Niżnie Rysy

Niżnie Rysy (Slovak Malé Rysy, German Dénesspitze) is a 2,430 m summit of the High Tatras on the northern ridge of Rysy, which carries the Polish–Slovak border. The ridge separates the Polish Rybi Potok valley from the Slovak Bielovodská dolina. Niżnie Rysy lies between the middle (north-western) top of Rysy, separated by Przełęcz pod Rysami (2,365 m), and Żabi Szczyt Wyżni beyond Ciężka Przełączka. It is the third-highest mountain in Poland after Rysy and Mięguszowiecki Szczyt Wielki. The Polish and Slovak names come from neighbouring Rysy, while the German and Hungarian names honour the Spiš mountaineer Franz Dénes (1845–1934).

The massif has four granite towers: the southern (about 2,405 m), the main (2,430 m), Zadnia Turnia (about 2,410 m) and Skrajna Turnia (about 2,375 m). The sheer north-west face, about 650 m high, towers over Morskie Oko and Czarny Staw pod Rysami, and a side spur with the Tomkowe Igły needles — named after the Tatra guide Józef Gąsienica Tomków — runs west from the third tower.

How to get there / routes

There is no marked hiking trail to the summit. The easiest routes to the main top are graded very easy (0) or easy (0+) on the Tatra climbing scale: about 15 minutes from Przełęcz pod Rysami, or about 30 minutes from the marked trail via the Kocioł pod Rysami cirque. Both are reached by the red marked trail to Rysy from Morskie Oko via Czarny Staw pod Rysami. The southern top is much harder to reach. Many climbing routes, from grade II to VI, cross the north-west face.

The nearest starting points on the Polish side are Palenica Białczańska and Łysa Polana, from where the road leads to Morskie Oko; on the Slovak side, Štrbské Pleso.

What you can see from the summit

From the main top you look down on the Slovak side — the Bielovodská and Ťažká valleys — and on the Polish side to Morskie Oko and Czarny Staw pod Rysami. Niżnie Rysy itself is best seen from the shores of these lakes and from the summit of Rysy.

Nature and history

Plants rare in Poland, found in the country only in the Tatras and at few sites, grow on Niżnie Rysy: one-flowered chickweed, Carpathian cat's-foot, rock wormwood, recurved saxifrage, Hungarian fleabane and alpine bent. On the Polish side below Przełęcz pod Rysami there is the 7 m Tomkowa cave — a rarity in the granite part of the Tatras. Chamois and marmots visit the summit area.

The first summer ascent was made by Janusz Chmielowski, Adam Kroebl and Jakub Bachleda on 18 July 1905, the first winter ascent by Józef Lesiecki, Józef Oppenheim, Mariusz Zaruski and Stanisław Zdyb on 6 February 1914. Krzysztof Zdzitowiecki first reached the southern top in July 1964.

Safety, season and rules

The summit lies in Tatra National Park (TPN) on the Polish side and in TANAP on the Slovak side. Entry to TPN is paid; leaving the marked trails is allowed only for climbing under park rules, so only experienced climbers should go on their own, everyone else with a licensed guide. TANAP's high-mountain marked trails are closed from 1 November to 31 May. The red Rysy trail has chains, holds snow late into the season, and the slopes are avalanche-prone. On the Polish side rescue is provided by TOPR: 985 or +48 601 100 300; on the Slovak side by HZS: 18 300 (+421 18 300). The general emergency number is 112.

Interesting facts

• Niżnie Rysy should not be confused with the lower top of Rysy itself — they are different mountains with completely different German names: Meeraugspitze and Denesspitze.
• Bula pod Rysami (2,054 m) is often wrongly counted as part of the Niżnie Rysy massif; in fact it is connected to Rysy.

Photos: Rafal Sikora, CC BY-SA 3.0; Op, CC BY-SA 3.0; Krzysztof Dudzik-Górnicki (User:ToSter), CC BY-SA 3.0; Adam Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Andrzej Makarczuk,, CC BY-SA 2.5; MOs810, CC BY-SA 4.0; Op, CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons.