Babia Góra in December

Two days before Christmas, hiking on Babia Góra. That is all I wrote down about the day, and it is all I can honestly claim: the highest peak of the Beskids, in December.

Babia Góra (Diablak), 1725 m / Winter walking trails

Trail not recorded / Gear: crampons or spikes, ice axe, winter clothing / Akademicka Perć closed in winter

Which trail we took I could not tell you now. The note from the day says only “Babia Góra hiking”, so I will leave it at that rather than invent a line. The usual options are the red ridge trail from the Krowiarka Pass, or the routes out of Zawoja by way of the Markowe Szczawiny hut and Przełęcz Brona.

Late December on the massif they call the mother of bad weather means short daylight and a summit plateau open to the wind, with the upper slopes likely iced. The chained Akademicka Perć is shut for the winter season, so whatever we did, it was one of the walking lines.