Jana Skrbková from Liberec, who scaled the mountain with a 26-kilogram load. She reached the top even five minutes earlier than Pácha and four minutes before the official timekeeper. "When I was here for the celebrations two years ago, I saw some woman do it in an hour. I said I could do it in half," she mentioned why she decided to participate in the start this year. This was also her first ascent. On the other hand, Jiří Mánek from Jablonec is set to conquer the mountain for the 2222nd time today. No living person has as many ascents.
    In its time, Ještěd was an extraordinary building. Many technical aspects were tested there for the very first time in practice; some things were prototyped or done entirely on the fly - for example, antennas were placed under a plastic shell, and the twelve-meter poles made of plastic were eventually produced by a factory that makes fishing rods. The equipment of the interiors was also exceptional for its time.