Perć Akademików - Babia Góra

Late September, up Babia Góra by the Akademicka Perć on the north face. Autumn on the Beskids’ highest peak, the chains cold under the hand and the exposure real where the path pulls itself up the rock.

Babia Góra (Diablak), 1725 m / North face · Perć Akademików

~8 h round / +1115 m ↗ / Gear: fixed chains and iron rungs in situ; one-way ascent only

The path is one-way by rule: you climb it, you do not descend it. Traffic runs bottom to top only, which on a busy day is a mercy and on a quiet one just makes sense. The chained sections are short but they concentrate the mind. The crux, the so-called Black Beak, is a near-vertical step of maybe eight metres fitted with a chain and iron rungs. It is the rockiest waymarked trail in the whole flysch Carpathians, and it wears that reputation openly.

Above the difficulties the ground eases and the summit, Diablak, arrives without much ceremony at 1725 m, the high point of the Żywiec Beskids and of the Polish Beskids entire. I dropped off the top down the red ridge trail toward Krowiarki, which is the sensible way to close the loop.

Logistics

Parking

Free lot behind the Karczma Zbójnicka in Zawoja-Policzne, around 700 m.

Approach

From the parking, climb toward the Markowe Szczawiny hut. The turn onto Perć Akademików comes at Skręt Ratowników, roughly 1200 m, marked with yellow signs. The path is seasonally closed, so check the current park notice before setting out.