Chabenec

Chabenec (Polish Chabeniec) is a 1,955 m summit on the main ridge of the Low Tatras, in their western part, the Ďumbier Tatras. According to Polish sources it is the sixth highest mountain of the whole range. It stands about 7 km west of Chopok, above the village of Jasenie and some 18 km north-west of the town of Brezno; the nearest settlements are the hamlets of Magurka and Železnô to the west. The boundary between the Žilina and Banská Bystrica regions runs over the summit. Chabenec lies between Ďurková (1,750 m) to the west and Kotliská (1,937 m) to the east, and the whole massif belongs to the Low Tatras National Park (NAPANT).

How to get there / routes

The summit is an important junction of hiking trails. The main red ridge trail of the Low Tatras — the SNP Heroes’ Trail (Cesta hrdinov SNP), here part of the European long-distance path E8 — crosses it.

• Red from the east: Chopok – Derešé – Sedlo Poľany – Poľana – Krížske sedlo – Kotliská – Chabenec, about 2 h 25 min (about 2 h 55 min back).
• Red from the west: from Sedlo pod Skalkou via Veľká hoľa, Latiborská hoľa, Ďurková and Sedlo Ďurkovej, about 4 h 30 min.
• Blue: from Jasenie up the Jasenská valley past the Ďurková shelter and Malý Chabenec; the full climb from the village takes about 6.5 hours.
• Green: from Magurka via the junction above Sedlo Ďurkovej and Malý Chabenec.

Below Sedlo Ďurkovej stands the simple Ďurková mountain shelter, a handy resting point on a long ridge traverse.

What you can see from the summit

The bare ridge and summit give an unobstructed 360° panorama. In good conditions you can see many Low Tatra peaks as well as the Tatras, the Choč Mountains, the Orava Magura and the Beskids, the Lesser and Greater Fatra, the Štiavnica Mountains, Javorie, Poľana and the Vepor Mountains.

Nature and history

The massif is built of granite, which forms the core of the Low Tatras main ridge. Three major valleys end in glacial cirques on the steep, rocky slopes of Chabenec: Lomnistá to the south, Ľupčianska to the north-west and Krížska to the north-east. During the last glaciation the Lomnistá cirque held a small firn glacier, and the Krížska cirque contains a tiny lake. A long side ridge runs north from the summit and ends with Ľupčianska Magura (1,315 m) above the village of Partizánska Ľupča.

The summit and the southern, eastern and western slopes are covered by natural alpine grassland, while the steep northern crags host the chamois population acclimatised in the Low Tatras. The southern slopes belong to the Skalka national nature reserve.

In November 1944, after the Slovak National Uprising was crushed, insurgent units and hundreds of civilians retreated eastwards across the Chabenec massif. Many died in deep snow and blizzards, among them the Czechoslovak politician and journalist Jan Šverma. A memorial to him stands at the foot of the mountain, at the head of the Lomnistá valley.

Safety, season and rules

The ridge above the tree line is fully exposed: strong wind, summer lightning and sudden fog, and in winter deep snow, blizzards and avalanche danger on the cirque slopes. Stay on the marked trails of the national park and check current NAPANT notices and the avalanche bulletin before you set off. Slovak Mountain Rescue (HZS): 18 300 (+421 18 300); emergency number 112.

Interesting facts

• Chabenec is one of the highest Low Tatra summits and a superb viewpoint on the SNP Heroes’ Trail.
• The firn glacier in the Lomnistá valley was one of very few with such an exposure in the whole Low Tatras.

Photos: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 3.0; Daniel Baránek, CC BY-SA 3.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Daniel Baránek, CC BY-SA 3.0; Mineralysk, CC0 — Wikimedia Commons.