Skiing in the Tatra Mountains, Poland

Skiing on Kasprowy Wierch, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

One of my favourite places for downhill skiing in Poland is Kasprowy Wierch in the Polish Tatra Mountains. It has some advantages that other places lack.

First of all a beautiful view from the top... You can see many of the highest peaks of the Polish and Slovakian Tatras. Very often the summit rises above the clouds surface, so you find your self over the sea of fog. Amazing. If you are lucky you may see a Brocken spectre.

Brocken spectre, Kasprowy Wierch, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

Ski slopes on Kasprowy Wierch are prepared without snowmaking - in my opinion (I suppose not only mine) skiing on the natural snow gives much more fun, more pleasure. Snow guns are not used in the Tatra National Park due to the nature protection. The process of snowmaking needs much water, whereas the water resources are here a subject of preservation. That is the reason why the ski slopes are sometimes closed (while the others work) - they need regular snowfall. Some people may regard it as an inconvenience. For me it is just a coexistence with nature.

The ski slopes are quite long: Kocioł Gąsienicowy Valley - 1400 m, Kocioł Goryczkowy Valley - 2000 m. The difficulty level is high and very high. Those two ski runs start from the top of Kasprowy Wierch. You can reach it by a modern cable car. Than you can use two chairlifts skiing in Gąsienicowa and Goryczkowa Valleys. From the bottoms of the chairlifts two easy ski runs lead to the bottom of the mountain (a bus stop).

Chairlift, Kasprowy Wierch, photo by Andrzej Śliwińśki

The weather station on Kasprowy Wierch, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

Ski map - Kasprowy Wierch, from: www.pkl.pl

USEFUL LINKS:
Kasprowy Wierch cableway and chairlifts, tickets, information
Kasprowy Wierch webcam