Hoverla, Petros: winter hiking

Hoverla, Petros: winter hiking

We invite you to spend four days in a house surrounded by snowy mountains and climb two mountains of the Chornohora Range (literally means Black Mountain). Hoverla and Petros are especially charming in winter.

Winter hike in the Carpathians is suitable for people with normal physical training. All you need is the right clothes and shoes, a balanced diet with a thermos of hot tea, and a guide that will show safe paths. We are ready to take responsibility for these!

Day 1

After meeting in Ivano-Frankivsk or Lazeshchyna village we’ll settle down in the house near the Kozmeshchik tourist base.

After having lunch we’ll go to have a kind of acclimatization – hiking to the nearest hill. During this walk, everybody can check the comfort of clothing and footwear for the ascent to Hoverla the next day.

Day 2

DAY HIKING TO HOVERLA

Every morning we wake up at 5 o’clock, not wasting a short winter light day. After breakfast and warming up our muscles we start hiking to the highest peak of the Ukrainian Carpathians. We take with us only small backpacks with sandwiches and thermoses with tea.

You don’t need mountaineering skills for climbing Hoverla; the difficulty will be similar to an ordinary summer trip with a big backpack. The trail leading to the top has a length of about 7 km (4 hours).

In the afternoon the goal will be reached! We’ll be at the highest point in Ukraine. From Hoverla you can see far: all the Chornohora ridge is in front of us. Our way down will take less time – about 3 hours.

Day 3

DAY HIKING TO PETROS

Our plans of the third day include early waking up and ascent to Petros. One should not underestimate this peak, which is only the fourth highest in Ukraine. This mount is considerably more complicated. Its eastern slope was given a category of difficulty 2A (comparing to Hoverla’s 1B).

Before leaving we have breakfast and put everything needed in small backpacks (snack, a thermos with tea, extra clothes).

The trail to the summit smoothly leads to the valley Golovcheska (1400 m) with a hut where we’ll have dinner and gain some energy before a steep climb.

Then we go on the crest, which connects Petros and Hoverla and begin a steep ascent. The angle of inclination on average is more than 50º, so you need to be especially careful. This part of ascent will take about an hour.

The landscapes of Petros are definitely not worse than of Hoverla. From the top, you can see even the Romanian territories in the south (of course, when the weather is clear).

Our way down will take about 3 hours.

Day 4

On the last day, we will have breakfast, say goodbye to the mountains (or not) and leave the house.

Here are some options for the continuation of this day:
• to take a train from Lazeshchyna (to Kyiv, Lviv);
• to go skiing in Bukovel or Dragobrat;
• to go to Ivano-Frankivsk by our bus together with guides.