Sivý vrch

Sivý vrch (Polish Siwy Wierch) is a prominent rocky peak 1805 m high on the main ridge of the Western Tatras in Slovakia. It is the last major summit of the Tatras to the west: beyond it the ridge drops via Biela skala (1316 m) to the Hutianský pass. Sivý vrch stands above the village of Zuberec, about 18 km south of Tvrdošín. The ridge carries the border between the historical regions of Orava and Liptov and the Tvrdošín and Liptovský Mikuláš Districts. The nearest villages are Huty (5 km west) and Zuberec (6 km north), with Bobrovček, Jalovec and Žiar to the south.

To the west the Sivý priechod saddle (1610 m) separates it from Sivá kopa (1631 m); to the east the broad Pálenica saddle (1572 m) divides it from Zuberec peak and further from Brestová (1903 m). Sivý vrch is a junction: a mighty side ridge runs south via Ostrá (1764 m) to Babky (1566 m), and the indistinct Čelo ridge runs north. Its slopes fall into four valleys: the Suchá dolina to the south-west (the westernmost main valley of the Tatras), the Bobrovecká dolina to the east, and the Sivá and Suchá Zuberská valleys to the north.

How to get there / routes

• Red trail – the western end of the Tatra main route (Tatranská magistrála): from the road at Vyšný Hutianský priesmyk via Biela skala to the summit takes about 3 h, 2 h down. Between Sivá kopa and Sivý vrch there are two difficult sections secured with chains. The red trail continues east via the Pálenica saddle (30 min, 40 min back) to Brestová and the Baníkovské sedlo.
• Green trail – from the Bobrovecká vápenica (the junction below Tokáreň) via Babky and Predúvratie: 3 h 45 min up, 2 h 30 min down, over 1200 m of total ascent.
• Yellow trail – to the Pálenica saddle from the south from Jalovec (via the Jalovecká and Bobrovecká valleys) or from the north from Zuberec via Zadný Ivanov, then red to the summit.

What you can see from the top

From the partly rocky summit you see the neighbouring Western Tatras peaks – Brestová, Salatín, Spálená, Pachoľa – as well as the Skorušina and Choč Mountains, the Orava Beskids, Oravská Magura, the Lesser and Greater Fatra and the Low Tatras. Right below to the north lies the Zuberec basin with the villages of Zuberec and Habovka.

Nature and history

The massif is built of limestones and dolomites of the Choč nappe, which form a so-called rock town – a labyrinth of towers, bastions and crevices called Radové skaly. Karst covers about 30 km², and the wider massif has 62 known caves with a total passage length of 1028 m; the largest is the Studňa v Sivom vrchu shaft (250 m). The forest reaches 1400–1500 m; higher up grow stunted spruce, rowan and dwarf pine.

The limestone rocks have an exceptionally rich flora. This is the only place in the whole Tatras where the glossy pink (Dianthus nitidus) grows – very rare in Slovakia and extinct in Poland; another palaeo-endemic is the Tatra saxifrage. In June the slopes are covered with large carpets of mountain avens, and glacial relics such as the alpine and net-leaved willows occur. The Sivý vrch reserve (112.67 ha) was created in 1974 to protect the flora and invertebrates; the whole summit lies in Tatra National Park (TANAP), and the south-western part also in the Suchá dolina reserve.

A document from 1615 calls the mountain Biela skala (White Rock); in 1736 Matej Bel named it "Szczyt Sywy", or Mons Griseus – the Grey Mountain. The Polish geologist Ludwik Zejszner worked here in 1842, and the botanist Bolesław Kotula studied the flora. The first known winter ascent was Polish – Józef Grabowski and companions in 1914.

Safety, season and rules

The chained sections of the red trail are very slippery in winter and after rain, and the limestone ridge is steep – do not leave the path. In TANAP you may walk only on marked trails; the park's high-mountain trails, mostly above the tree line, are closed every year from 1 November to 31 May – check the current list of closed sections on the TANAP website before setting out. Do not pick plants in the reserves. Slovak Mountain Rescue Service (HZS): 18 300 (+421 18 300); general emergency number 112.

Interesting facts

• Sivý vrch is the westernmost Tatra peak above 1800 m.
• It is the only place in the Tatras where the glossy pink grows.
• The 18th-century Latin name "Mons Griseus" means the same – "Grey Mountain".

Photos: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Miroslav Blaho, CC BY-SA 3.0; Patrik Pacut, CC BY 3.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Teslaton, CC BY 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons.