Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Hut to Hut in Slovakia, plus other details you may find helpful ....

In my last post I expanded on my Backcountry Magazine piece on travel to Slovakia. In this post I outline some hut to hut opportunities for the totally daring and insane. I then list some other helpful info for the uninitiated. What follows is the nitty gritty for those truly going. (And you will not regret it.)


A backcountry hut-to-hut trip in the High Tatras is possible although there is currently no easy way to put one together. We could find no tour operators offering packaged tours on the Slovakian side of the range, although in Poland a British Adventure Travel tour operator, MountainTracks, runs a moderate hut-to-hut trip on the Polish side of the range

A hut to hut trip in the High Tatras would be tremendous and challenging. The saddles are razor edged and the bowls steep and pocked with narrow chutes. There is little by way of guidance in English, either on the web or on the ground. If you are up for adventure, challenge and getting off the beaten path a trip is well worth it. And did I mention it is inexpensive?.

I nagged both Pavol and Igor about skiing from Poland into Slovakia. Pavol sent an email with this to say: “During the summer it is possible crossing from Poland to Slovakia on a hut-to-hut tour. In Poland the trip would start in the Rybiego Potoka Valley. The hut on the Polish side is the Morskiego Oka. The trip would cross the border near Rysy Peak, which sits at 2,503 m. On the Slovak side the hut is Chata pod Rysmi, or the ‘hut under Rysmi.’ From here the trek would take you through the Mengusovská Valley to the hut near Popradské Pleso. This travel is forbidden during the winter months due to severe weather and avalanche danger.”

On the Slovak side of the High Tatra Range the starting point for a hut to hut backcountry ski trek could be in Stary Smokovec. From Stary Smokovec the trip starts with a funicular ride to the small ski resort of Hrebienok, located just above the town. From Hrebienok the ski is up the Velká Studená Dolina, or Big Cold Valley.  After a half day of skinning you can settle into the Zbojnicka Chata.  The lunch and tea here was hot, filling and good. You can then either keep skiing into the Malá Studená Dolina, or Little Cold Valley, or explore the huge cirques all around the hut and then spend the night after another great meal (and maybe some drink).

The ski from Zbojnicka Chata through the Priečne Saddle is difficult. We had to turn back due to weather and general conditions.  If you make it through, in the Little Cold Valley you can stay either in the Terryho Chata (2,015 m; founded in 1899; its capacity is 25 beds) or the Zamkovského chata (1,475 m), which is just a bit lower.

The next day the tour would take you through the Baranie Sedlo through a very steep and narrow couloir into the Veľká zmrzlá dolina, or the ‘Big Frozen Valley,’ and to the Chata pri Zelenom Plese, a large, warm and inviting hut with terrific six-bed rooms and great food and tea. We stayed in this hut.
The huts are inexpensive.  At the Chata pri Zelenom Plese, for example, after stuffing ourselves on a big lunch and cake when we arrived, much drink, hearty supper and healthy hearty breakfast, plus a warm, clean and quiet room (with linens!) all in cost us €49 each.

On the last day the ski would be from this hut to Sliezsky Dom, where, according to Igor, ‘you can have celebration of a successful trip at a warm and inviting mountain hotel, complete with a massage, a good meal and a very comfortable bed.’  I asked Igor if family owns the place.  He does not get I am joking.  He says earnestly, ‘it would be really nice,’ but alas no.  We did not stay there but it does look beautiful.

Finally, it’s worth noting most of the valleys in the High Tatra are closed and protected in the winter and they do not mess around with people sneaking in.  With the right guide, knowledgeable about the region and the rangers, though, sometimes permission is granted and you would have entire mountain valleys to yourselves….

The length of the ridge in the Low Tatras is about 100 kilometers and to do an end-to-end trek takes normally four or five days. According to Palo, to do the whole ridge, ‘typically a tour would start in the small village of Tegárt. The end of the ridge is to the west in the small mountain village of Donovaly.’ We did not do this hut-to-hut ski but did have lunch in one of the huts, the Kamenná Chata and can attest the food is good and inexpensive and the beer great.

If you start in Telgárt the first peak is Kráľová hoľa ( 1946 m) and there is a large television transmitter with a small shelter for a rest but no accommodation.  Near the next summit, Andrejcová útuľňa (1520 m) there is a hut with no services. You will need a sleeping bag, food and water. The capacity is 30 beds.
According to Palo, ‘the next ridge is a wild section. You will find a small hut (only fifteen beds) and no services near útuľňa Ramža ( 1260 m).
‘From here you hike through the saddle Čertovica. On the Eastern part of ridge behind the saddle are two shelters with no services.’ One of these is called Ramža and the other one Andrejcova. If you stay in these shelters you will need your own sleeping bag, food and water. There are springs with drinkable water if you visit in the summer.
On the next ridge you will reach the summits of Ďumbier, Kamenná, Chopok, and Chabenec. Below the summit of Ďumbier, the highest peak of the Low Tatras, is Chata M.R. Štefanikova pod Ďumbierom. The hut sits at 1,740 m.  The hut has toilets, showers and 8-bed rooms.  Overnight including breakfast costs €14.  
About two hours to the Southeast of Ďumbier, just below Chopok, is the Kamenná Chata, with 22 beds, great food and water available in the restaurant.  The Kamenná Chata is surrounded by the lifts of the Jasna resort, although it is just a short ski to leave the resort. It is a good idea to book a bed in advance.
Near Malý Chabenec is Útulňa Ďurková pod Chabencom, a year-round shelter with hot meals but no drinking water in the winter and you will need a sleeping bag.  Mobile: (+421) 91 809 15 89 -- Price: 5€ (with your own sleeping bag) 
The next section of trail takes you across the peaks Ďurková, Skalka, Košarisko, Veľká Chochuľa, Malá Chochuľa, Prašivá and finally the Hriadeľské sedlo, or saddle.
At the Hiadeľske sedlo there is a small shelter with ‘5 beds in the attic,’ although I cannot guarantee the translation is accurate, and a source of drinking water (a few minutes south of the pass). From this saddle is a ski across the peak Kečka to the end of main ridge in Donovaly.
Petra Suhajdova, head of marketing at the Jasna Resort and a terrific backcountry skier in her own right, recommends dividing the trip into two parts, Western (Donovaly – Certovica) and Eastern (Certovica – Kralova Hola)
The trail is well marked along the ridge but it is very important to stay on the marked trails high. Petra also advises to book the huts (Kamenna Chata and Dumbier) in advance.

Of course experienced skiers and mountaineers can take on this tour without a guide but it may be difficult. English is not commonly spoken and, at least for now, the tourism caters to a much more local crowd.  Our guides in Slovakia, Pavol Kuna and Igor Trgina, are available to build such a trip in the Low or High Tatras.  Pavol can be reached at palo.guide@gmail.com.  Igor can be reached at trginaigor@gmail.com. They work independently or together.
In addition to Palo and Igor, in the Low Tatras Petra recommends ‘the guys at Active Planet.’  Unfortunately they have no information in English on website. Petra says she knows them quite well, though, and reports ‘they organize ski touring, biking, climbing trips and can make tailor made holiday including the whole service. They have also ski touring rental in Banska Bystrica.

            You will find on a trip to either the Low Tatras or High Tatras, unless you are familiar with Central Europe and speak Polish, Czech, Slovakian or Russian, you will be on your own and on a bit of a frontier. The lodging, food and beer will be good and inexpensive, the touring challenging and beautiful, the people wonderful, the experience everything you could want from travel and backcountry skiing. But there will be no chocolates on your pillow at night and few menus in English. Have fun.

Getting There 

We flew into Vienna Airport, however the High Tatras are more easily reached from Cracow, Poland than Bratislava or Vienna, two other gateways, Cracow being about 150 kilometers, or a two and a half hour drive from Stary Smokovec. Visiting the Low Tatras is more of a toss-up, about equa-distant between Cracow and Bratislava. From Cracow transfer taxis and buses are available but I would recommend hiring your own car so that you can explore for yourself.

