Junior orienteers from Switzerland at Potkávárna

We had the honour of providing the accommodation and facilities for a junior squad from Switzerland. The week-long training camp, which involved both training in the mountain terrain and training in the sandstone rocks, went well and was enjoyed very much by all. Take a look at the photos below, including a wonderful orienteering video from the Swiss club.

Orienteering Varsity Match – Oxford vs Cambridge

As if a wand had been waved, we moved from the ski season to the orienteering season (with the generous help of the weather). And it was in style. A high concentration of mental capacity from these two universities gathered for a week at Potkávárná for a training week in orienteering, ending with an inter-university race at Drábovna. You can see the results here.

Training camp for top UK Juniors

Potkavarna loves to show beautiful and challenging orienteering areas to orienteers from around the world. This summer we had the opportunity to provide the base for a selection of promising juniors from the United Kingdom. Here’s what one of them had to say about her time here:

“We all had an amazing time in and around Potkávárna u Havrana, the facilities were incredible and made the social side of the week 10 times better! I can say on behalf of all of us that we felt very welcome at ‘The Raven Haven’ not least because the food was so wonderful. The Friday night was particularly special because we were able to learn more about Czech culture, learning the traditional dances was a lot of fun, even if none of us were very coordinated!  I am sure most (if not all) of us will be back, so thank you again for being wonderful hosts 🙂

Thank you to Tomaš Křivda (from the Czech national team) for taking the time to come and talk to us, it was very insightful and each of us took something valuable from your talk. On the race days one of my friends kept reminding us that “hope doesn’t find controls”, which couldn’t be more true in the sandstone terrain!

We’re really grateful to all of the coaches for working so hard to put together such a wonderful week of orienteering and making every moment enjoyable. The terrain was epic and challenging, allowing us to push ourselves both physically and technically. The Rock cities were especially awesome and I loved exploring them after training. Experiencing this new and tricky terrain has given me a greater confidence going forward. 

The Czech Tour also gave us a chance to get to know each other better as a year group, something we’ve missed out on due to COVID. So thank you again for giving us the opportunity to do so.”

1st Jizera O-fest

At Potkávárna a week of unforgettable orienteering, games and music just finished. More information and reports are available on the O-fest website, here are just a few choice moments. Do you want to live the O-fest too? Sign up for the second running of it, 1-8 August!

Discussion about a remote region in the heart of the Himalayas – Upper Dolpo

There was another presentation and discussion at Potkávárna which was very engaging and stretched on almost until midnight. Upper Dolpo is a distant corner of the Himalayas, located northwest of the Dhaulagiri Massif. Due to it’s remoteness it is called the Secret Land. It spans altitudes of 4,000 – 6,000 m.

Cambridge graduates staying at Potkávárna

As part of our task in popularising the Jizera mountains, we had the opportunity to host a group of recent graduates of the University of Cambridge and teach them the basics of cross-country skiing.

Fresh snow has fallen!

Morning at Potkávárna
Ski outing