A week before the race, our VO tested the hardness of the hockey goalpost. Well, he turned out to be stronger, so VO became a mess. He was replaced at the last minute by YL Lucia, who not only brought some of the material up, helped set up antennas, recorded connections (she had never broadcast before), but also claimed to enjoy it!
Since there is "no more snow" in Chopok, the chairlift only goes as far as the Luková station, which is at an altitude of 1670 meters. We honestly endured two rows, first for tickets and then for a seat, and we got to this height relatively without any problems.
To better carry the equipment, Mišo OM0AAB borrowed a loom, such as used by mountain carriers. The rest of us, Gabo OM0AAG, YL Lucka and my little one loaded the usual backpacks and staggered up Chopok. I must note that it was "a bit windy". The ascent was made quite unpleasant by tongues, i.e. tongues of snow. Nowhere was one walking almost on grass, elsewhere one fell into the snow.
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However, after two hours we all reached the destination. We were so exhausted that we went to bed at half past six and woke up at half past nine in the morning. True to the saying that antennas are best built in wind, rain, snow, hail and other blizzards, the weather decided to treat us with wind and snow.
Building the antennas was not that difficult thanks to good coordination and a well-thought-out procedure. The elements of the antennas resonated not only at two meters, but also in the wind, until the frost stabilized them within ten minutes. After that they didn't even move.
We are starting to broadcast
It remained to make a fork from a screwdriver - what you can forget at home, you will forget at home. That's why our signal was heard on the bands only when the race was in full swing. The two-meter started solidly, the seventy at all. The antenna was probably already covered with a thick layer of ice.
They surprised the stations from the south, of which there is no trace. If we don't consider the area around the Danube as the south. Kilometer average low, PSV vysoké. Večer to sedemdesiatkový PA už asi prestalo baviť a bolo. V tom čase bolo v logu 9 QSO.
The two-meter man did what he could. Since no one here controls the key, except for the French key, after ten o'clock I announced that it was time to go to bed and in the morning we would knock on the antennas and try to fight.
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True to my word, I got up in the morning, opened the door, climbed through the tangle of antennas on the ground, looked at the curved yagi in his seventies and stuffed himself back into his sleeping bag. We had breakfast at half past eight and I took a second look at how it looked outside. Since the twin antennas at 2m could not fall any lower, I cast my eye on seventy. The mast was still standing, but the boom, secured only by the coaxial cable on the beam, was blowing merrily in the wind. The elements on the boom were no longer there.
It seemed that there was nothing to save ourselves, so with all our might we got at least what was left inside. It's better written than done. In a minute in the wind, the windbreaker was covered with a shell of ice. It is best to unscrew the nuts with your bare hands, masochists rejoice! Mišo, like a true arctic explorer, demonstrates how he knocks the wind off his feet.
That miracles still happen was proved not by the twelve Moons, but by the twelve elements from the yagi on the seventy - we found them all. Summa summárum the damage is less than we probably deserved: a bent boom at seventy, one bent boom at two meters, some bent elements, a slightly bent radiator at 2m and one cracked tube of the mast.
The greatest experience – the journey down from Chopek
The biggest experience was still waiting for us - the way down. Only when the door slammed behind us did we find out what we were in for. Mišo with a high canopy flew to the ground first. After ten steps, I saw TV news in the style of "Four radio amateurs froze in Chopek". The power of team spirit and mirage was shown. That was the skier who whizzed past us. A couple of Czech tourists are walking from below - they must be in trouble (SRI to all OK for a stupid joke, but in recent years in the Tatras Czech citizens are responsible for most of the fatal cases).
I look back, there is a ski alpinist above us in a dark yellow windbreaker - maybe the mountain service? A few steps later, the whole group catches up with us. And immediately the snow stops, the clouds part and a hundred meters below us skiers on Lukova. I have no idea when we passed the seat station on Úboča. Down in Jasná, not a trace of the wind. We look like a trio of Santas and Snow White. But we're down.
Since man is an unteachable creature, I'm already making plans for the next race. Well, it also includes some high hill, wind, snow and hopefully antennas that can withstand everything.