Gora Zar

Gora Zar rises to 761 metres above the Zywiec lakes, and its summit was cut flat in the 1970s to hold the upper reservoir of a pumped-storage power station: water is pumped up at night and released through turbines in the hill during peak demand, and the reservoir on top is a concrete-lined basin about half a kilometre across with a path around its rim. A funicular built for the construction work carries visitors up in a few minutes. The flat top and the drop on the north side make it one of the main gliding and paragliding sites in Poland, with a gliding school on the summit that has operated since the 1930s, and on a good day the air above is full of sailplanes and canopies. The view runs over Lake Miedzybrodzkie and Lake Zywieckie to the Beskids, and there is a summer toboggan run on the slope.

What you actually see

• A reservoir on a flat summit - the upper basin of a pumped-storage station.
• A funicular - built for construction, now carrying visitors up.
• Gliders and paragliders - launching off the north side, from a school there since the 1930s.
• Two lakes below - Miedzybrodzkie and Zywieckie, with the Beskids behind.

When to go

May to September. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The summit is industrial - a concrete basin, not a natural top. The funicular runs seasonally and to a timetable. Flying is weather-dependent. It is exposed and windy up there, which is the point.

Nearby

Zywiec and its castle are south; Bielsko-Biala is north-east.