Allen in Karpaczian Garb, ready to climb Mt. Sniezka.
The Sudeten Mountain chain forms the border between Poland and the Czech Republic and the Karkonosze Mountains are the highest and best known part of the chain. At 1602 meters (about 5200 feet) Mt. Sniezka is the highest of these peaks. Roman & Morisha took Rita and I to Karpacz, about 100km southwest of Wroclaw in the foothills of the Karkonosze Mountains, where we took a ski lift to the top of Mt. Kopa (1375m or about 4470ft).
Rita & I atop Mt. Kopa with Mt. Sniezka in the background.
From there we hiked to a restaurant/hostel/mountain hut on the border of the Czech Republic, near the base of the summit cone of Mt. Sniezka. Morisha and Rita had fallen behind, Roman was not feeling up to snuff, and the ski lift would soon be closing for the day, so at Roman's suggestion, I continued on to the top of Mt. Sniezka alone. When I reached the top, some clouds had blown in and the visibility was almost zero. I took a picture of the summit building, then immediately started back down.
The summit building on Mt. Sniezka.
A sign on the top of Mt. Sniezka. According to an email I received from Joan and Bogdan, who recently returned from their own visit to Poland, this sign says:
Country Border Crossing Is Prohibited.
Roman and I jogged back to Mt. Kopa where we found Morisha & Rita waiting for us, and we made the ski lift with at least 3 minutes to spare!
Page last updated May 02, 2004