Grześ - winter from the Chochołowska valley

A short winter day in the Western Tatras, up Grześ from the Chochołowska valley. The peak sits on the Polish–Slovak border and is an easy, well-marked objective — the kind of walk that fits a low January sun.

Grześ, 1653 m / N · Dolina Chochołowska, Siwa Polana → green then yellow trail

7 h 30 / 20.1 km / 869 m ↗ / Gear: winter — crampons and poles

The valley walk from Siwa Polana to the Chochołowska hostel is flat and easy, about seven kilometres on the green trail. The real climb only starts behind the hostel, where the yellow trail turns up towards the Bobrowiecka Pass junction and on to the summit ridge. In winter the upper section holds snow and can ice over, so it is worth carrying crampons and poles even though nothing here is technical.

Grześ sits right on the border, and the top gives a clean line of sight west along the ridge to Rakoń and Wołowiec, and south into Slovakia. On a short January day it makes a sensible turnaround point on its own.

Logistics

Parking

Siwa Polana (about 900 m), roughly 1 km off provincial road 958 between Zakopane and Czarny Dunajec. It is the last all-day car park before the valley; all Chochołowska trails start here.

Approach

Green trail from Siwa Polana up the valley to the PTTK hostel on Polana Chochołowska (about 7 km, easy), then the yellow trail from behind the hostel to the junction below Bobrowiecka Pass and up to the summit. Roughly 2 hours from the hostel to the top.