Marylebone Mountaineering Club
Library and Information > Meet Reports
Library and Information > Meet Reports
|
|
Marylebone Mountaineering Club Library and Information > Meet Reports |
|
A Ski Traverse Of The Polish Tatry Mountains By Henry le Fleming
Sometime last year, while John Bradshaw and I were tackling the important issue of a couple of pints of beer, we occupied the spaces in between with idle banter about ski touring. The subject in question was possible venues for spring 2004. "Needs to be somewhere different" said John. "We should at look somewhere with fewer people than the alps and less travelled." This was a reflection of both of our thoughts on the haute route from Chamonix to Zermatt - it would encompass some of the worst aspects of alpinism in France - ie crowded huts and well worn trails. After investigating different options, we settled on the Tatra mountains which straddle Poland and Slovakia. There have been some notable mountaineers from these regions; the types that tackle a previously unclimbed route, having prepared with an evening of hard vodka consumption. John dug out a website report of trip around the High Tatras from Zakopane in Poland. Maps from Stanfords showed some good routes and the huts were open all year round. This meant we could ski without having to carry sleeping bags or large quantities of food. Russell was also up for the trip, so after a reasonable flight into Krackow and an efficient Polish bus journey, the three of us found ourselves in a cheap B&B discussing ski touring with the owner and a fellow guest. The owner was telling us that there was a serious risk of avalanche in the area. There had been a heavy snowfall followed by a spell of warm weather, which emphasised the difficulty of timing ski touring trips - too early and it is avalanche prone, too late and the snow is rubbish or gone. Our choice of mid March was early enough, but the Tatra's had a dose of unseasonably warm weather. We asked about the western part of the range with more encouraging results. Here he suggested it would be fine for the next couple of days. One of the original plans was a tour from west to east, so this seemed a good way to start. Our helpful fellow guest who had translated all evening now decided he ought to stand us the dinner we had just consumed as well. Nice people in Poland. DAY 1 The next morning we took buses to the village of Lesnicka Kira and headed up the valley of Dolina Chocholowska on skis. It was not a very exciting day - just walking up the snow covered road on our skis. In fact there was even a tourist pony sleigh that took people up the road we were on, but that did not seem in keeping with our trip and besides the Polish was clearly beyond us. We were all finding our ski legs too so it was good to get an easy day under the belt. The hut turned out to be the pleasant kind of mountain hotel and even had showers. We rounded off the day with some transceiver search practices, which sounds dull but is oddly exhilarating. It is however, essential that everyone on a ski touring trip is capable and practised in finding the others in the group in case someone gets caught in a slide. We chatted to some other people in the hut. One of the other guests taught English in Poznan. This was good because we could get a crash course in what meant what in terms of food as no one else in the mountains spoke any English. We were also given some advice on possible ski routes around the hut, but after some deliberation we settled on a circular route from the hut up to a peak called Rakon, before heading onwards to the next valley. DAY 2 The next morning we started heading up the route, and found ourselves skinning up through a very beautiful, quiet conifer forest. It was good to be getting some real height under our belt. We headed up to the Bobrowieck Przelycz, a col in the main ridge of the Tatras, and then followed the ridge to the peak of Rakon (1879m). We then turned our minds to the descent. It was okay, reasonable snow, though nothing you would shout about if you were skiing in resort. The way was clearly very well travelled - ski touring was obviously a popular activity for the Poles. We made it back down to the valley and then started heading up over the next valley to the second hut.
