Sniezne Kotly

The Sniezne Kotly are a pair of cirques bitten into the northern side of the Karkonosze ridge - hollows scooped by Pleistocene glaciers, with headwalls of granite, with some basalt, dropping around a hundred metres and small tarns on the floors, seen from the ridge path that runs along their rims at about 1,490 metres. Their significance beyond the shape is botanical: the cold shaded walls and the long-lying snow preserve a relict arctic-alpine flora, plants that arrived in the ice ages and survived here when the climate warmed, including the snow saxifrage, found nowhere else in the Sudetes, and the cirques have been a nature reserve since 1933 - no descent into them is permitted. A building on the rim, formerly a mountain hotel and later a transmitter station, stands above the drop. The ridge here is exposed and weather changes fast, which makes winter conditions in this part of the Karkonosze serious.

What you'll find

• Two glacial cirques - hollows with granite headwalls dropping around a hundred metres.
• Relict arctic flora - ice-age survivors including the snow saxifrage, found nowhere else in the Sudetes.
• A ridge-top view - the path running along the rims at about 1,490 metres.
• A transmitter on the rim - the former mountain hotel above the drop.

When to go

June to September. A day on the ridge.

What to expect

Descent into the cirques is prohibited - they are viewed from the rim. The ridge is exposed with no shelter and weather turns fast; winter conditions here are serious. It is a long walk from either valley. Cloud sits on the ridge often.

Nearby

Szklarska Poreba is north; Sniezka is east along the ridge.

Key facts