Today I invite you for an amazing hike in the winter wonderland. It was one of the nicest days in the Giant Mountains (Polish: Karkonosze) in January, 2022.
Our hike starts next to the Wang Church, a unique monument of Scandinavian sacral architecture from 12th century, which was originally built in a Norwegian village Vang at a Vangsmjøsen lake, hence the name. I don’t know how it could happen, but I haven’t taken any picture of the church that day. Next time, I promise! In the meantime you can visit the website and get some more info: https://wang.com.pl/en/.
Samotnia (1195 m)
After about 1,5 hour we reach Samotnia – one of the oldest mountain huts in Poland. You definitely should stop for a while and eat an apple pie here. The hut is located by the picturesque Mały Staw (Little Pond) – a glacier lake, which is not small at all. It is 255m long, 185m wide and 6.5m deep and it was named 'Little’ only because there is a second, much larger pond known as the Great Pond (Wielki Staw).
I wish once I can stay overnight in this fantastic place.
Strzecha Akademicka (1258 m)
This place reminds me my school trips, when I was totally unprepared for winter hikes, always having wet socks. That time I didn’t expect that one day I’ll love mountains as much as I do, but today there are no doubts that these small school trips had an impact on my future interests.
Śnieżka Mountain (1603,3 m)
THE HIGHEST PEAK OF THE KARKONOSZE AND THE SUDETES
Śnieżka (Czech: Sněžka) is a mountain on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland, the most prominent point of the Silesian Ridge in the Giant Mountains (Polish: Karkonosze, Czech: Krkonoše). At 1,603.3 metres, its summit is the highest point in the Czech Republic, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in the Giant Mountains and in the entire Sudetes.
Interesting weather-facts:
- The average annual temperature on Śnieżka slightly exceeds 0 °C, reaching 10.6 °C in the warmest month.
- In the post-war period, the highest temperature recorded at the current observatory location was on 28 July 2013: 24,6 °C.
- The summit of Śnieżka is characterized by hurricane-force winds.
- For about half a year (usually from October to May) a snow cover remains on the summit.
Tadeusz Hołdys High-Mountain Meteorological Observatory
of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, Śnieżka
One of the most recognizable buildings in the Polish mountains. Its construction was completed on 13 November 1974. The building was constructed using three interconnected disc-shaped blocks (sometimes also called plates or saucers, due to their resemblance to flying saucers).
The architects who designed the building were Witold Lipiński, PhD and Waldemar Wawrzyniak, from the Wrocław University of Technology, who won the SARP competition for the design of the building. Witold Lipiński explained the shape of the building as follows: „In the 1950s there was a lot of talk about unidentified flying objects, and I was always fascinated by curved lines and spherical spaces – so I decided that the observatory on Śnieżka would be disc-shaped”. It was intended to replace the old observatory and the old hostel from 1862, due to the poor technical condition of the buildings and the increase in tourist traffic. The new building aroused controversy from the moment of its construction. In my opinion the form of discs makes it interesting and one of the most famous buildings in Polish Mountains.
Observatory on Śnieżka is one of two, next to Kasprowy Wierch, observatories of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management included in the world system of high mountain stations.
When I was little I used to visit this place with my parents, having lunch in the restaurant there. Unfortunately since 2015 it is not available for tourists anymore.
St. Lawrence’s Chapel
a Roman Catholic chapel located on the peak of Śnieżka
There is also a Roman Catholic chapel located on the peak of Śnieżka, which is St. Lawrence’s Chapel (Polish: Kaplica św. Wawrzyńca).
Some pictures taken at the end of our hike (by a mobile phone):
There are many marked tourist routes from the Polish side to the summit, mainly from the town of Karpacz. It is possible to take a chairlift from Karpacz to Kopa which significantly shortens the way to the summit. It is also possible to take a cable car in Pec pod Sněžkou taking tourists to the top of Śnieżka.
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