Denisa Šulcová - new ralpu ambassador
author: ralpu
November 3, 2022
We are happy to welcome our new ralpa ambassador - Denisa Šulcová . A native of Poprad, she became a certified UIAGM mountain guide a few weeks ago - the first woman in Slovakia! We will take a look at her journey to this unique achievement.
Introduction
Denisa is well-known in the climbing community. After all, she has been involved in this sport for several decades. However, we also know her from ultra runs in the mountains (for example, she ran UTMB - CCC 2017, a 100 km demanding trail run around the Mont Blanc massif, or the Tatranská Šelma Ultra). However, she is also a great skier - she is a certified ski instructor. Her whole life revolves around activities in the mountains. For the past few years, we have been observing with interest how difficult her path to obtaining the UIAGM mountain guide certification was and how much preparation and sacrifice it required. From her story, we know that during the partial exams, the fact that she is a woman was not taken into account in any way and the same demands were placed on her as on men. We were even more pleased in June 2022 with the news that Denisa managed to pass the final exam in Chamonix, France, becoming the first woman in Slovakia to receive the prestigious UIAGM mountain guide title. Denisa will write more about this journey in her own words.
Denisa in her own words
Since I was a child, I liked to be outside and fly everywhere. I spent my childhood years on tennis courts, from where I could see climbers training on a nearby building (there were no artificial walls). One day I tried it too and I date my climbing beginnings from then on... I was in the 8th grade of elementary school. During the summer we climbed on Dreveník and Tomášovský výhľa, I spent the winter as a ski instructor in the High Tatras. After the initial years on the home rock gardens, trips to the rocks and adventures began throughout Europe - France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Norway... We went out, or did go out, whenever we earned money from side jobs and had time during the holidays or between exam periods at university. Back then I was able to climb up to 7c+, now 7c on rock and 7a/7a+ on walls... but I'm an eternal optimist, I'll practice a little more and there will be harder routes...
Denisa uses the VERTIX 2 model
Denisa decided on the VERTIX 2 model. This model offers up to 140 hours of battery life in second GPS mode. However, the biggest draw is the use of the Dual Frequency GPS module in the watch. COROS VERTIX 2 is the first GPS watch in the world (at the time of its launch) equipped with a dual-frequency satellite system. It can communicate with all major satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and Beidou) in two parallel frequencies (L1 + L5) simultaneously. The L5 frequency has so far been used only for aviation safety services. This standard offers higher performance, greater bandwidth and advanced signal architecture. In practice, this means that this most advanced civilian GPS signal significantly improves the accuracy of GPS recording in situations where typical GPS watches fail - in the mountains, when climbing walls, in forests with dense tree crowns, or in cities with tall buildings. The authorized dealer of the COROS brand in Slovakia is the Slovak e-shop ralpu, based in Liptovský Mikuláš.
Meanwhile, during the summer season, I started working at the International Mountain Film Festival in Poprad, which also allowed me to move forward in sports (thanks to a great boss). In the winter season, I continued to work as a ski instructor in the USA and Canada. Having children changed not only my priorities, but also my sports opportunities. At that time, I ran more and managed to run ultramarathons, which I really enjoyed. When the children grew up, I was able to climb more again and devote myself to what I "love most"...
There was an opportunity to apply for the UIAGM mountain guide course, which was announced by the National Association of Mountain Guides of the Slovak Republic. I took the plunge, even though the path to the entrance exams is difficult. You need to have found and skied, then take entrance exams in all disciplines, that is, show that you as an "athlete" have what it takes. Only after you have passed all the rounds of the entrance exams will you enter the educational process, which lasts 3-4 years. There you learn all possible guiding techniques in various terrain - rock climbing, big wall climbing, climbing in the Tatras, the Alps, other mountains in summer and winter, ice climbing, skiing, ski mountaineering in the domestic and Alpine areas, orienteering, weather, health science... High demands are placed on the trainees. Each partial course ends with an exam, and at the very end of the education are difficult, several-day exams in Chamonix, France. There is no difference between men and women, so the female gender is not taken into account and as a woman you have to handle everything the same way as your male colleagues.
In my activities, I am inspired by climbers, skiers, or ultrarunners (of course, big names like - Tommy Caldwell, Hilaree Nelson, Kilian Jornet, Emily Forsberg...). During the period of long runs, I used various watches for orientation and route planning, or races. During the mountain guide course and now when guiding, a watch with good tracking capabilities, good maps, ease of use, and especially long battery life - is a must. All these circumstances made me aware of the COROS brand, which convinced me with its battery life in top GPS navigation mode and ease of use. In addition, they are also nice and fit great on my hand. Now I happily use them for running and climbing, but especially for my profession - UIAGM mountain guide.
I have already spent the summer guiding in the Tatras (Gerlachovský štít, Lomnický štít, Pyšné štíty, Ľadový štít, Prostredný hrot, Vysoká, and many others)... There are countless options for climbing to the top, but also for summer and winter climbing, ski mountaineering, freeride... just make an appointment. You can find me on Instagram .
Conclusion
We are delighted with Denisa's success and wish her many beautiful experiences in the mountains, around which her whole life revolves. If you would be interested in her services as a mountain guide - for example, a climb to Gerlachovský štít, be sure to write to her .
We are also glad that Denisa decided on a COROS GPS watch and we hope that the VERTIX 2 will be helpful to her in many situations in the mountains.