Gerlachovský štít (, translated into English as ''Gerlachov Peak'', German: ''Gerlsdorfer Spitze'', Hungarian: ''Gerlachfalvi-csúcs''), informally referred to as Gerlach, is the highest peak in the

High Tatras The High Tatras or High Tatra Mountains (; ; ,'' Vysoki Tatry''; ; ), are a mountain range along the border of northern Slovakia in the Prešov Region, and southern Poland in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. They are a range of the Tatra Mountains ...

, in

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 ...

, and in 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 ...

. Its elevation is usually listed at 2654.4 m

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. The mountain features a vertical rise of approximately above the valley floor. Mistaken for an average mountain in the rugged High Tatras range in the more distant past, it has since played a symbolic role in the eyes of the rulers and populations of several Central European nations, to the point that between the 19th and mid-20th century, it had four different names with six name reversals. Due to geopolitical changes, it was successively the highest mountain of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, and of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and then Czechoslovakia again within the span of less than three decades of the 20th century. Gerlachovský štít shares its geology and ecology with the rest of the

. With the travel restrictions imposed by the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

, the mountain was particularly treasured by Czechs, East Germans, Hungarians, Poles, and Slovaks as a high mountain available for them to climb. Although local authorities have since restricted access to the peak, it continues to attract its share of visitors.

Names

Present

Gerlachovský štít means the "Peak (of the village) of Gerlachov". The Slovak colloquial (unofficial) name is ''Gerlach''. The Polish official names are ''Gerlach'' or ''Gierlach'', while its Polish colloquial names are ''Girlach'' and ''Garłuch.''Ivan Bohuš, ''Od A po Z o názvoch Vysokých Tatier'', 1996. The origin of the name of the village of Gerlachov itself is uncertain. It could be named after a lord of the area, or after the gravel in a nearby river.

Past

The peak's earliest recorded name was the Szepes- German ''Kösselberg'' (Cauldron Mountain) on a map from 1762. The Slovak name of the mountain was first recorded as ''Kotol'', also meaning "Cauldron", in 1821. Its current name became widely used in the 19th century, and links the mountain to the village of Gerlachov ( Carpathian German: Gerlsdorf)) at its foot. The name ''Gerlsdorfer Spitze'' (Gerlachov Peak) was used by the first person to identify the mountain as the highest peak in the Tatras in 1838; this was rendered as ''gerlachovský chochol'' (Gerlach crest) in a Slovak version of his report in 1851. Once it was determined that the mountain was the highest point in the region, the succession of the authorities that held control over it took an interest in its name and changed it periodically for symbolic reasons. In 1896, as part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, it was named after state Emperor Francis Joseph I. After the dissolution of the monarchy in 1918, the mountain continued to be known simply as ''Gerlachovský štít'' because it belonged to the village of Gerlachov. The Polish government, claiming the territory of the

for Poland, simultaneously called the mountain ''Szczyt Polski'' (Polish Peak), but never gained control over it. The new Czechoslovak government changed the name to ''Štít legionárov'' (Legionnaires Peak) in honor of the Czechoslovak Legions in 1923, but the name was dropped in favor of the earlier ''Gerlachovský štít'' in 1932. As a result of the Communist coup d'état in 1948, the mountain was renamed once more − to ''Stalinov štít'' (

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Peak) in 1949. Its traditional name ''Gerlachovský štít'' was restored yet again in 1959.

History

Gerlachovský štít was not always considered the highest mountain in the Tatras. After the first official measurement of peaks in the Tatras during the period of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

in the 18th century, Kriváň (2,494 m) was considered the highest. Other candidate peaks for the status of the highest mountain at that time were Lomnický štít (2,633 m) and

Ľadový štít Ľadový štít (translated into English as ''Ice Peak''; , literally, Ice Valley Peak) is the third highest of the Tatra Mountains, in Slovakia, and in the whole long Carpathian Mountains, Carpathian mountain chain, as well as in northern and e ...

(2,627 m). The first person to accurately name Gerlachovský štít as the highest peak was the forester Ľudovít (Ludwig) Greiner in 1838. Greiner's measurement was formally confirmed by an Austrian Army survey party in 1868. However, it was generally accepted only after the Vienna Military Institute for Geography issued a new, authoritative collection of maps of Central Europe in . The first confirmed ascent was made by Ján (Johann) Still from the village of Nová Lesná in 1834.

Access

Only members of a national Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA) club are allowed to climb the peak on their own. Other visitors have to take a certified mountain guide. The two easiest routes, usually up the ''Velická próba'' and down the ''Batizovská próba'' named after their respective valleys, have been protected by chains since 1880. Because of an exposed section along the ''Velická próba'' and tricky orientation especially on the ridge, both are among the more difficult

scrambling Scrambling is a mountaineering term for ascending steep terrain using one's hands to assist in holds and balance.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. It can be described as being between hiking and climbing, rock climbing. "A scramble" is a relat ...

routes in the High Tatras. With no snow, guidebooks grade the routes as a II or III climb ( UIAA scale) or lower. The total elevation gain is about for those who spend the night at the Sliezsky Dom Hotel or are driven there by a mountain guide, and about for those who hike from Tatranská Polianka. In winter, Gerlachovský štít offers a challenging alpine climb, with mixed climbing and a risk of avalanches. Two multi-pitch routes for technical climbing are on the eastern and south-western walls. Both are exceptionally long and situated on solid

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

walls. The route to Gerlachovský štít falls under the Tatra National Park ordinance, according to which hikers who depart from marked trails may be subject to fines unless they are UIAA members, or are led by a certified mountain guide.

Conditions at the summit

Weather

The effects of high-altitude weather on those who ascend Gerlachovský štít may be more pronounced than its altitude alone. The

temperature gradient A temperature gradient is a physical quantity that describes in which direction and at what rate the temperature changes the most rapidly around a particular location. The temperature spatial gradient is a vector quantity with Dimensional analysis, ...

between the Tatra mountain resorts () and the summit can be steep. Low air temperature higher up can be masked by high

insolation Solar irradiance is the power per unit area ( surface power density) received from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument. Solar irradiance is measured in watts per square metre ...

under clear skies, but will take its effect with increased cloud cover. Combined with windy conditions, the impact may be considerably detrimental even without rain or snow. The summit disappears in the clouds for periods of time on most days, which translates to fog at that elevation and a risk of disorientation. While temperatures are somewhat lower on Gerlachovský štít because of its elevation, the weather and its potential impact on visitors is little different from other summits in the High Tatras both with and without marked trails. The typical daily weather pattern in the summer is a clear morning, clouds gathering by around noon, and occasional showers and storms in the afternoon. The chance of rain is lowest between 9–10 am and peaks between 2–3 pm, with a drop-off after 6 pm. The frequency of storms with lightning (as opposed to rainstorms) on Gerlach's summit and on the other highest ridges is little different from lower elevations.Kazimierz Chomicz and Ferdinand Šamaj, "Zrážkové pomery." In: Mikuláš Konček, et al. ''Klíma Tatier''. 1974.

Climate

References

External links

*
QTVR 360 degree panorama from the peak

Detailed descriptions of peaks in the High Tatras

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerlachovsky Stit Mountains of Slovakia Mountains of the Western Carpathians Two-thousanders of Slovakia Spiš Cirques of Europe High Tatras Highest points of countries De-Stalinization