A lethal lightning risk
The 2019 incident killed five and injured more than a hundred.
An iron cross about fifteen metres high on the summit of Giewont in the Tatra mountains, the best-known landmark of Zakopane and visible from the whole town. It was raised in 1901 on the initiative of a local priest, its parts — about four hundred pieces weighing some four tonnes together — carried to the summit on men's shoulders and by horse over many journeys. The summit stands at one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five metres. The climb to it is a serious mountain route: five to seven hours there and back, its final section secured with iron chains on very steep rock. It is not a beginner's path despite its enormous popularity. The greatest danger is lightning: a metal cross on a rocky summit makes the place a strike point, and fatal incidents have recurred — the worst in 2019, when five people were killed and more than a hundred injured. Check the thunderstorm forecast and do not climb if storms are likely.
The 2019 incident killed five and injured more than a hundred.
The height of the summit it stands on.
Zakopane's best-known and most photographed landmark.
The summit of Giewont, the Tatra mountains
The highest range in the Carpathians, on the border between Poland and Slovakia. Relatively small in area — about seven hundred and fifty square kilometres — but high and sharp with genuinely alpine terrain: rock summits, glacial lakes and deep valleys. The highest peak on the Polish side is Rysy at two thousand four hundred and ninety-nine metres. The whole area is a national park on both sides, and the routes are marked in colours indicating their difficulty.
The Kościeliska and Chochołowska valleys — nearly level routes through beautiful valleys suiting families and children. Lake Morskie Oko, Poland's most famous lake, reached by a nine-kilometre walk on a surfaced road at a gentle gradient, easy but long and very crowded. And the cable car to Kasprowy Wierch gives an alpine view with no climbing. Giewont is far harder than any of these.
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