At age 87, Vic Jircik was hailed by American newspapers as the oldest man to summit Texas’s highest natural point.
Three years later, at 90, the Second World War veteran decided to do it all over again, ascending Guadalupe Peak on April 20th with three of his friends, making the 8,700-foot climb in about 12.5 hours.
Jircik said the trail’s unusual terrain interests him as a retired geologist. But his trek to Guadalupe, his fourth since the 1980s, will likely be his last.
“I don’t think I’ll do it again. I had a lot of help this time,” he said with a laugh, thanking his hiking buddies Donald Wong, Lou Pesta and Tom Pesta for carrying the food and water. “Going up wasn’t bad but coming down is bad because your legs are tired.”
The trip to “the top of Texas” has been described by guides and travel articles as strenuous with 3,000 feet of elevation gain, over steep and rocky land, and the possibility of strong winds and hazardous weather.
But slowly and steadily, Jircik and his friends made the climb without issues.
Lou Pesta said staff at the park’s information centre advised the group that they weren’t aware of anyone older than Jircik ever making the climb. He added, in an e-mail, it was “quite the accomplishment for a 90-year-old.”
Vic Jircik, a 90-year-old Calgarian and Second World War veteran, climbed Guadalupe Peak, Texas’s highest natural point on April 20, 2016.
According to Pesta, Jircik has climbed more than 60 mountains in the Canadian Rockies over the past several decades. He tackled Mount Temple, the Middle and Big Sisters, Mount Lady MacDonald, Grotto Mountain, Cascade Mountain and Mount Rundle, all while in his 80s.
He has also taken on the Rat’s Nest Cave in Canmore.
“I’ve been hiking for about 40 years. For a geologist, it’s like reading a book when you go up the mountain,” Jircik said.
Originally from Texas, Jircik fought in General Patton’s Army during the Second World War and helped liberate what was then Czechoslovakia. He later attended the University of Houston and obtained a degree in geology.
But jobs in his field were scarce in Texas at the time, so he bounced around, eventually making his way to Calgary in the 1950s where he has lived since, always in search of the next hike or climb.
“I don’t seek publicity. The only reason I want publicity is to encourage older people to go out and hike because it’s worth it,” Jircik said. “In many ways, your knees, heart and lungs, everything works if you keep them working.”
