Ľadový štít

Ľadový štít (Ice Peak; Polish Lodowy Szczyt, German Eistaler Spitze) is a 2,628 m summit on the main ridge of the High Tatras, the third-highest in the whole Tatras (and in the whole Carpathians) after Gerlachovský and Lomnický štít. It rises above Tatranská Lomnica, about 16 km north of Poprad, in the Prešov Region; below it to the south-east lies the basin of the Five Spiš Tarns with the Téry hut. The summit belongs to the Tatra National Park (TANAP), and the boundary between two strict nature reserves — Javorová dolina and Studené doliny — runs across it.

The massif is deeply dissected: ridges drop from Ľadový štít into the Javorová valley and separate the hanging valleys of Zadná Javorová, Suchá Javorová and Ľadová (Snow) dolinka. The Suchý hrebeň ridge runs west from the summit. The mightiest walls face north and north-west, where firn fields lie all year — the source of the name (the Ľadová dolinka, where snow and ice last through the summer). Water from the western slopes drains via the Javorinka into the Dunajec basin, from the eastern ones through the Malá Studená valley to the Poprad river.

The name

The oldest names are the Latin Mons Anserinus and German Gans (goose), used by Juraj Buchholtz on his 1717 panorama of the Tatras. They are explained by the creeping avens that grows abundantly on the summit and was mistaken for silverweed (goose-grass). The present name appears in 19th-century documents.

Can you climb it?

There is no marked trail to the summit. The nearest is the green-marked trail from Tatranská Javorina up the Javorová valley over the Sedielko saddle (2,372 m) to the Téry hut, which passes about 600 m from the top. The easiest route to Ľadový štít is only grade I on the UIAA scale, but for hikers the summit is accessible only with a licensed mountain guide; off-trail climbing in TANAP is reserved for organised climbers under the park's rules. The way from Sedielko over Malý Ľadový štít is hard to navigate, and the north ridge over the «Horse» (II) is very exposed. Well-known rock routes include the Grósz route (III) and the Brnčal pillar (IV) on the south-east face above the Five Spiš Tarns.

TANAP's high-mountain trails, including the one over Sedielko, are closed every year from 1 November to 31 May, so the real season for guided ascents is summer and early autumn.

The view

The rocky top offers an all-round panorama: almost every summit of the High Tatras, the Belianske Tatras ridge, the deep valleys around and, in good visibility, part of the Poprad basin and mountains of central and eastern Slovakia and southern Poland. The massif itself looks best from Podhale, and from the south together with Lomnický and Kežmarský štít.

Nature and history

The Ľadový štít massif is the richest site of rock-face vegetation in the Tatras: 85 species of herbaceous plants have been counted here, 30 of which reach their highest Tatra occurrence on it.

Stanisław Staszic tried and failed to reach the summit as early as 1805. The first documented ascent took place around 31 August 1843: the Englishman John Ball, Wilhelm Richter, a Hungarian painter and guides from Jurgów climbed it via the Suchý žľab couloir. Slovak sources also mention a probable ascent by three Berlin students in 1835. In 1867 the Zakopane parish priest Józef Stolarczyk stood on the top, and in 1873 the poet Adam Asnyk. The first winter ascent was made on 28 December 1891 by Theodor Wundt and the guide Jakub Horvay. Ľadový štít belongs to the Great Crown of the Tatras.

Safety

This is a summit for experienced people with a rope: loose rock, firn even in August, sudden thunderstorms. In an emergency call the Slovak Mountain Rescue Service (HZS): 18 300 (from a foreign phone +421 18 300) or 112.

Photos: Adam Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Rafał Kozubek, CC BY-SA 4.0; Tescobar, CC BY 3.0; Krzysztof Dudzik-Górnicki (User:ToSter), CC BY 3.0; Milan Bališin, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons.