Winter has arrived in the High Tatras mountain range early, and with fortitude.

This had caught me somewhat by surprise and, I have to admit, I had not been really prepared since the better part of my winter equipment was orderly stashed at home in Germany.

What I was carrying with me was still good enough for scaling places such as Priečne sedlo, a mountain saddle I was familiar with, but when trying to hike to Jahňací štít (2230 meters AMSL, the easternmost peak in the High Tatras) after crossing Červená dolinka (literally “Red Valley”), I soon discovered there was no chance getting to higher altitudes without crampons, an ice-axe and warm clothing, even ploughing my way through the piles of snow on not really steep terrain had been a remarkable effort.

All that being said was even more true for a conspicious peak named Jastrabia veža (2137 meters AMSL) lying close-by, that can be reached on an otherwise comparatively benign trail at the north face (the other faces of this mountain are reserved for genuine climbers in good weather conditions, obiously).

Because of the slight disappointment not reaching either peak, I decided to come back to the High Tatras mountain range one week before winter closure to try it again, and if unsuccessful, see at least how far I’m able to push.

Jastrabia veža, October 21

Three weeks had passed and some of the snow had already melted away since, though full winter equipment was still necessary for altitudes beyond 2000 meters.

For Jastrabia veža however, orientation was more tricky than the technical climbing part for the peak is not part of the actual touristic peaks in the High Tatras, and aside from the occasional cairn there was not much to help you finding the way.

As a matter of fact, orientation was the crucial detail that day, time finally run out as sunset was approaching when I found myself on about 2050 meters, still 80 meters short of the peak.

Proceeding was risky and I had some steep snowy sections still in front of me, so I was giving in to my gut feeling and turned back, begrudgingly. This was also a concession to my still limited experience with snow and ice.

Yet on a positive note I was able to gain experience for a possible third try, a day in the mountains will never be wasted.

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Jahňací štít, October 22

Červená dolinka is a comparatively small, cold, unwelcoming valley that the sun seldomly reaches.

It takes barely an hour to cross it, and to get to the first more technical parts at Kolové sedlo and Kolový priechod (2118 meters), which have to be mastered in order to get to Jahňací štít.

The problems for me on this day and from this point were the transitions between walking on pure rock, icy rock, and snow what made pushing forward a time-consuming endeavour.

For there were not many footsteps guiding you, especially near the peak when it got steep, and the yellow signs were covered by the snow, orientation was a problem I had to deal with too, yet to a lesser extent and having been on this mountain before certainly helped in this regard.

The clouds cleared as I finally reached the top after unwittingly making a detour on a snowy, almost vertical wall (very soft snow so it was not very difficult), what was a nice reward after toiling for three hours starting at Chata pri Zelenom plese (1551 meters).

Anyway, it was a great conclusion of a rather short hiking season this year, and I cannot wait to get into the mountains again in spring.

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Featured image: Červená dolinka