Czupel

Czupel is the highest summit of the Little Beskids at 930 m; the latest geodetic and LiDAR measurements give 931 m, and some publications quote 933 m. The mountain belongs to the Crown of Polish Mountains. It lies in the western part of the Little Beskids, west of the Soła valley, in the so-called Magurka Wilkowicka group. The ridge of Czupel carries the boundary between the villages of Międzybrodzie Bialskie and Łodygowice in Żywiec County, Silesian Voivodeship; the nearest hamlets are 1.3–2 km away, with Bielsko-Biała to the north-west.

Czupel is a junction of several ridges. The Wysokie Siodło saddle, where the blue trail crosses the red one, separates it from neighbouring Rogacz (900 m). The mountain's prominence is about 520 m.

The main ridge of the Magurka Wilkowicka group is shaped like the letter C, with its ends facing the Soła. In the middle lies the Przegibek Pass, from which the Ponikiewka and Straconka streams flow in opposite directions; the pass divides the group into the Chrobacza Łąka group to the north and the Magurka and Czupel group to the south. To the north the hills drop steeply to the Silesian Foothills, to the south to the Żywiec Basin, while to the west the Biała valley and the Wilkowice Gate separate them from the Silesian Beskids.

How to get there / trails

• Blue trail from the Przegibek Pass via Magurka Wilkowicka — about 1 h 45 min (1 h 20 min down).
• Blue trail from Czernichów via Suchy Wierch, Rogacz and Wysokie Siodło — about 1 h 55 min (about 1 h down).
• Red trail Łodygowice — Przysłop — Wysokie Siodło — Międzybrodzie Bialskie (about 2 h 35 min) crosses the ridge at Wysokie Siodło, from where it is a short walk to the summit on the blue trail.

The "Widok na Tatry" hut

Before 1914 Karol Sikora of Łodygowice built a wooden hut with a veranda between Magurka Wilkowicka and Czupel, at about 900 m, with a view of the Tatras and the Babia Góra range. To attract both Poles and Germans, the owner put the sign "Schronisko – Schutzhaus – Widok na Tatry" on the building; the German part was removed after 1918. In 1926 a tourist station of the Babia Góra branch of the Polish Tatra Society opened here, and between the wars Polish hikers liked to call in, bypassing the German Beskidenverein hut on Magurka. The hut survived the war but burned down in 1967 and was never rebuilt; the remains of its foundations can be seen by the blue trail from Magurka to Czupel.

The view from the top

The whole Czupel massif is forested, but in recent years windthrow and logging have cleared the summit, which now offers fairly wide views: the ridge towards Magurka Wilkowicka, the Silesian Foothills with Lake Goczałkowice, Gaiki, Groniczki, Chrobacza Łąka, the Międzybrodzie and Czaniec reservoirs, Bukowski Groń, Złota Górka, Żar, Kiczera and, in the distance, the Bliźniaki range. From the clearings on the eastern ridge you can see Babia Góra, Pilsko and, in good weather, even the Tatras and the Slovak Malá Fatra.

Nature and history

The lower montane forest is dominated by beech mixed with spruce. The fairly rare purple foxglove grows here, as does a rare beetle, Carabus intricatus. Along the trail on the ridge run long banks of stones once cleared from the mountain pastures; local people call them "krody". Remains of Second World War trenches also survive.

Safety, season and rules

Czupel is a wooded mountain without crags, accessible all year. After windthrow there may be fallen trees across the paths, and in winter the slopes are snowy and slippery. The mountain lies outside national parks.

Mountain rescue in the Beskids is provided by GOPR: 985 or +48 601 100 300, and 112.

Photos: Gower, Public domain; Michał Płachta (micio), CC BY-SA 2.5; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons.