Tomanowy Wierch Polski

Tomanowy Wierch Polski (Slovak: Poľská Tomanová, "Polish Tomanová") is a 1,977 m summit in the Western Tatras, on the main Tatra ridge along the Polish–Slovak border. The summit is closed to visitors: it and its whole surroundings form a strict nature reserve, and no marked trails lead here. The north-western slopes belong to the commune of Kościelisko in Tatra County, the eastern and southern ones to the town of Vysoké Tatry in the Prešov Region; the nearest settlements are Kościelisko and Zakopane to the north and Podbanské and Pribylina on the Slovak side. Liptovský Hrádok lies about 22 km to the south-west.

The summit sits at a bend of the main ridge. To the north, the lower Suchy Wierch Tomanowy and the Tomanowa Pass (about 1,686 m) separate it from Ciemniak in the Czerwone Wierchy — here the Czerwone Wierchy end and the Liptov Tatras begin. To the west, the Smreczyńska Pass (1,796 m) separates it from Smreczyński Wierch; between them is the minor top of Tomanowa Kopa, from which the Zadni Smreczyński Grzbiet branches off. Tomanowy Wierch is a junction peak: a spur runs east to Liptovská Tomanová (1,839 m) and the Hlinský hrebeň runs south. The summit rises above four small valleys — glacial cirques that form the upper levels of two major valleys, the Kościeliska and the Tichá. Water from the Polish side flows to the Czarny Dunajec and the Vistula, from the Slovak side via the Tichý potok to the Váh.

How to get there / trails

There are no marked trails to the summit, and entry is prohibited under the rules of both national parks. The nearest marked routes pass nearby: on the Polish side the green trail from the Hala Ornak hut up the Tomanowa Valley and Czerwony Żleb to Ciemniak, on the Slovak side the yellow trail along the Tichá dolina. The summit is well seen from them, but leaving the marked paths is not allowed.

The view from the top

Slovak sources describe an all-round view from the grassy, rocky summit: many peaks of the Western and High Tatras, the surrounding valleys and, in good weather, the eastern Low Tatras with Kráľova hoľa and the Orava Beskids. Nearby stand Ciemniak, Krzesanica, Smreczyński Wierch, Kamienista and Liptovská Tomanová.

Nature and history

The mountain is built of alaskite and metamorphic rocks, and its slopes are stony. Large avalanche gullies fall from the summit on several sides — the Široký, Suchý and Javorový gullies in Slovakia and the Suchy Tomanowski Żleb in Poland. The Slovak slopes lie in the Tichá dolina National Nature Reserve within the Tatra National Park (TANAP), the Polish slopes in the Tatra National Park (TPN).

The name has been known for a very long time: royal grants of 1615 already mention a "Tomanowa Góra", and the mountain was also called Tomanowa Polska. The first recorded ascent was made by the geologist Ludwik Zejszner in 1838, and the first winter ascent by skiers of the ZON society in 1910.

Safety, season and rules

The summit lies in a strictly protected zone and cannot be visited in any season — enjoy it from the marked trails to Ciemniak or along the Tichá dolina. On the Slovak side TANAP's high-mountain trails are closed every year from 1 November until late spring; on the Polish side the surrounding slopes carry a high avalanche risk in winter and spring.

Rescue on the Polish side is TOPR: 985 or +48 601 100 300; on the Slovak side HZS: 18 300 (+421 18 300); 112 works everywhere.

Photos: Rafał Kozubek, CC BY-SA 4.0; Opioła Jerzy, CC BY 2.5; Opioła Jerzy, CC BY 2.5; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Opioła Jerzy, CC BY 2.5 — Wikimedia Commons.