Cubryna

Cubryna (Slovak Čubrina, German Fichtentalspitze) is a 2,376 m summit on the main ridge of the High Tatras, on the border between Poland and Slovakia. It rises between the Hińczowa Pass (2,320 m), which separates it from Mięguszowiecki Szczyt Wielki, and the notch below Zadni Mnich (2,131 m). According to Polish Wikipedia it is the sixth-highest peak in Poland. Towards Poland and the lake Morskie Oko, Cubryna drops in huge walls — the north-east face is up to 850 m high; on the Slovak side it closes the Temnosmrečinská dolina (the upper floor of the Kôprová valley) and forms part of the Mengusovské štíty ridge above the Mengusovská dolina.

Cubryna is a junction peak: here a side ridge about 10 km long leaves the main Tatra ridge to the south-west and ends at Kriváň. The European watershed runs across the summit, and three historical regions meet here — Podhale, Liptov and Spiš. Water from the northern slopes flows via the Rybi Potok to the Dunajec, from the western side via the Kôprovský potok to the Váh, and from the south-east via the Hincov potok to the Poprad.

How to get there / trails

No marked hiking trail leads to the summit. The easiest climbing route is not technically hard but is intricate, so it requires good knowledge of the terrain. Ledges known as galleries — the Great, Small, Rear and Lower Cubryna Galleries — cut across the walls above Morskie Oko and are used by climbers for approach and descent. The starting point on the Polish side is the PTTK hut at Morskie Oko, reached by an asphalt road from Palenica Białczańska (8.5 km, closed to private cars).

Two marked trails come close to the summit: the red trail from the junction in Dolina za Mnichem to the Wrota Chałubińskiego pass, and the green trail from Czarny Staw pod Rysami to the Mengusovské sedlo pass. From the Slovak side the summit can only be climbed with a mountain guide.

What you can see from the summit

The rocky summit gives an all-round view. According to Slovak Wikipedia you can see most of the peaks and valleys of the High Tatras — Kriváň, Vysoká, Rysy, Veľký Mengusovský štít — the northern part of the Belianske Tatras, the eastern Low Tatras with Kráľova hoľa, the Orava Beskids and many hills of southern Poland. Below the summit lie Morskie Oko to the north-east, Vyšné Temnosmrečinské pleso to the west and Veľké Hincovo pleso to the south-east.

Nature and history

The summit is heavily jagged, hence the old name from the Polish word "czupryna" (a mop of hair); the forms Czubryna and Czupryna were used for a time, but climbers preferred the folk name Cubryna. From the Cubryński Zwornik knot a ridge runs north with Cubryńska Strażnica (2,332 m), sometimes regarded as the highest peak lying entirely within Poland. Rare plants recorded here include alpine bent (Agrostis alpina), Saxifraga retusa, Artemisia eriantha, Carpathian cat's-foot (Antennaria carpatica) and Tatra scurvygrass (Cochlearia tatrae) — species that in Poland occur only in the Tatras and in few places. Below the Small Cubryna Gallery are three caves, Cubryńska Dziura I–III.

The first summer ascent was made on 6 September 1884 by Karol Potkański with the Tatra guides Kazimierz Bednarz and Jan Fedra, the first winter ascent by István Laufer and E. Maurer on 24 March 1913. In 1922 L. Grünn and M. Świerz first climbed the northern pillar, and one of the hardest Slovak routes is the right pillar of the south-west face above the Piargová kotlinka (VI A1).

Safety, season and rules

The summit lies in the national parks of both countries — Poland's Tatra National Park (TPN) and Slovakia's TANAP — and the ridge also marks the boundary of the Mengusovská dolina and Kôprová dolina nature reserves. TPN charges an entry fee; the Morskie Oko area, including Cubryna, is open to climbing, but every climb must be registered in the climbers' log book at the Morskie Oko hut or online on the park's website, and climbers must approach by the shortest safe route from a marked trail. In TANAP the high-mountain marked trails are closed from 1 November to 31 May, and leaving them without a guide is forbidden.

Climbers visit Cubryna more often in winter than in summer, but descending in avalanche conditions is a serious problem: the galleries are dangerous then. On the Polish side help comes from TOPR: 985 or +48 601 100 300; on the Slovak side from HZS: 18 300 (+421 18 300). The general emergency number is 112.

Photos: Krzysztof Dudzik-Górnicki (User:ToSter), CC BY-SA 3.0; Kristo, CC BY-SA 3.0; Adam Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Rafik k, CC BY-SA 4.0; Foto: Adam Opioła, opis zdjęcia: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; The original uploader was Makarczuk at Polish Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.5 — Wikimedia Commons.