Żabi Koń

Żabi Koń (Slovak Žabí kôň, German Simonturm, Hungarian Simon-torony) is a 2291 m rock tower on the main ridge of the High Tatras, on the Polish–Slovak border. It is the lowest summit of the ridge separating the Polish Rybi Potok valley from the Slovak Žabia dolina Mengusovská, a branch of the Mengusovská valley. The tower stands between Rysy, separated by the Żabia Przełęcz pass (2224 m), and Żabia Turnia Mięguszowiecka on the Wołowy Grzbiet ridge, separated by Żabia Przełęcz Wyżnia (2249 m).

From the shores of Morskie Oko Żabi Koń looks like a squat granite fin, and seen along the ridge, from the east or west, like a sharp needle. Its south face is about 120 m high and the north face, above the Kocioł pod Rysami cirque, about 150 m. The east ridge splits into the steeper Upper Horse (about 45–50°) and the gentler Lower Horse, about 40 m long, which drops vertically to the north.

How to get there / trails

There is no marked hiking trail to Żabi Koń and no hikers' ascents; it is one of the few Tatra summits reserved for rock climbers. Eleven climbing routes lead to the top. The easiest is the east ridge from Żabia Przełęcz: grade II UIAA, about 30 min, although many climbers rate it higher because of the great exposure. The west ridge from Żabia Przełęcz Wyżnia is V, about 45 min; descending the west ridge is II–III with one or two abseils. The classic north face is V, about 2 h. The ridge is much easier to reach from the southern, Slovak side than from the northern, Polish side.

The most convenient bases are the PTTK huts at Morskie Oko and in the Roztoka valley. Żabi Koń itself is well seen from the red trail to Rysy, which passes nearby via Bula pod Rysami.

The view from the top

The sources do not describe the view from the summit. Two valleys lie below the tower: to the north the Rybi Potok valley with Czarny Staw pod Rysami and Morskie Oko, to the south the Žabia dolina Mengusovská with the Frog Tarns that gave the summit its name.

Nature and history

The tower was named in 1905 by Janusz Chmielowski and the guide Klimek Bachleda while descending from Rysy to Żabia Przełęcz with Jędrzej Marusarz Jarząbek. Bachleda called it a «horse», the climbers' term for very sharp, precipitous ridge sections, and Chmielowski added the adjective «Żabi» (Frog) after the nearby Frog Tarns. Bachleda declared that the man who would climb this tower had not yet been born. Yet the very next day, 12 September 1905, Katherine Bröske and Simon Häberlein reached the top via the south face; Häberlein's first name lives on in the German and Hungarian names. Slovak authors regard this ascent as the beginning of the era of sport climbing in the High Tatras.

The first winter ascent was made by Alfréd Grósz and Tibold Kregczy on 26 March 1913. The north face, then considered the hardest in the Tatras, was climbed on 16 June 1929 by Bronisław Czech, Wiesław Stanisławski and Lida Skotnicówna. In 1907 the Hungarian climber Jenő Wachter died below the summit, considered the first strictly mountaineering fatality in the Tatras.

Safety, season and rules

The summit lies on the boundary of the Tatra National Park (TPN) and Slovakia's TANAP. Climbing off the marked trails is allowed only to climbers under park rules or with a licensed mountain guide; on the Slovak side TANAP's high-mountain trails close every year for the winter and spring season. The ridge is extremely exposed, and the weather in the Rysy massif changes quickly. In the Polish Tatras help comes from TOPR: 985 or +48 601 100 300, general emergency number 112; in the Slovak Tatras from HZS: 18 300 (+421 18 300).

Photos: Adam Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Krzysztof Dudzik-Górnicki (User:ToSter), CC BY 3.0; Adam Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; The original uploader was Makarczuk at Polish Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0; Rezerwa58, CC BY 3.0; Krzysztof Dudzik-Górnicki (User:ToSter), CC BY-SA 3.0; Krkavec, Public domain — Wikimedia Commons.