Russ and I tried skiing down a 5 foot wide path in the dark with trees on either side. Looking back on this, I do not believe I could ski this in the light. However we snow ploughed our way on until the gradient increased to the point at which we began to question our sanity. We realised we should take our skis off and walk a bit. After such struggles, the gradient eased off and we saw lights through the trees. Hurrah! Polish stew and a well deserved beer awaited. DAY 3
Russ was clearly still suffering and in the end it was decided to split up. John and I would continue traversing along the main ridge and Russ would drop down into the valley, take the bus along to Zakopane and make his way up to the next hut close to the main ski resort area. DAY 4 So began a fairly testing day for John and myself. There were two possible routes a longer easier gradient path crossing several south facing avalanche bowls, and a steeper scramble. As they both started from the same valley, we thought we would set off and make the decision on route. Again we skinned up through the forest enjoying the forest paths and scenery. It was going to be another warm day and occasionally we felt blasts of warm air blow through the trees. We followed the path markers up to the point where we thought it must split. Try as we might, we could not find the easier path. I was happy about this because of the avalanche bowls and warm day, so the ridge seemed the safer option. So with a happy heart we set off to do this scramble. It is perhaps worth noting that as the Tatras are not glaciated therefore we didn't carry rope, harness or other climbing gear, and as this was a touring trip, we only had one axe each to go with the crampons. The ridge was steep to begin with, but nothing too serious. We skinned up the snow as far as we could before putting skis on our sacks. The snow turned to rock and became an enjoyable scramble with the odd careful step required, and we soon approached what we thought was the top, only to see we were very much not at the top. The ridge was another 500m or so, first dropping to a col and then becoming a rising complex ridge with 3 or 4 gendarmes. John was more or less convinced it was not possible without climbing gear. I did not really want to down climb the scramble we had just done, so we agreed that we should proceed down to the col and take a look, but both of us thought we had reached an impasse due to my poor route choice. From the col we could see footprints leading up the ridge. Add to the fact that dropping off either side looked even worse from here, and we started to give the ridge some serious thought. Perhaps we could do it? We followed the footsteps that traversed around the left of the first gendarme. It was not too steep, okay snow and progress was good. It seemed to head up a short rock corner. I bridged out and up, taking a couple of steps up, but what a thought was an in situ sling indicating the route turned out to be a loose discarded piece of tat. "Oh bu**er!" or some other words to that effect came out of my mouth. The rock also went a bit Swanage at this point - I suggested John step aside whilst I dropped a foot sized rock down the hill. I tried very hard not to think of the 500 or so metres to the valley floor, and investigated some better footholds which took me onto easier ground, but I suggested John might prefer an alternative. I found foot steps again on the snow slope, and John found an alternative onto the same slope. We both carefully climbed the snow slope to regain the ridge. We had made some good progress as the traverse and snow slope took us around not one but two of the gendarmes. We now had to cross the ridge and turn the third gendarme on the right. This involved a couple of delicate steps, but there was a good axe placement, and the ground ahead suddenly eased. Morale was creeping up a little. We worked our way up the ridge on the snow slope that lead to the peak. It had probably been perhaps Scottish 2 but with only one axe each we were relieved to be out of it. The ridge turned into much easier ground and became a real pleasure to ski. We soon found ourselves at the top of the final summit looking down on to our hut. The descent down was the best snow we had on the trip. It was a firm base with a few inches of softer spring corn on top. John and I remembered how to ski and were enjoying the descent. Fortunately for us, Russ had got to the hut early to reserve us some places in the hut. This hut was small so we had to share a room with a terrible polite Polish family. Oh dear. The night time chorus and the rather smelly ski wear of Bradshaw, Beech and le Fleming might not have been the highlight of their stay in the mountains. DAY 5
However we got to the top in the light, and dug ourselves ledges on the side of the col to get into our skis. The wind gave us a good shredding, and it was not easy getting everything in to downhill mode again. Eventually this was achieved and as dusk fell we headed down into "Valley of the Five Lakes." The snow was a nightmare - heavy crust. This is where the top layer of the snow has been subjected to sun and frost turning it into a 3 inch icy crust, leaving a foot of soft stuff underneath. Your skis break through the crust, and unless you execute a perfect big jump turn, your skis catch the crust and trip you over. And if you are tired and wearing a rucksack, it is especially difficult, sometimes it feels like the snow has turned to glue. We all spent a good deal of time eating snow on that descent, and we were starting to worry about fading light and deteriorating weather. However the snow improved further down and we made better progress. We came across a hut by one of the lakes, although this looked very empty. A quick look at the map under the glow of a head torch indicated that the proper hut was a bit further on. Relief all round, and round the next corner we appreciated the glow of the hut in the gathering dusk like lost sailors finding a lighthouse. This was more of an alpine refuge than the other huts, again no English spoken, but we had the gist of things now. Massive cups of tea, sausage and stew soon lifted spirits. DAY 6 The next day saw the party splitting again with Russell going down the valley to the last hut, and John and I going over the col. We had asked the guardian which route we should take and he had told us that the trail up the valley and over the col was the good. So we all set off, with John and I skinning back up the Valley of the five lakes, and Russ going down it. John and I made good progress, and soon reached the final part of the climb to the col. We opted for a gully we thought looked easiest, but sound found it to be quite steep. The snow was good but again there were icy spots which John found hard with his light weight gear. The gully felt like a grade 2 scottish snow climb. With two axes it would be fun, with just one axe it was a bit too much brown trouser time for me, though the consequences of a fall here were far less dramatic than the previous adventure.
There were many finely dressed Poles who had taken a sleigh ride and walk to this spot to admire the view. John and I tucked in to a mixture of tea, Apple cake, chocolate and beer. We then skied down the road and through the forest to the second hut to catch up with Russ. This was a good moment as we knew the last ascent was behind us, and not having had a rest day, we were pretty tired. DAY 7 It was almost over. We had a short walk along tracks through the woodland close to the border with Slovakia to the road where the bus would take us back to Zakopane. There was however still time for a last little adventure with a pair of Polish border guards out on their morning patrol. We had to show them our map with the route we had taken drawn on it and a postcard from the last hut, authenticated with a hut stamp, before they were satisfied with our explanation. They then reported our names and passport numbers to their command HQ before finally letting us go. And so we made our way to Krakow to enjoy the delights of Poland's cultural capital. All in all a fantastic trip in a great country in very fine mountains with one of the best hut systems in Europe. Well worth a visit. Route details
Total 58.5 kms; 4,416 metres ascent. |
This is where our troubles began. Russ had been suffering most of the day as he was on his race skis and using alpine trekkers instead of lightweight touring skis and ski touring bindings. Russ was clearly struggling with his gear and progress was slow. We worked our way up to the pass, but we were losing the race against daylight. Eventually we agreed that John should ski on to the next hut as fast as he could in order to secure beds, food and beers.
Over dinner the previous evening Russ had come to the conclusion that he was not going to be able to ski the next day and decided to rest at the hut. John and I planned a circular route back up to the main ridge. Unfortunately for Russ this turned out to be one of the best days on the trip. The weather was great. The route was 700m of skinning up through forests, occasionally as steep as 40 degrees, followed by a long ridge from which there were fantastic views of the surrounding range. The ski back down the valley turned out to be very heavy due to the warm weather. However there was a good track through the very beautiful forest, and we got back in good time to enjoy the evening and to make plans for the following day.
The next day was a trip through the ski resort, up a lift and ski down and out the other side of it. We then started our long slow progress towards the col of Zavrat. We had the choice of skiing across a frozen lake or walking around it, ski marks and footprints suggested people had done both. Being on the more robust side of human sizing, around seemed the safer option. Eventually we made it to the couloir and started climbing; skis on our packs again. This couloir was pretty much what we had expected; a grade 1 Scottish snow climb, and very good fun it was too, but John was beginning to wonder if the lightweight aluminium axe and crampons were up to the task in hand. The other issue was that time was creeping by, and we and left behind the lovely gentle forested places and were heading up into some serious mountain terrain.
We reached the ridge and took in the 70 degree slope on the other side. After a bit of a tantrum from me, John suggested we descend the ridge a little. The map showed that the route traversed the slope, so in poor visibility we traversed down and across a concave 40-45 degree slope in the poor visibility. Hmmm. The snowpack was, by now, well consolidated, but the situation was knarly. However steady progress took us out of the cloud, and onto skiable terrain. The valley was some of the most dramatic scenery on the trip. We skied down and onto and across the frozen lake, crossing it to the hut/tourist café at the road head.