Jastrabia veža is a conspicious peak in the very east of the High Tatras mountain range in Slovakia.

It is a quite popular destination in rock climbing circles, yet for the peak being only 2137 meters above sea level (thus some five hundred meters shorter than the highest mountains in the Carpathians) the casual visitor will never have heard of it, let alone will have the itch to scale it.

Visitors may recognize its shape when they see it however, since at its foot lies the splendid Zelené pleso (“Green mountain lake”) with lots of touristic trails around.

Not all faces of the “Hawk tower”, the literal translation, are equally difficult to scale, obviously. As a matter of fact, it’s comparatively easy to scale the mountain from the north side by doing a little climbing (what I’ve climbed I would estimate max. UIAA II – see linked video below – but I am fairly sure there exist even easier routes), and on non-touristic small foot paths.

“Non-touristic” entails, these foot paths will have no markings as opposed to the touristic paths leading to the close-by located Jahňací štít (a yellow marking), a mountain that is also comparatively rarely visited, though it being the easternmost peak in the High Tatras and, I tell you, the views from the top are fantastic.

Last year on a snowy day in late October I made a first rather half-hearted attempt to get to Jastrabia veža, yet ground conditions and insufficient preparation forced me to turn back and retrace my steps eighty meters short of the peak.

Jastrabia veža, June 1

Apparently you set off at Chata pri zelenom plese on 1550 meters above sea level. Spending one or two nights in this mountain chalet may be a good idea, things will be more relaxed especially in case you have to sit out bad weather.

Speaking of bad weather, I had picked a fairly rainy day unfortunately, the very first day after the winter closure of the Slovak High Tatras, but in retrospect it was only a slight inconvenience.

The junction in Červená dolinka (literally “Red Valley”) where the yellow marked path and the path to Jastrabia veža splits is located on 1900 meters, and when ground conditions are okayish it should not take more than one hour to get there.

On a grassy knoll, an about seven feet tall (?) metal tripod hovers awkwardly in this otherwise bare lunar landscape (it is ugly so I made no photo), the exact purpose of this thing I can’t tell but it is a good landmark for here’s the actual starting point.

With no snow on the ground, finding the path leading further up is not really a challenge, yet using electronic devices for tracking is certainly advisable when you don’t entirely trust your own orientation skills.

The interesting part begins at 2050 meters, where you make a ninety degrees turn to the left and the character of the tour changes from mere hiking to some climbing and bouldering, which can be described as not difficult in dry conditions as already mentioned (with rain, snow and poor visibility it is a different story).

I suppose you are moving around in very exposed spots here. I did not feel much of this exposedness because there were no views anyway, and even if there were, it wouldn’t have mattered much because I switched my brain to “I am not afraid of heights” mode, something I was able to acquire after years in the mountains and in the climbing gym.

But all of this was basically only a short exercise lasting thirty or fourty meters difference in altitudes. The only thing a little bit more tricky to traverse was one long flat rock in an fourty-odd degrees angle boasting not much of a grip (see photos), and there were patches of snow here and there, but after a final right turn and a walk across some grassy slopes the summit, or rather the summit ridge, was already in sight.

There is no summit cross on the ridge, just a tiny statue that I only did notice at a few paces distance. As it is obvious on the pictures, you could not see anything of the surrounding area so there wasn’t much point in tarrying on the peak for too long.

It also had stopped raining, luckily, so I exploited this weather window for a quick descent on the same route.

Summary

For experienced people in good weather conditions, getting to the highest point of Jastrabia veža is a doable goal when using the normal route.

Since this route is not part of the touristic pathways in the Slovak High Tatras mountain range, there is criteria for being permitted to climb here, being a genuine rock climber carrying adequate gear would be one of it. 

So beside the common sensical preparations when going to high altitude mountains (I assume you already know them by reading this blog post in the first place) I would recommend looking up the rules for tourists in detail on the TANAP website.

Frankly these rules can strike you as somewhat confusing, but by and large you’re in a legal grey area when leaving the touristic routes, see here for additional information (in Polish).

Photo and video gallery