On Saturday, March 7, 2026, the national ice climbing training center near the Brno Dam hosted another highlight of the domestic competition season – the 2026 Czech Republic Ice Lead Climbing Championships. The competition, organized by the Czech Mountaineering Association in cooperation with HO Lokomotiva Brno, welcomed a total of 42 competitors in the U16, U18, U20, and adult men's and women's age categories.

For the second time, the competition was held in the spring and was intended primarily for local Czech competitors. Our goal is to separate the competition from the much more demanding European Cup, where many of our climbers also serve as judges, belayers, and other organizers. It is very difficult to find a date that conflicts as little as possible with international competitions and at the same time does not interfere too much with the spring season on the rocks.

Unfortunately, this year there was a conflict with the last UIAA European Cup competition in Oulu, Finland, so some of the Czech competitors gave preference to this last international competition. In addition to the large number of adults participating (in this discipline), it is particularly pleasing to see the participation in the youngest category, U16, where 8 boys and 7 girls competed, confirming the growing interest of the younger generation in competitive ice climbing.

For the first time this year, we managed to hold the finals for the U16 category as well. It was an excellent training opportunity for everyone, and it was great that everyone coped very well with the psychological pressure of the OS. Rosalie Veselá and Filip Petránek became the Czech U16 champions.

In the U18 category, Anežka Habermannová was a very pleasant surprise, holding her own among the adult women. The U18 boys had a slightly tougher time and did not make it to the men's final. Vojta Macek and Anežka Habermannová became the Czech champions in the U18 category.

Matyáš Lienerth was the only representative in the U20 category. He advanced to the men's final from a shared first place, but unfortunately, an unfortunate fall in the balance boulder meant the end of his hopes in the grand final and an overall 7th place finish.

The men's final was decided by a technical boulder halfway through the route, which unexpectedly knocked out the big favorites Chris Murphy, Volodymyr Kaidashev, and the aforementioned Matyáš Lienerth.

Oliver Hamerský gave the best performance in the final, being the only one to top the route, and deservedly won the title of Czech Republic champion. Emil Fraštia (SVK) finished second, Jindřich Nebojsa third, and David Kouřil fourth.

Oliver thus confirmed his excellent form from the 2026 World Cup races, where he finished 4th in Longmont (USA) and 5th in Edmonton (Canada). I would just like to point out that this is historically the best result ever achieved by a Czech man in the IWC rankings.

In the women's final, the wall on the approach to the jump was decisive, with Tereza Sukačová ultimately being the only competitor who could fulfill the instruction on the hold "Be a HERO." After landing, she defied the laws of physics and managed to assemble a "hedgehog in a cage" from her ice axes, much to the delight of the audience. Just before the jump, Anežka Habermannová had a time out, followed by Mária Chromová (SVK) just two holds below and Hanka Kopečková just below her in terms of ice axe load.

The weather during the competition was more like spring or summer, so many climbers were already eyeing their first rock climbs. All the more thanks go to all the competitors and spectators who chose the competition over the ideal weather on the rocks.
The competition was made possible thanks to the support of our partners PETZL CZ/SK, the city of Brno, the South Moravian Region, HUDY, and STATECH – plošiny, who have long supported the development of competitive ice climbing in the Czech Republic.

We would like to express our gratitude and look forward to the next round of the Czech Cup in lead ice climbing. We expect it to take place in the second half of October 2026. This competition will also be part of the nomination criteria for the national team for the 2026/2027 season.

Photos: Yulia Sergiivna, thank you