Tourist dies in Tatra Mountains fall: she had no crampons

A young female hiker has died in the Polish Tatras after, according to a witness, ignoring a warning that she was poorly equipped. The witness, Michał Warchoł, said he saw her fall and shared his account as a warning to others.

“I met her and we talked. She was a beautiful young woman. I warned her not to go any further,” he wrote in a Facebook group for Tatra enthusiasts, as reported by Polish regional media. The woman had no helmet, no ice axe, and no crampons or microspikes. The man tried to persuade her to abandon the hike and offered to help her descend safely. He warned her that conditions were dangerous and that a fatal accident had happened in the same area only a few days earlier.

Down the gully at tremendous speed

“I was wearing crampons and had spare microspikes in my backpack. Twice I offered to give them to her. It mattered to me that she got back safely. But she refused and went on. A moment later I saw her falling down the gully at tremendous speed,” Warchoł wrote. He said he hoped his story would make someone stop and reconsider before it is too late.

He then called the rescuers and went down to show them where the woman had fallen. A helicopter soon landed there. “The rescuers began resuscitation and continued it during the helicopter transport to the landing pad in Zakopane. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the rescuers and hospital staff, the young hiker could not be saved,” said a statement quoted by Polish media.

Even microspikes are not enough

“More tourists have been heading into the Tatras lately, so accidents happen more often too. Conditions are exceptionally unfavourable right now. The snow is hard and offers no grip. People often set out unprepared, with neither crampons nor an ice axe. And, unfortunately, that has consequences,” rescuer Tomasz Wojciechowski told Polish media. He warned that in such conditions microspikes alone are simply not enough.

Background: Zawrat is a mountain saddle in the Polish High Tatras at an altitude of 2,159 metres, between the peaks of Mały Kozi Wierch and Świnica. It is a difficult but popular section on the Polish side of the Tatras, crossed by a hiking trail.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz