Both the mountain and the local bureaucracy sound incredibly complex. Good decision to turn round and go back up again - though must have been tempting to risk that last 30m - but a bent up peak monster would be no good to anyone.
Hope your next 'high points' are more straight forward!
Oh - and good to know you are not scrimping on your food intake - I think I counted about 6 meal breaks in the course of your adventure!
best wishes, Mark
Yep, the local red tape is a hassle. Fortunately I don't understand Slovak, for if I had, I would have known and understood the rules and wouldn't have climbed this route, at least not in August. The Tatras are is really beautiful though, and I'm happy that I got to experience it. Maybe I'll come back in winter someday, see how it looks all covered up with snow.
I don't count my meal breaks, but even though the trip took a lot longer than expected I still had some trail mix with me at the end. I was thirsty though.
Route finding problems, then "What happened next, I'm not sure. Perhaps the fact that I had run out of water quite a while ago meant I wasn't totally sharp anymore. (...) And only now did I really see something I should have realized long before." I could have written that myself LOL. (I've promised myself to keep taking an extra litre of water after what I experienced last summer - even at the expense of some useful stuff.) Your TR is a typical Tatra story except that it is told by a gifted storyteller and Westerner, which makes for an interesting perspective for us over here. Thanks for the write-up!
I often go out with a relatively small amount of water. My reasoning is that less weight at the beginning is worth being thirsty for a few hours at the end. I did pack a water filter though. As you know, there are plenty of lakes and streams in the Tatra valleys. However, apart from the bottom of the Velický žl'ab, there was little water on Gerlach.
Glad to hear that it worked out OK! My skill level is lower than yours but I have had a few similar situations where things weren't working out right. I'm climbing some low desert peaks in Arizona now. Hope to go back to Peru this Fall with a friend to climb Coropuna again. Take care.
Yep, I was glad too. I wasn't scared or worried though. I took my time to figure out how to get down the last bit of the Batizovský žl'ab, and then made a decision that turned out fine.
I'll never know what would have happened if I had tried to descend the last bit, looking for that chain. Probably I could have gone to the edge of the smooth slab without falling off. Perhaps the chain was right there, and then I probably could descended without much problems. That's what I thought so at the time, and I still do.
But of course, "probably" and "perhaps" are not good enough, considering the consequences of failure. To commit to that, that could have gotten scary, or worse. No, I'm happy with my decision. And it was also a reminder how useful it can be to start early, so there is plenty of daylight left if things don't go according to plan. This wasn't the first time that happened - but, so far, it never went so wrong that I had to sleep outside, unplanned.
Peru... those were good times! I haven't been to Corupuna yet, and wouldn't mind climbing it one day. Not this year though, I've already got other plans.
markhallam - Jan 24, 2017 3:56 pm - Voted 10/10
Nice one!Both the mountain and the local bureaucracy sound incredibly complex. Good decision to turn round and go back up again - though must have been tempting to risk that last 30m - but a bent up peak monster would be no good to anyone.
Hope your next 'high points' are more straight forward!
Oh - and good to know you are not scrimping on your food intake - I think I counted about 6 meal breaks in the course of your adventure!
best wishes, Mark
rgg - Jan 25, 2017 5:37 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Nice one!Yep, the local red tape is a hassle. Fortunately I don't understand Slovak, for if I had, I would have known and understood the rules and wouldn't have climbed this route, at least not in August. The Tatras are is really beautiful though, and I'm happy that I got to experience it. Maybe I'll come back in winter someday, see how it looks all covered up with snow.
I don't count my meal breaks, but even though the trip took a lot longer than expected I still had some trail mix with me at the end. I was thirsty though.
yatsek - Feb 14, 2017 4:46 pm - Voted 10/10
Typical Tatra storyRoute finding problems, then "What happened next, I'm not sure. Perhaps the fact that I had run out of water quite a while ago meant I wasn't totally sharp anymore. (...) And only now did I really see something I should have realized long before." I could have written that myself LOL. (I've promised myself to keep taking an extra litre of water after what I experienced last summer - even at the expense of some useful stuff.) Your TR is a typical Tatra story except that it is told by a gifted storyteller and Westerner, which makes for an interesting perspective for us over here. Thanks for the write-up!
rgg - Feb 15, 2017 7:20 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Typical Tatra storyGlad that you liked it :-)
I often go out with a relatively small amount of water. My reasoning is that less weight at the beginning is worth being thirsty for a few hours at the end. I did pack a water filter though. As you know, there are plenty of lakes and streams in the Tatra valleys. However, apart from the bottom of the Velický žl'ab, there was little water on Gerlach.
Vic Hanson - Feb 18, 2017 2:22 am - Hasn't voted
Scary times!Glad to hear that it worked out OK! My skill level is lower than yours but I have had a few similar situations where things weren't working out right. I'm climbing some low desert peaks in Arizona now. Hope to go back to Peru this Fall with a friend to climb Coropuna again. Take care.
rgg - Feb 18, 2017 1:10 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Scary times!Yep, I was glad too. I wasn't scared or worried though. I took my time to figure out how to get down the last bit of the Batizovský žl'ab, and then made a decision that turned out fine.
I'll never know what would have happened if I had tried to descend the last bit, looking for that chain. Probably I could have gone to the edge of the smooth slab without falling off. Perhaps the chain was right there, and then I probably could descended without much problems. That's what I thought so at the time, and I still do.
But of course, "probably" and "perhaps" are not good enough, considering the consequences of failure. To commit to that, that could have gotten scary, or worse. No, I'm happy with my decision. And it was also a reminder how useful it can be to start early, so there is plenty of daylight left if things don't go according to plan. This wasn't the first time that happened - but, so far, it never went so wrong that I had to sleep outside, unplanned.
Peru... those were good times! I haven't been to Corupuna yet, and wouldn't mind climbing it one day. Not this year though, I've already got other plans.
Saludos, Rob