Table of contents
Rysy, April 21 2025
Photo and video gallery
Aftermath
Further information
Footnotes and References
Rysy, April 21 2025
It is already six p.m. and we’re heading down since two hours, as we spot a solitary figure in the distance approaching from Czarny Staw pod Rysami.
He’s apparently ascending, not descending, and we cannot make much sense of it. Ascending to Rysy that late, in these conditions, and, as far as we are able to see from where we are standing, completely alone?
A few hours before, my group, who was just an ad-hoc teaming-up of five individuals who happened to have an identical goal on a quiet Easter Monday in late April, was toiling up the steep precipice to get to the highest mountain in Poland boasting 2499 meters above sea level1, the highest mountain in the High Tatras accessible for normal tourists.
We are quite late ourselves, actually beyond hope to reach the last bus that would bring us back to Zakopane, but curiously that does not strike us as very important at the moment. “We’re never gonna make it back in time”, was the laconic remark of Ewelyna, the only female climber in the group. We moved on regardless.
As a German I am the outsider in this group consisting entirely of Poles, and I am also much older than the other mountaineers who are, I assume, in their twenties or early thirties. Yet my new friends are very nice and forthcoming, and speak English so that I can participate in the occasional chit-chat.
We are not far from the peak now, maybe two-hundred meters, but the slope is almost ninety degrees and we are trying hard to keep our footing. Despite the notorious difficulty of this mountain, we see people whose entire winter gear appear to be a pair of microspikes on their boots. One guy is punching artistically into the snow to support himself for the lack of having an ice axe, others are resting and contemplating a little beside the snow trail leading up, and I hope they are going to be okay.
Although I got all my essentials together – helmet, crampons, and ice axe that is – I am already dreading the inevitable descent, but now, pushing forward fifty meters short of Rysy’s highest point, the enjoyable part starts at least. I seem to have passed everyone else, scaling the unclad rocks in quick procession, and I am spellbound by the views.
But the other members of my group are soon catching up and join me on the peak. We happily shake each others hand, and as we tarry on the peak for quite some time despite the late hour, we muse about our future projects in the mountains and in the outdoors, and about the great Polish mountaineering tradition, its spiritual heart lying right here in this very part of the High Tatras mountain range.
Now, after the tiring descent on the same way, as we steer for our stopover Czarny Staw pod Rysami that lies on 1583 meters, this guy is standing in front of us, seemingly serious about going to Rysy. He is talking in Polish with Oliwier and Ewelyna, telling us he is aware of the time of day and the difficulties ahead, yet insisting he knows what he’s doing and he can turn back whenever he chooses to, a valid point obviously.
Frankly speaking, I am too tired to pay much attention to this brief exchange, but I am noticing that he also has no ice axe or crampons on him, just a pair of brand new microspikes on his boots and despite having pulled the hood of his rain jacket deep into his face, I can see he is very young, twenty-one or twenty-two at most.
Perhaps it is his self-assured demeanour that my friends do not try to convince him to come with us going back down, so we wish him luck, and carry on while eating our last bits and pieces of food, devoid of any afterthought about this encounter.
Relieving for us, Schroniska PTTK Morskie Oko (1410 meters AMSL) is only one hour walking distance away now, and as we arrive it is already pitch black outside.
After a well-deserved piwo in the hut, that wasn’t easy to get hold of being that late, we make for the parking lot (I hate this two hours walk on that asphalt road I tell you), with the fair hope for a taxi or a late bus service.
Photo and video gallery
Aftermath
We all made it safe back home, but our solo mountaineer was not so lucky.
The next day, the local news put out the following story2:
“Turysta spędził noc na szczycie Rysów. Ewakuowali go ratownicy TOPR
We wtorek, 22 kwietnia, o świcie ratownicy TOPR przy pomocy śmigłowca ewakuowali turystę, który utknął na szczycie Rysów i spędził tam całą noc.”
“Hiker Spent the Night on the Summit of Rysy. Rescued by TOPR
At dawn on Tuesday, April 22, TOPR rescuers used a helicopter to evacuate a hiker who had become stranded on the summit of Rysy and spent the entire night there.”
Sadly, this wasn’t the sole incident during that week. A couple of days later, two people died on Rysy3:
“27 kwi 2025. Tragedia na Rysach. Nie żyją dwie osoby. Do dwóch tragicznych wypadków doszło na Rysach.
Turyści spadli z wysokości po stromym, twardym śniegu, niestety nie udało ich się uratować.”
“27 April 2025. Tragedy on Rysy. Two people have died. Two tragic accidents occurred on Rysy.
The tourists fell from a height down a steep, hard snow slope; unfortunately, they could not be saved.”
Rysy, though only being 2500 meters tall, is no mountain for beginners, this is important to remember.
Such stories are once more a reminder about the importance of experience, preparation, and honest self-assessment of your own mountaineering skills.
Further information
It goes without saying that you need gear such as crampons, ice axe, and a helmet for an enjoyable experience on the mountain.
Chata pod Rysmi, located on the Slovak side of the High Tatras mountain range, is not accessible during winter closure (lasting from November 1 to May 31), and so are all higher altitude areas on Slovak side.
Schroniska PTTK Morskie Oko can be used for a sleepover, what is the preferable choice compared to taking the bus from Zakopane and walk that asphalt road. Obviously, especially on weekends with stable weather, the hut can get very crowded with visitors.
Before setting off to the High Tatras during winter time, please also check the avalanche reports4 .
Footnotes and References
1 Rysy is actually three peaks, the highest of those three is lying in Slovakia
2 Turysta chciał zjechać z Rysów na…jabłuszku. Akcja ratowników TOPR
3 Tragedia na Rysach. Nie żyją dwie osoby – TATROMANIAK – Serwis Miłośników Tatr