Without exaggeration, almost entire Ukraine was worried about the tourist who disappeared on the eve of Christmas in the Carpathian Mountains. They managed to find him alive only on the fourth day. Rescuers noted that the man had a great strength of spirit, and was able to survive for four days in the winter mountains due to skills of survival in extreme conditions and good equipment. The poor man himself admitted that he was rescued by a lighter, hay, in which he hid in order to get warm and a hut of a forester found on the third day. Ihor Hryshchenko, a Kyivan, has severe frostbite on his limbs. And, it seems, from this adventure he learned a lesson for all of his life.
However, the other two tourists who got lost in the Carpathians on January 19 were less lucky. One man died, the other got severe frostbite.
Most of such cases, which, unfortunately, often end up tragically, happen mainly because people don’t follow elementary safety rules in the winter mountains. Those tourists who have secured themselves with overalls, hot tea, flashlights, compass, energy products, and a first aid kit receive incredible emotions from the winter Carpathians. Covered with a few-meter layer of fluffy white snow mountains enchant even the most demanding tourists.
The author of DUMKA took one of these weekend tours to show portal’s reader, how absolutely safe and incredibly spectacular can be excursions to the Carpathian Mountains.
Preparations: route planning
We are a group of five. Two of us went to the mountains for the first time in their life and immediately decided to conquer the winter peaks. The rest had already been in the mountains, including overnight tours. Maksym the guide had been almost in every place of summer Carpathians, he several times climbed the winter Hoverla and Petros. He offered us a very well-trodden, by his own feet, route. However, it is difficult to name climbing the top of a snow-covered mountain, a tour in the true sense of this word.
Already at the planning stage of the trip, experienced team members sent us a short list of things that we should take with us: special warm clothes (for example, ski suits), including thermo-shirt and thermo-pants; thermos; first-aid kit for a group, matches, mobile phones (with charged power bank), special footwear for walking in the snow, tracking sticks. Of course, I can continue the list, and it depends heavily on the complexity of the route and the weather conditions (ski mask for eye protection, universal balaclava, special snowmobiles, etc.).
In addition to equipment, at the planning stage of the trip, the group clarified the route. We also decided to go through the registration for the passage to the area of the nature reserve and inform the rescue service.
Our route included the ascent to Petros (the first day) and Hoverla (the second day). We based in the village of Lazeshchyna. And on our way back we went through the tourist camp “Kozmeshchyk”.
Cold and cool: impressions
Petros (2020 m.) is one of the most interesting Carpathian summits for ascension. The peak, like the route itself, is beautiful at any time of the year. The mountain appears particularly charming especially today – several-meter-high piles of snow, badly trodden paths, and thousands of trees at the foot of the mountain, which are generously covered with snow – what could be better for tourists from the capital?
Not far from Petros there is Hoverla. However, if the highest Ukrainian mountain is a too popular route for tourists, Petros is less known. In the winter you can even get a reward in form of staying with your group face to face with nature only (for example, for all time of our climbing we met no more than three groups of tourists. One of them were an hour ahead of us, others were an hour and a half behind). And from here there is a nice view on entire Chornohora: from Hoverla to Pip-Ivan.
Our route was 25 km long. Ascending to the top, given that there were inexperienced people in the group, took us almost 5 hours. The descent took us a little bit more than 3 hours. The weather in mountains, especially in the winter, changes very often. In our case, almost every two hours. The start of the route, the first kilometers of ascension, which are often called the hardest (unprepared body isn’t ready physically for excessive loads), there was no wind. It was -17 C on the thermometer. Almost a perfect weather. However, after the first few hours of ascension, it started to snow, and closer to the ridge started wind gusts appeared – 18-20 m/s. At the very peak, the weather was comforting – the fog vanished and it seemed to be a reward for our hard work – the sky was clear. Our group had a few minutes to take pictures to remember this moment.
The most experienced member of our group was walking in front of us all the way up. He made the route because certain parts of the trail were completely covered with snow. Behind him, in the literal sense of these words, the rest of the group followed his every step. An experienced tourist was bringing up the rear. As we were joking, the last one, had to push the weakest ones. Every hour and a half the group made a small pit stop for 10-15 minutes mostly for drinking tea and warming up, going to the toilet or just having some rest.
At the very peak of Petros, our team was not for a long time – no more than 10-15 minutes. First of all, it is incredibly cold and there are very strong gusts of wind. Secondly, in the mountains it gets dark very early, so we wanted to get as far away from the peak as possible because it’s quite dangerous to wander in the dark. In the end, it wasn’t that we wanted to climb to a particular peak; it was to get that buzz from the process.
Descent from the summit added a significant amount of optimism and strength to everyone. Not because, as they say in Ukrainian folk wisdom, it is easier to go down the mountain. In fact, we had to make a lot of effort not to fall and fly off the mountain. It’s just that each of us seemed to have a second breath. Or perhaps even the third one. You did it, you managed this – now it’s better to get home, that is, a warm, house rented for a night.
It started to get dark very quickly. Flashlights helped us to get back home. Full of impressions, we discussed our feat all evening. Extremely tired, most all of us abandoned the idea of waking up at 5:00 am and going up to Hoverla. The same day a transfer to Ivano-Frankivsk was waiting for us, and from there – a train to Kyiv.
…And winter Hoverla will wait for us a little longer. Probably till the next year.
Text and photo by Vadym Lubchak
