My father believed in building the Krkonoše, regardless of the regime

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Luboš Petřík was born on 9th September 1945 in Jilemnice. His parents came from the nearby villages of Horní Branná and Dolní Branná and after his birth they moved to Vrchlabí. The life of his parents, his older brother and Luboš’s was connected with skiing since childhood. His father, Ing. arch. Jaromír Petřík, held numerous positions in the Ski Association of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and as an enthusiastic lover of the Krkonoše Mountains, he worked selflessly for years in many volunteer positions. His son Luboš was a member of the Czechoslovak national downhill skiing team from the age of 16, and participated in international competitions every year, even while studying civil engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He interrupted his studies for two years and became a member of the Dukla Banská Bystrica club in order to continue competing. In 1966, he met his future wife Zuzana, who came from the family of a prominent economist Josef Macek and emigrated to Canada after February 1948. After graduation, Luboš Petřík was briefly employed in Prague at the State Institute for the Reconstruction of Monumental Towns and Buildings, but by then he was already thinking about and considering various ways to get to Canada. In the end, a coincidence helped him: he figured out how to take advantage of the situation and managed to fly to Canada via Switzerland. As an engineer, he proved himself well in his new location, but his parents at home had a harder time with the situation, and for a long time they could not accept his departure. After his marriage to Zuzana and the birth of their three children, relations improved, especially after the regime repeatedly allowed the parents - by then retired - to visit their son. During the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Luboš Petřík was appointed attaché of the Czech team. Since the 1990s, he has been happy to return to Vrchlabí with his family.