Babia Góra (in Polish), or Babia hora (in Slovak) is a

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

situated on the border between Poland and Slovakia in the Western Beskid Mountains. The name is also applied to the culmination of the massif, Diablak ("Devil's Peak"), which is also the highest peak of this part of the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

, at above sea level.

History

The first historical mentions of the massif date back to the 15th century, when it first mentioned in the writings of

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...

. It was only in the 19th century that the area was explored and chronicled in greater depth, with the first known mountain hut constructed in 1905.

Nature

Gentle from the south, steep from the north, Babia Góra is home to

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

and other species; as well as

alpine flora Alpine flora may refer to: * Alpine tundra, a community of plants that live at high altitude * Alpine plant Alpine plants are plants that grow in an alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. There are many different pl ...

endemic at this altitude. The first attempts to protect the area were made in the 1930s. In 1933 the Nature Reserve of Babia Góra was established on the Polish side. Later, in 1954, Babia Góra National Park (''Babiogórski Park Narodowy'') was established with an area of 17.04 km². In 1976 it became one of the first

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

s in the world. For a long time Babia Góra National Park was the smallest of the Polish national parks. In 1997 it was enlarged to 33.92 km² and a buffer zone was created of 84.37 km². Within the park, 10.62 km² is under strict protection. There are calls for strengthening of cross-border cooperation with

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

to better protect the fragile environment of the mountain.

Climate

Babia Góra is sometimes

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

d Matka Niepogód (Mother of Bad

Weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

). It is very susceptible to weather changes primarily due to the frequent winds that regularly hit the area. The mountain also experiences a strong inversion.

Snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

can cover the massif for over 200 days every year. In May 2016, a climber was killed by

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

while attempting to descend the mountain when a

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

approached.

Hiking and skiing

Although generally relatively easy to hike, Babia Góra can be reached by a more difficult yellow route called Perć Akademików (Academics' Path). Today, despite (or perhaps because of) steep climbs, chains and metal steps fixed to the rocks along sections of the trail, it is very popular with hikers. The whole Babia Góra National Park is a strict nature reserve: skitouring, for example, was only permitted from 2022 onwards and only if certain weather and snow conditions were met.

Gallery

File:Witches Mountain from Mogilany.jpg, Witches Mountain from Mogilany File:20200606 Widok z Trzech Koron w kierunku Babiej Góry 1236 0211 DxO.jpg, View of Babia Góra from

Trzy Korony Trzy Korony (, ) is the Summit (topography), summit of the Three Crowns Massif, an independent portion of a mountain range, range called Pieniny Mountains in the south of Poland. Trzy Korony forms the central part of a compact group of connected m ...

File:Babia2.jpg, Babia Góra File:Babia Gora.jpg, Babia Góra massif File:8maja2006 babiagora 018.jpg,

Lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

-covered stone slabs on the top File:The Babia Gora Biosphere Reserve, Poland (3).jpg, The Babia Gora Biosphere Reserve File:Diablak z przełęczy Brona.JPG, Diablak seen from Brona Pass File:Schronisko na Markowych Szczawinach BG2.jpg, Mountain hut File:Szlak Babia Góra-Markowe Szczawiny 01.jpg, Markowe Szczawiny File:BgPN schody.jpg, Mountain trail leading to the peak of Babia Góra File:Beskid Zywiecki Pilsko 14.jpg, Panorama of Beskid Żywiecki featuring Babia Góra File:20180616 Kwiaty rojnika górskiego na szczycie Babiej Góry 1021 3839 DxO.jpg, Mountain houseleek on Babia Góra File:Sasanka Alpejska - Pulsatilla alba before Sunset , Babia Góra.jpg, Alpine pasqueflower

References