The Günther-Messner-Steig in South Tyrol

Günther Messner was a twenty-four year old mountaineer from Villnöß, South Tyrol (German: Südtirol), who perished in the Himalaya mountain range more than five decades ago.

He was a younger brother of Reinhold Messner, who himself had been involved in the events leading to his brother’s disappearance at the merciless Nanga Parba mountain in June 1970.

In the 2000s, human remains of Günther Messner were discovered at the mountain faces, … read more

Západné Tatry: Baníkov

The Západné Tatry (Western Tatras) mountain range in Slovakia has slipped my attention as a destination for hiking and mountaineering tours until quite recently.

Casual visitors not only tend to confuse the western part of the High Tatras with this mountain range, but the Western Tatras also get vastly overshadowed by the popularity of its eastern counterpart.

It took me some time until I figured out convenient access points which … read more

High Tatras: Javorová dolina and Sedlo sedielko

Javorová dolina is an elongated valley in the north-eastern part of the High Tatras mountain range in Slovakia.

It is, like many other areas in the Tatranský národný park (TANAP), accessible for the general visitor during the summer season (June 15 to October 31).

A challenging mountain tour that takes a whole day is crossing the valley, traverse Sedlo sedielko (2376 meters), descend to the Téryho chata (2015 meters), … read more

Blog