Skialpinism and skialpinism trips

Slovakia offers ideal opportunities for skialpinism, i.e. a combination of alpine hiking and skiing. Government restrictions connected with the Covid-19 pandemic have made this winter sport one of the most touristy winter sports, not only in the High Tatras, but also in other mountainous places that offer excellent snow conditions. Undemanding hills with simple ridges became popular, but also really extreme descents in the High, Low, Belianske and Western Tatras. Thanks to the discovery of new routes, skialpinism lovers have many opportunities to develop their skialpinism skills. Mountain areas are usually easily accessible by car or a combination of public transport.

In this article we bring you a few tips for skialpinism tours suitable for beginners as well as for advanced. It is necessary to emphasize that there are several rules for skialpinism in Slovak mountain areas, which have to be abided by all skialpinism lovers. We therefore recommend that you get acquainted in advance with the rules of skialpinism in the mountain area.

We recommend beginners to always start with the first tours on ski slopes, where it is important to keep a maximum of 2 m distances from the right edge of the slope.

For more experienced skialpinists, the Tatras offer incredible trips to the valleys with a descent in new snow or ascents to the peaks with a beautiful view. As these tours mostly lead outside the reserved routes, it is possible to do them only accompanied by a mountain guide.

The Tatra National Park has defined 6 areas for skialpinism with a time limit for mountain skiing from 21 December to 15 April. We must not forget about safety in the field of snow conditions, i.e. in particular to respect the increased degree of avalanche danger.

Skialpinism tips for beginners:

1. From Starý Smokovec to Hrebienok to Zamkovského chata towards Skalnaté pleso and down the ski slope to Tatranská Lomnica.

2. From Štrbské Pleso along the tourist trail to Mlynická dolina to Chata pod Soliskom and down the ski slope from Chata pod Soliskom to Štrbské Pleso.

3. From Tatranská Lomnica along the ski slope to Skalnatá chata or Skalnaté pleso and back the same way.

Skialpinism tips for advanced:

1. From Téryho chata to Priečnée sedlo and from there to Zbojnícka chata through Strelecké polia to Veľká Studená dolina towards Hrebienok.

2. From Chata pri Zelenom plese through Veľká Zmrzlá dolina to Baranie sedlo to Téryho chata to Mala Studená dolina towards Hrebienok.

3. From Štrbské pleso to Mlynická dolina towards the waterfall Skok to Soliskové sedlo and back.

Skialpinism lovers in the Low Tatras are mainly looking for hills from Ďumbier through Chopok and Dereš to Poľana. If you are a beginner or even advanced, you can go to tour “Srdiečko – Chopok”, where you will also have a lot of snow, because the ascent route leads from the lower station of the cable car to Srdiečko along the snowy slope almost over the top of Derešov to Chopok. The advantage of this skialpinism ascent to Chopok is the prepared terrain of the piste, the minimal threat of avalanches and often the ski trail. At the end of the tour you can have a snack at Kamenná chata. The elevation of this ascent is 795 m with a distance of 3.8 km and a duration of approximately 2:30 h.