From Our History – Children’s Ski Training Course

The current weather almost invites a nostalgic return to an initiative that managed to convince even the most devoted intellectuals that sport is not merely a theoretical concept. For decades, children’s ski training courses for employees’ children were held during the spring holidays, regularly in two sessions. The final chapter was written only with the arrival of the new millennium.

The base was a proper mountain lodge in Malá Úpa, where there was nothing “make-believe” about the mountains. The slope belonging to SYNPO (formerly VÚSPL) could be cleverly combined with the higher-lying lift run by the so-called “Prague locals,” creating an overall experience that could confidently rival smaller ski resorts—at least in the eyes of participants who had little basis for comparison.

From an organizational point of view, it was a minor miracle: all roles were filled by institute employees—ski instructors, cooks, and other indispensable operational heroes—who performed their duties with a level of professionalism that many a commercial course might quietly envy. Morning and afternoon training sessions were interspersed with competitions of all kinds, dictated purely by what happened to be available at the time: air-rifle shooting, darts, and other disciplines whose connection to skiing was admittedly rather loose, but all the more entertaining for it.

The evening program then elevated the experience to an entirely different level: a carnival, a disco, a girls’ dance performance, and above all the legendary playback show of a metal band.

From a human resources perspective, it was an almost brilliant move. The close contact between the children and the institute resulted, over the years, in several future employees. In other words, anyone who once survived the spring holidays in Malá Úpa was bound to feel a lifelong connection to the institute.