Ťažký štít

Ťažký štít (Polish Ciężki Szczyt, German Martin-Róth-Spitze, Hungarian Róth Márton-csúcs; until 2006 officially Český štít) is a rock peak about 2500 m high on the main ridge of the High Tatras in Slovakia. Together with the twin-topped Vysoká (2547 m) and Dračí štít it forms a group known as the "Crown of Vysoká". Ťažký štít lies between Rysy (2503 m) to the north and Vysoká to the south-east, above the Dračia dolinka valley and the resort of Štrbské Pleso, about 17 km north-west of Poprad. The sedlo Váha saddle (about 2337 m), reachable by a marked trail, separates it from Rysy, and the Štrbina pod Ťažkým štítom notch from Vysoká. The summit belongs to the Prešov Region, Poprad District; the nearest settlements are Štrbské Pleso (6 km south) and Vyšné Hágy.

Sources give different heights: Slovak measurements 2500 m, Polish Wikipedia 2510 m, older sources 2520 m.

How to get there / routes

No marked trail leads to the summit. It lies in Tatra National Park (TANAP) on the boundary of the Bielovodská dolina and Mengusovská dolina national nature reserves, so it may only be climbed under the park's rules for climbers or with a licensed mountain guide.

• Nearest marked trail – the red trail from Popradské pleso up the Mengusovská dolina past the Chata pod Rysmi hut to sedlo Váha and on to Rysy. From the saddle the summit of Ťažký štít is only about 280 m away in a straight line, but this is already rock terrain.
• The normal climbing route comes from the south, from the Dračia dolinka (grade II on the Tatra scale). The first visitors, Ernst Dubke and the guide Johann Franz senior, climbed from sedlo Váha up the north-west ridge (II–III) on 7 July 1904.
• Climbers are drawn above all to the 400 m north-east face above the Ťažká dolina, first climbed on 27 August 1932 by Wiesław Stanisławski and a partner. Most of the route is graded very difficult (V) and counts among the finest in the High Tatras. The 220 m west face drops into the busy hollow below sedlo Váha.

What you can see from the top

The rocky summit offers an all-round panorama: many peaks and valleys of the High Tatras, the northern part of the Belianske Tatras ridge and, further away, the Low Tatras, Poľana, the Greater Fatra ridge, the Orava Beskids and many mountains in southern Poland. Close by stand Rysy, Gánok and Rumanov štít, and to the south Vysoká, Končistá and Tupá.

Nature and history

The northern walls drop into the Ťažká dolina, drained by the Biela voda river to the Dunajec; to the south lies the Dračia dolinka, whose water reaches the Poprad river via the Ľadový and Batizovský streams. A long side ridge with Kôpky (about 2354 m) runs south-west from the summit, separating the valley of the Žabie plesá lakes from the Dračia dolinka.

The name comes from the Ťažká dolina valley. Highland shepherds from Jurgów, Čierna Hora, Repisko and Lendak, who grazed cattle here as early as the 17th century, called the hard-to-reach valley "čenška" – "heavy, difficult" – in their dialect. The Tatra explorer Juraj Buchholtz wrote it down as "do Ceszkého", and in 1830 the Prussian geographer Albrecht von Sydow translated it as Böhmisches Tal – "Bohemian Valley". This mistranslation gave rise to the names Český štít, Česká dolina and České pleso; only in 2006 did the Slovak naming commission officially rename the peak Ťažký štít. The German and Hungarian names were given in 1888 by František Dénes in honour of Professor Martin Róth, a prominent Tatra figure.

Safety, season and rules

This is high-mountain rock terrain with no path: brittle rock, snow in the gullies into summer, rapid weather changes and summer thunderstorms. TANAP's high-mountain trails, including the red trail to Chata pod Rysmi and sedlo Váha, are closed every year from 1 November to 31 May. Off the marked trails you may move only under the park's rules for climbers; without climbing experience go only with a licensed mountain guide. Check the current rules on the TANAP website before you go. Slovak Mountain Rescue Service (HZS): 18 300 (+421 18 300); general emergency number 112.

Interesting facts

• Mistranslated names are common in the Tatras, but Slovakia has officially corrected only the group of "Bohemian" names around the Ťažká dolina.
• The first winter ascent was made by the Hungarian climbers Károly Lajos Horn and Ernő Kátai on 23 March 1913.
• In the 19th century German and Hungarian authors simply called the peak the "northern satellite of Vysoká".

Photos: Adrian Tync, CC BY-SA 4.0; Krzysztof Dudzik-Górnicki (User:ToSter), CC BY-SA 3.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Opioła Jerzy, CC BY-SA 3.0; Adam Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons.