Walk on the ridge in the heart of the Carpathians

Itinerary

• From the Jasná ski resort, the P trail leads a few meters to the Kamenná chata (Stone) mountain hut.
• From the mountain hut, we take an out-and-back detour on the P▲ trail to the Chopok summit.
• From the mountain hut, we follow the P trail to Gyömbér (Ďumbier).
• We descend back to the Krúpovo sedlo saddle, from where we follow the P trail to the left to the Chata M. R. Štefánika mountain hut.
• From the mountain hut, we descend along the Z trail to the junction after the sign indicating the cave branch.
• We turn right onto the S trail, which we follow to the Kološna junction.
• From the Kološna junction, we continue straight along the K trail to the junction after Kosodrevina.
• We turn right onto the S trail, ascending alongside Chopok to the Jasná ski resort (alternatively, you can take the lift from Kosodrevina).

Detailed description of the route

Slovakia's most visited high mountain viewpoint

We start our ridge hike from the top of the Jasná ski resort, at the Rotunda reception building. On the left, Chopok rises, which at first glance is not really a peak but a rather large stone pile - and its name captures this feature, meaning hills or heaps. In front of it stands the modest-sized, modern Kamenná chata (Stone mountain hut). The building served as accommodation for the cable car builders in the 1950s and was only expanded with a dining room in the following decade; now, sleeping in the attic is also possible. Next to the hut, we can climb up (on the P▲ trail) to the 2024 m Chopok within a few minutes to admire the panorama that will define our next hours. To the east, the large mass of Gyömbér covers most of the Low Tatras, while to the north, you can see the reservoir (Liptovská Mara) stretching across the Liptov Basin, the Kócs Mountains, and the Lesser Fatra. The view is clearly dominated by the high mountain profile of the Liptov Mountains and the rocky mass of the High Tatras across the basin. To the west, behind Deres, the main ridge is jagged with peaks, and the Great Fatra appears in the background. Below, the Deményfalvi Valley (Demänovská dolina) twists with wild pine forests and limestone cliffs on one side, while the Sebesér Valley (Bystrá dolina) and its modest resort area are visible on the other.

There is a significant difference in the forest landscape on the two sides: shocking large clear-cuts scar the upper section of the Deményfalvi Valley. Although the artificially created single-species pine forests are affected by the warming and drying climate and can die out over large areas spontaneously, a total decimation of forest parts and valley systems surely does not reduce the effects of climate change or represent a future-proof intervention. Unfortunately, the Low Tatras, mainly its eastern side, more resemble an ecological disaster than a protected national park forest. At the end of our hike, we will have the opportunity to explore primeval forest conditions on the slopes of the Sebesér Valley.

Ridge route without challenges

The Jasná ski resort (its name meaning 'bright' and referring to sunshine) boasts Slovakia's largest interconnected ski area and is visited year-round due to lifts winding along both sides. Therefore, we start our hike in considerable crowds on the P trail, crossing the stone sea on Chopok’s slope. We tread a surprisingly orderly stone pavement: the rocky paths were built voluntarily but with superhuman effort by students from 1964 over four decades. The work, done in summer with pickaxes and crowbars, involved rotating pre-selected boulders into a leveled base, finally filling the gaps with gravel. The arduous construction aimed to prevent erosion caused by mass use and to avoid accidents. (Moving on a 'disordered' stone sea is by no means safe.)

We steeply zigzag down to a saddle; the mass of Gyömbér hides opposite. Then a comfortable level path follows, bypassing two small rises on the southern side, allowing views—especially in this direction—far to the edge of the Great Hungarian Plain. Nearby, the huge wooded mass of Polana, the slanted back of Klenóc-Vepor, and the Murány Karst Plateau all seem dwarfed by the size of the Low Tatras, while in the background, the members of the Northern Central Mountains barely emerge. From Börzsöny partially hidden, we can identify domestic landscapes through the Mátra to Bükk. Among Slovakia’s southern mountains, the Körmöci Mountains are recognizable, as are the Selmeci Mountains with Sitno and the long ridge of Madaras. The ridge path is so simple that it never distracts from the panoramic view even for a moment.

Rendezvous with the gentle giant

Comfort soon becomes a thing of the past, and we start climbing on a rocky but well-constructed path, with the huge, slant-backed block of Gyömbér reappearing. From the Krúpovo sedlo saddle, staying straight on the P trail, we assault the peak with an approximately half-hour round trip detour without stopping. Here, one of the Low Tatras' traits becomes apparent: the asymmetry of the terrain. The ridge falls away northwards with stern cliff walls, while the south side slopes down evenly. This is due to glaciation, as permanent frost glaciers once ruled the north-facing valley heads receiving less sunshine; one could reach a length of about 5 km. We have seen numerous U-shaped valleys left behind, and now the cliffs carved by ice are also visible.

The highest peak of the range, the 2045 m, relatively flat and covered with a stone sea Gyömbér (Ďumbier), is approached by a gently ascending path crowned by a cross, which marks the significance of the site. From the heart of Slovakia at this special point, in clear weather, we can admire the unparalleled panoramic view of the Northwest Carpathians. We can see the southern, Great Hungarian Plain edge of the Carpathians to the south, to the north the rugged rock crown of the Tatra region and the nearby Kócs Mountains and the not-so-distant forested ridges of the Beskids, as well as the alpine ridge of the Lesser Fatra. The rolling, seemingly endless ridge of the Low Tatras above the treeline is spectacular, with broad valleys shaped by glaciers on the northern side. Although forests on the slopes under Chopok were devastated in alarming-size patches, the pristine world of white cliffs and dense pine forests east of the Deményfalvi Valley still provides a vast home to the most sensitive species confined to the last mountain refuges. On the rocks of Gyömbér, we often encounter two characteristic inhabitants of the Tatras: marmots whistling from fissures in the stone seas and the chamois moving gracefully in impossible places. Hunting once exterminated this gentle species, but it was reestablished in the early 1970s by a dozen individuals introduced from the High Tatras. Their population has since grown but remains small and may have hybridized with Alpine chamois introduced to neighboring ranges (Slovak Paradise, Great Fatra).

To the north, the view is magnificent over one of the Carpathians' most beautiful and exciting corners, the mountains of Liptó: the truncated peaks of the Liptov Mountains and their continuation, the densely towering rocky mass of the High Tatras. Looking at the Tatra region as a whole, it is not small, but its members are closely connected, making the claim that the High Tatras are "the world’s smallest high mountain range" meaningless. Incidentally, from 1902, a massive mountain hut also stood at the top of Gyömbér (Ďumbier) (established by the Hungarian Carpathian Association), but it was destroyed during World War I. Bidding farewell to the view, we descend back to the Krúpovo sedlo saddle and continue left on the P trail.

Human refuge in the mountains

On a comfortable and scenic section, sometimes already seeing the roof of the mountain hut, we descend along the side of Gyömbér crossing large tongues of rock debris. Their formation is due to frost processes and temperature fluctuations around freezing during the ice age; their barren covers are smoothed almost to a flat surface along the path. The huge, sometimes slightly wobbling granite (more precisely granodiorite) blocks appear even gentler in the world to our right, with rolling forested mid-mountains in the distance. Our track is part of the "Slovak Blue Trail," a national hiking route themed on the Slovak National Uprising (SNP), running across the country from Dukla Pass to Bratislava (Devín).

We soon arrive behind the Chata M. R. Štefánika mountain hut. (The monument erected in winter 1944 commemorates those who fell in the nearby battles of World War II and the partisans who crossed the main ridge.) From the saddle, we can see the spectacularly massive middle and eastern section of Slovakia’s longest mountain range, the Low Tatras, ending with the giant recognizable from the radio tower of the King’s Hill (Kráľova hoľa). Looking back, we observe the colorful southern slope of the traversed ridge that marks the next section of our hike. We can savor the already familiar southern view from the terrace while resting; the restaurant is inside. The building, offering accommodation for 48 people (and possibly even more on the kitchen floor if needed), began construction in 1924 to replace the mountain hut destroyed during World War I on the peak of Gyömbér, but the difficult construction was only completed in 1928. It is named after Milan Rastislav Štefánik, a scientist mainly known for astronomy, a general in WWI, and an important figure in the creation of Czechoslovakia. It’s worth spending a night in the friendly, wood-lined mountain hut at 1740 m and admire the sunset painting the mountains.

Refuge for wildlife

From the hut, we begin descending along the Z trail into the Sebesér Valley (Bystrá dolina). Opposite rises the Velky Gápeľ block completely covered by dwarf pine—a rare sight since logging and alpine grazing have restricted the treeline in many places and eradicated much of the dwarf pine stands. We switch to a serpentine path, accompanied down by a fantastic panorama framed by the chain of two-thousand-meter peaks of the range. We have a comprehensive view over the vast forest surrounding the resort buildings, containing true primeval forest patches, much of which has not been significantly touched since the mid-19th century. At the end of the 2000s, the idea of partial logging emerged but triggered nationwide backlash and drew attention to the poor protection conditions of Slovakia’s primeval forests. Eventually, legal and judicial actions bought time for the Sebesér Valley forest, and after lengthy surveys and protracted disputes, a network of reserves (Pralesy Slovenska) protecting significant parts of the remaining primeval forests (never disturbed by humans) from any forestry activity was established across Slovakia. Previously, about one-third of the roughly 10,000 hectares of primeval forest was unprotected against logging.

In a hollow, a small wooden hut peeks out from the trees to the left: it hides the entrance to the Cave of Dead Bats (Jaskyňa mŕtvych netopierov). Not far below, on the S trail branching right, we get a taste of the primeval forest atmosphere; however, the path is relatively difficult compared to previous sections, as its low visitation makes it narrow, sometimes steep, and requiring climbing over fallen trunks. The wild sight, though, compensates richly for the difficulties. Initially dense, impenetrable spruce forest opens only around a water ditch, becoming looser and park-like near the treeline. The reserve area (extending up to Gyömbér) suffered a massive forest loss due to a 2004 windstorm but since then has regenerated in large patches. The forest, riddled with decayed and fallen trunks in a patchy structure, provides shelter to many more species than the uniform, human-created pine forests. Especially sensitive species like the black grouse, extinct from most of Slovakia, or large predators live here. The European larch, pushed out from other areas by reforestation, is also regaining ground here.

Back below the clouds

The narrow trail crosses small streams and slightly ascends into the shared zone of dwarf and solitary pines, then bends steeply right into a meadow. Passing the remains of a burnt shepherd's hut, we join the K trail (Kološna junction), heading left. Near the treeline, we face the banded 'colored' slope of Chopok; then our path takes a left turn. It’s worth looking back occasionally for the vivid Carpathian sight: the forest of the Sebesér Valley seems to cling to the side of Gyömbér, a bald giant reaching skyward. From below, we admire Chopok and the ski resort. Finally, after a long straight, we reach Kosodrevina, equipped with two hotels and a lift station. Established in the 1950s, the small settlement's name means dwarf pine, and with its lift, we can return to Chopok if tired. Otherwise, or if the lift is not running, follow the K trail briefly, turning right at a sign to the S markings. The hiking path breaks through the ski slope pasture and the dwarf pine forest, leading back to the alpine meadow and the center of the Jasná mountain peaks via a brutal, exhausting ascent.