Walentkowy Wierch

Walentkowy Wierch (also Walentkowa; Slovak Valentková, German Valentinsberg) is a 2156 m summit on the main ridge of the Tatras, crossed by the Polish–Slovak border. It lies south of Świnica, separated from it by the Walentkowa Przełęcz pass (2100 m), and north-west of Gładki Wierch, from which the Gładka Przełęcz (about 1994 m) divides it. A narrow ridge with many towers and notches, the Walentkowa Grań, links it with Świnica.

The north-western slopes drop into the Walentkowa valley, the south-eastern slopes into the Dolinka pod Kołem with Zadni Staw Polski, the highest lake of the Valley of Five Polish Lakes. A short side ridge with Walentkowa Kopa (1875 m) runs west, dividing the Slovak Tichá valley from the Walentkowa valley. The nearest starting points are the Palenica Białczańska car park (about 8.5 km in a straight line), Zakopane (10 km), and Podbanské (11 km) and Tatranská Javorina (12 km) in Slovakia.

How to get there / trails

No marked trail leads to the summit. On the Polish side (Tatra National Park) walking is allowed on marked trails only, so the summit is closed to ordinary hikers. On the Slovak side it lies in the Tichá dolina national nature reserve within TANAP, where off-trail ascents are allowed only with a licensed mountain guide.

The nearest marked trails are:

• the blue trail from the hut in the Valley of Five Polish Lakes through the Dolinka pod Kołem to the Zawrat pass (about 1 h 40 min), passing below the summit's south-eastern slopes and Zadni Staw;
• on the Slovak side, the red trail from the Tichá valley to the Zavory pass (about 2 h 20 min from the yellow trail) and on in 15 min to Gładka Przełęcz (Hladké sedlo).

The view from the top

The rocky summit offers an all-round panorama, wider than from neighbouring Gładki Wierch. You see the surrounding peaks and valleys of the High and Western Tatras — Świnica, Koszysta, Kriváň, the Hrubý ridge, Kresanica, Kasprowy Wierch — and in good visibility also part of the Low Tatras and the Orava Beskids.

Nature and history

The grassy southern slopes were once grazed by shepherds from Liptov; sometimes Polish herders from the Five Lakes valley also brought sheep over Gładka Przełęcz. They called the pasture Walentkowa, after a Liptov herdsman named Valent (Valentko) who grazed oxen there. After 1858 the name appeared in literature and on maps, and cartographers transferred it from the pasture to the summit, as often happened in the Tatras. Later the Polish name became Walentkowy Wierch, while Slovaks still use Valentková. Austrian cartographers labelled the peak «Nad kamenim», but that name never caught on. In the 19th century the summit was an important survey point.

The first recorded tourist ascent in summer was made on 5 August 1902 by Teodor Eichenwald, Ferdynand Rabowski, Jan Bachleda Tajber and Wojciech Tylka Suleja; the first winter ascent on 1 January 1914 by S. Bujwid, Kazimierz Piotrowski and H. Trzebnicki.

Safety, season and rules

This is high-mountain terrain with sudden weather changes, fog and early snowfall. In Poland's Tatra National Park entry is paid, walking is allowed on trails only and dogs are not permitted on trails. Since 2021 the Zawrat – Świnica section of the red trail has been one-way (towards Świnica only). On the Slovak side, TANAP high-mountain trails are closed from 1 November to 31 May. Rescue: in Poland TOPR (985 or +48 601 100 300), in Slovakia HZS (18 300 or +421 18 300); emergency number 112.

Photos: Adrian Tync, CC BY-SA 4.0; Opioła Jerzy, CC BY 2.5; Rafał Kozubek, CC BY-SA 3.0; Krzysztof Dudzik-Górnicki, CC BY 3.0; Opioła Jerzy, CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons.