Mountains & peaks

Śnieżka

1,603.30 m above sea level — Śnieżka is the highest peak of the Karkonosze, the entire Sudetes and the Czech Republic. On the Polish-Czech border you will find the stone Chapel of St Lawrence from 1665, the Czech post office and the Polish meteorological observatory with its characteristic "discs".

How tall Śnieżka really is

The official elevation is 1,603.30 m — the long-repeated 1,602 m refers not to the summit itself but to a geodetic survey point within the dome of the peak. Śnieżka is also the most prominent peak in Poland and the Czech Republic (prominence 1,184 m), towering some 1,200 metres above the Jelenia Góra Valley. In favourable weather visibility exceeds 200 km. The summit is protected by both national parks: Karkonoski Park Narodowy on the Polish side and the Czech KRNAP.

The buildings on the summit

The oldest structure is the stone Chapel of St Lawrence from 1665. The mountain huts built in 1850–1862 were demolished in the 1960s, and the older meteorological observatory operated from 1900 to 1989. Since 1974 the silhouette of the summit has been defined by the "discs" of the IMGW high-mountain observatory — closed since 1 November 2015 due to its poor technical condition.

How to get up

The easiest option is the cable car from Karpacz; on foot you can take the Śląska Droga or the Polish-Czech Friendship Trail to Równia pod Śnieżką and onward towards the Okraj pass. Weather on the summit changes fast and the average wind speed is 11.4 m/s — a windproof jacket is essential. In high season, buy cable-car tickets in advance and set off in the morning.