Giewont Peak

Giewont is 1,894 metres and stands directly over Zakopane, and its profile from the town reads as a recumbent figure - the sleeping knight of the legend, who will wake when Poland needs him. On the summit stands an iron cross about fifteen metres high, put up in 1901 for the Holy Year, which is the reason for both the pilgrimage traffic and the specific hazard: the cross and the summit ridge attract lightning, and strikes have killed and injured people on the chains, most notoriously in August 2019 when a storm caught a large number of walkers on the exposed section. The final climb is over rock with fixed chains and it becomes a queue in summer, with people passing in both directions on the same holds. The mountain is a serious one dressed as an easy one. Weather forecasts are checked properly or not at all.

What you actually see

• A recumbent profile - the sleeping knight seen from Zakopane below.
• A fifteen-metre cross - raised on the summit in 1901 for the Holy Year.
• Chained final section - fixed chains over rock, queued in both directions in summer.
• A real lightning risk - strikes on the exposed ridge have killed and injured walkers.

When to go

June to September, starting early and off the summit by early afternoon. A long day.

Honest expectations

Lightning on this summit is a genuine and repeated killer - turn back if storms are forecast, and afternoon storms are common in summer. The chains queue badly and people pass in both directions. It is a long ascent from Zakopane. Winter conditions make it a mountaineering route.

Nearby

Zakopane is directly below; Hala Gasienicowa is east.