High Tatras Traverse

THE JOURNEY IN DETAIL

Small mountains, serious character.

The High Tatras are the most compact Alpine-style range in Europe: twenty-five kilometres long, yet holding twenty-five summits above 2,500 metres, granite cirques, a hundred lakes and a network of chaty serving potato soup. We follow the Slovak Magistrala, cross into Poland at Morskie Oko and climb Rysy at 2,503 m, the highest point in Poland, standing exactly on the border.

• Rysy, 2,503 m, the highest point in Poland
• The Tatra Magistrala along the tree line
• Morskie Oko and the Czarny Staw
• Nights at the Teryho and Zbojnicka chaty

1. 01
   DAY 1 · 6 km, 150 m of ascent

   Poprad and Strbske Pleso

   We gather in Poprad and take the mountain train up to Strbske Pleso at 1,346 m. An evening lap of the lake and a briefing: in the Tatras walking is allowed only on marked paths.

   Overnight: Hotel at Strbske Pleso, 1,346 m
2. 02
   DAY 2 · 12 km, 1,000 m of ascent

   Mengusovska valley towards Rysy

   Past Popradske Pleso and up the chains to the Chata pod Rysmi at 2,250 m, the highest refuge in Slovakia. In the evening the stove is lit and water comes from the tarn below.

   Overnight: Chata pod Rysmi, 2,250 m
3. 03
   DAY 3 · 13 km, 500 m of ascent

   Rysy, 2,503 m, and down the south side

   The morning push to Rysy takes an hour: a short rocky ridge with chains and a summit straddling two countries. We drop back to Popradske Pleso and follow the Magistrala east.

   Overnight: Hut at Popradske Pleso, 1,500 m
4. 04
   DAY 4 · 15 km, 1,100 m of ascent

   The Magistrala to Zbojnicka chata

   A long traverse at the tree line beneath the walls of Gerlachovsky stit, 2,655 m, the highest point in the Carpathians. Up the Velicka valley and over the Prielom saddle to the Zbojnicka chata.

   Overnight: Zbojnicka chata, 1,960 m
5. 05
   DAY 5 · 8 km, 700 m of ascent

   Priecne sedlo and Teryho chata

   The most technical day: the Priecne sedlo at 2,352 m is climbed on chains and staples, and traffic is one-way only. Teryho chata sits among the five tarns of the Mala Studena valley.

   Overnight: Teryho chata, 2,015 m
6. 06
   DAY 6 · 10 km, 1,100 m of descent

   Down to Tatranska Lomnica and into Poland

   Down the Mala Studena valley past the Obrovsky waterfall to Hrebienok and the funicular to the valley. A transfer across the border to Zakopane at 850 m, with a free evening.

   Overnight: Hotel in Zakopane, 850 m
7. 07
   DAY 7 · 16 km, 500 m of climbing

   Morskie Oko and Czarny Staw

   A final walk to the largest lake in the Tatras, Morskie Oko at 1,395 m, and up to the Czarny Staw under the north face of Rysy, which we climbed from the other side. An afternoon transfer to Krakow.

   Overnight: —