Lufthansa and Alitalia are the major western legacy carriers serving Cracow. Two European low cost carriers, EasyJet and RyanAir fry to Cracow, EasyJet from Paris, London or Liverpool; RyanAir – ryanair.com – from many points in Europe and the UK.

The drive from Cracow through Zakopane to the Slovakian High Tatra takes you right through Ždiar and just past the Pension Strachen, a great little hotel. The crossing between Slovakia and Poland is at Lysá Poĺana near Tatranská Javorina.

All major airlines serve Vienna, Austria, where you could tie a ski trip to an opera tour, and RyanAir flies to Bratislava. Vienna is about a five-hour drive and Bratislava is about a four hour drive to the High Tatras. 

When to go

March and April are inevitably the best time for touring but make sure you keep your eye on the weather. The latter part of February and March will see powder snow, frost and fog, so if it is sidecountry lines you are after, be sure to know how to navigate when the visibility suddenly diminishes. A good website for weather forecasts is www.shmu.sk.

Stay There

There are numerous hotels and B&B’s, “Penzions”, clustered around the base of the ski resorts and many throughout the small towns that are dotted amongst the Tatras. We stayed at the Wellness Hotel Grand in Jasna, a buttoned-up four-star hotel, extremely comfortable and clean, with a super spa and large range of good food.

On the high-end of lodging in the Low Tatras, the Tri Studnicky, a hotel at the gateway to the National Park. It would be worth a splurge. We were fortunate to be treated to a lunch by Chef Kovac. The hotel is in the form of an old wood lodge, with a massive peaked roof. It is surrounded by pines and set against the foothills of the Low Tatras. The lobby has lots of copper and stone and dark wood. Chef Kovac was Chef of the Year in 2012 and it’s easy to know why.

In the High Tatras the best value option would be to base yourself at a Penzion in one of the smaller towns. From there you can explore the mountains and possibly spend a night or two in one of the huts. In the High Tatras we stayed in Zdiar to the North of the mountains in a rustic, beautiful small town. Stary Smokovec is a gateway village, served by narrow gauge rail from Poprad, the regional center.  It is an excellent location to access the ski touring possibilities and to spot rich Russians wearing plenty of fur. As you drive east from Stary Smokovec on the ‘537’ you will find a number of small towns all at the base of massive mountains.

Poprad is a market town about 45 minutes from Stary Smokovec and would offer cheap accommodation. If you visit Poprad it is worth seeing the village of Spisska Sobota and checking out the Penzión Atrium if you do.  http://www.penzion-atrium.sk/en

Our Penzion in Zdiar was a family run business, full of Slovak character and even had it’s own ski lift and piste (www.penzionstrachan.sk). Check out www.slovakia.travel for help with finding the right accommodation for you.

(For learning about staying in the mountain hut system and possible hut-to-hut tours read the short articles about the High Tatra and Low Tatra hut-to-hut options.)

Ski There

If you’re savvy with ski touring and have got all the gear it’s relatively easy to pick up a map and navigate your way along the marked routes. Taking a guide with you however, means that you can leave the navigating up to them and indulge in your surroundings a little more - and if the weather turns, you have a professional by your side.  Pavol Kuna and Igor Trgina were brilliant guides, find out more about them on www.mountain-guide.sk and www.mountainproguiding.com respectively. The other thing to keep in mind is most valleys in the High Tatra are closed – a good guide might be able to get permission into these hidden gems.

Ski touring gear is available in a select few rental shops, the Low Tatras was particularly limited although we did find sufficient gear in Jasna. The best range by far that however was at the Intersport in Stary Smokovec. In here we found Dynafit, Silvretta and Fritschi setups and the new range of High Mountain Dynastar skis for rental. Intersport can set you up with skis, skins, boots and avalanche safety gear for just €38 per day. The shop is Sportcentrum Galfy sro (http://www.galfy.sk/intersport-galfy-kontakt)

Winter in the High Tatras typically starts in the second half of November and lasts typically until mid-May.

Snow falls in some sub-alpine areas of the High Tatras on more than 190 days per year and it can be very, very windy. The snowpack is 2 to 5 meters.

For what it is worth, it snowed hard every day before we reached Slovakia and started snowing again the day we left. Go figure.

By way of example, according to the Slovak Meteorological Society, the climate in Štrbské Pleso, one of the resorts of the High Tatras:

Average temp.:
3.7°C / 38.7°F
Maximum recorded temp.:
29.9°C / 85.8°F (August 28, 1992)
Minimum recorded temp.:
-26.8°C / -16.2°F (February 10, 1956)
Warmest month (average temp.):
July (12.3°C / 54.1°F)
Coldest month (average temp.):
Jan (-5.1°C / 22.8°F)
Temp. below 0°C / 32°F :
168 days (per year)
Temp. above 25°C / 77°F:
4 days (per year)
Days of snowfall (per year):
154 days

Click here for a good website for weather forecasts.

Eat and drink there

With hearty meals available for less than €10 and a pint of beer for just €1.50, Slovakia’s mountain resorts crush their Alpine equivalents in value for money when it comes to food and drink. Meat, potatoes and dumplings dominate most menus and if you order a hot chocolate don’t be surprised if that’s exactly what you get: a cup of molten chocolate and spoon – not to be missed. Borovicka (Slovak gin) and Slivovica (a 52% liquor made from plums) are the national drinks that were resolutely thrust into our hands on arrival at each of our destinations. The mountain huts are usually stocked with Kofola, which is spicier version of Coca-Cola, which is perhaps a more refreshing end to your day. We also found that the coffee in every café we went into was particularly tasty.

Maps and guidebooks

The Tatra Plan hiking maps in 1:25,000 are perfect for exploring these mountains and are available online or in many of the sports shops and hotels around the resorts. Locally you can pick up an excellent mountaineering book, Ladislav Janiga’s Tatry Z Oblakov, with a revised edition in 2012.  If you are a total wonk and want to know more than you will ever need to about the region, try Anne Applebaum’s Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956 and Hugh Agnew’s The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown.

Weather not on your side? Five other truly Slovak experiences in the Tatra Mountains

·       If you are in need of a pamper day to rest tired ski touring legs one of Slovakia’s hot spring spas might be the answer. Many of the spas are geared towards old or infirm but some are also open to the public. If your willing to indulge the tacky adverts and embrace your inner child head to Tatralandia Aquaparc, where the asparagus-pea green thermal water can’t be beat, or Gino Paradise Besenova for a day of hot springs, hot dogs and water slides.

·       Just off the D1 motorway that runs through the Vah river valley there is a relatively non-descript petrol station concealing an unlikely culinary secret. Kozi Vrsok, Goat Hill, is a modern restaurant with onsite cheese factory and farmyard. It’s worth it for the novelty of touring a cheese factory while someone else fills up your petrol tank, and the cheese is not bad either.

·       The Lomnicky Stit cable car ride feels a bit like stepping into Willy Wonka’s glass elevator; not for those the faint hearted, this 12-man suspended cable car judders it’s way to the 2,634m peak that overlooks Tatranska Lomnica ski resort of the High Tatras. The spectacular 360 degree views make up for the hairy ride and you can even spend a night up there staying in the highest apartment in central Europe.

·       During our time in Zdiar we innocently agreed to a horse and cart ride through the village. After a rowdy ride dodging traffic on the main road we were taken to the village museum - here we witnessed traditional dance, re-enacted a wedding and then were whisked away aboard our wagon to a mysterious shed in the woods where a fire was ready for roasting sausages on stick. The Slovaks seem to be experts at cooking up these bewildering but entertaining experiences, make sure you check them out.

·       Bratislava is between three and four hours by car from the Tatras depending on where you are staying. The city is a curious mix of old and new, with its quaint, cobbled old town, historic buildings, churches and magnificent Devin castle overlooking sprawling 1970s construction and futuristic apartment blocks. Getting lost in the side streets and stumbling across a brilliant coffee shop is a must - we loved Presporak Café. Finding a place to stay will be easy.  The Devin is a grand old communist gem.  A real splurge and find?  The five-star Arcardia, and when we were in town in mid-March five-star, yes, but rooms were three-star prices.



David Rocchio lives, works and writes in Stowe, Vermont. (c) 2013 David Rocchio

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