Mount Zhenets

Zhenets is a 1,414 m summit in the south-eastern Gorgany, in the Nadvirna district of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. It is the third highest peak of the Yavirnyk ridge and the most remote one on hiking routes, rising 600–700 m above the Prut valley. The nearest settlements are Polianytsia (Bukovel) (about 8 km) and Mykulychyn (about 10 km); hikes along Yavirnyk usually start in Yaremche.

The mountain is roof-shaped and built of sandstone. Near the top there are boulder fields and scree, lower down mountain meadows and dwarf pine, while the middle and lower slopes are covered with mixed and coniferous forest. From Zhenets you can see Syniak to the south and Dovbushanka to the north-west.

How to get there

Several of our routes along the Yavirnyk ridge cross Zhenets or pass within 50 m of it:

• Yaremche – Yavirnyk ridge – Mykulychyn, 24.2 km;
• Yaremche – Yavirnyk ridge – Divochi Slozy Waterfall – Yaremche, 27.3 km, a loop back to town;
• Yaremche – Mount Yavirnyk – Polianytsia (Bukovel), 36.1 km;
• Tatariv – Khomiak – Syniak – Yavirnyk – Divochi Slozy Waterfall – Yaremche, 29.7 km.

For a longer crossing try Dora – Syniachka – Pereslip pass – Turshuhuvata meadow – Yavirnyk ridge – Yaremche (50.1 km).

Water, shelter and safety

On our map the nearest spring is about 500 m from the summit, with several more 0.9–1.1 km away towards Polianytsia; a hut above Polianytsia stands about 650 m away and a weather shelter about 1 km away. Zhenets is far from villages and rarely visited, so be self-reliant: carry enough water, warm layers and a charged phone, and start early to be down before dark. In fog it is easy to lose the path on the boulder fields. In an emergency call 112 or 101 — mountain rescue works around the clock.

Interesting facts

• Zhenets is rarely visited: it lies farthest along the ridge routes and is hard to reach.
• Its slopes are cut by streams of the Prut basin: the southern one by tributaries of the Zhenets, the northern one by the Bahrovets, Zhonka and Yavirnytskyi streams.