Wielka Przehyba

Wielka Przehyba (also Wielka Prehyba, Wierch Przechyba, Złamany Wierch, Złomnisty Wierch) is a wooded 1,191 m summit in the Sądecki Beskids, on the main ridge of the Radziejowa Range between Prehyba (1,175 m) and Złomisty Wierch Północny (1,226 m). It is a junction peak: a side ridge runs north from it via the Zwornik pass and splits into a north-western branch with the Zgrzypy top and a long north-eastern branch that descends via Wietrzne Dziury to the Poprad valley at Rytro. The boundaries of three localities meet on the summit — Gaboń and Roztoka Ryterska in Nowy Sącz County and Szlachtowa in Nowy Targ County.

How to get there / trails

Three hiking trails and one ski trail pass near the summit, crossing at two junctions just below it — Zwornik and "Rozdroże pod Wielką Prehybą":

• the red Main Beskid Trail: Prehyba – junction below Wielka Prehyba – Złomiste Wierchy – Długa Przełęcz – Radziejowa;
• yellow: Stary Sącz – Tokarnia – Zgrzypy – Zwornik – Prehyba;
• blue: Szczawnica – Prehyba – Zwornik – Wietrzne Dziury – Wielka Roztoka valley – Rytro.

In winter a ski trail also runs here: Rytro – Wielka Roztoka valley – Hala Konieczna – Złomisty Wierch Południowy – Zwornik – junction below Wielka Prehyba – Prehyba.

A few hundred metres to the west stands neighbouring Prehyba with a PTTK hut and the 87 m tower of a radio and TV transmitter; an asphalt road leads there from Gaboń.

What you can see from the top

The summit itself is wooded, so there is no view from it. Views open from clearings and from neighbouring Prehyba, and from afar Wielka Prehyba is easy to spot next to the transmitter tower – for example from Jaworki or from below Durbaszka in the Little Pieniny.

Nature and history

Wielka Prehyba is one of the key nodes of the Radziejowa Range, which holds all the peaks of the Sądecki Beskids higher than 1200 m. The main ridge, which runs first south from the Dunajec and then east over Skałka and Prehyba, turns south right here – towards the twin summits of Złomisty Wierch, the Długa Pass and the highest peak, Radziejowa (1266 m). To the north the node sends out one of the range's largest side ridges, with Zgrzypy and Wietrzne Dziury. Clearings used to be far more common: in the late 19th century and between the wars every usable scrap of land was turned into pasture or fields, and the forests survived largely because much of them belonged to Count Adam Stadnicki. After the Lemkos were expelled in 1947 the mountain clearings were afforested or overgrew naturally, and after 1990 grazing almost stopped.

Interesting facts

• Wielka Prehyba is on the list of summits for the PTTK "Crown of the Sądecki Beskids" badge and the badge of the same name of the Polish Mountain Crowns Club.
• Its old names include Złamany Wierch and Złomnisty Wierch.

Safety, season and rules

The trails are easy and open all year, but the ridge is wooded and junctions are many — in fog follow the waymarks carefully; in winter deep snow lies here. Mountain rescue in the Beskids is provided by GOPR: 985 or +48 601 100 300, plus the general emergency number 112.

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