Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Sněžka (1602m)


Sněžka is a majestic, everpresent mountain both in the Krkonošé National Park and in the Czech Republic. Its summit reaches 1602m (5260 ft), is the tallest peak in the Czech, and has both a Polish and Czech side as it sits on the border between the two countries. This is the cause of much mobile phone confusion. Constant messages will bombard your phone: "Welcome to Poland...welcome to the Czech...welcome to Poland."

Having seen the weather forecast, and confirming the predicted blue sky by taking a look outside, we decided today was no day for sitting inside. A small trip was in order. Having already had a strenuous mountain adventure on skis the previous day, we allowed ourselves the luxury of seeing the mountain in true touristic style: via a chair lift to Ruzova Hora (pink mountain, 1354m) and then the last 300m on foot.

Our journey started at the town Pec pod Sněžkou (750m). We walked through Obri Dul to the chairlift just outside town:




The chairlift has been in operation since 1950, it travels at a speed of 2.5m/sec and takes 11 minutes to arrive at Ruzova Hora!




Walking on foot from Ruzova Hora to Sněžka in the background:




The path up the side of Sněžka to the summit:




The summit (1602m):




The disk-shaped Observatory and Restaurant on the polish side of the summit was built in 1974. After the freezing -12 degrees outside, the sour soup (Polish Speciality), apple cake and hot chocolate was an absolute treat:



Walking back to Pec pod Sněžkou:



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