Location: North 49.09800, East 20.03100 (from summitpost)
Difficulty: YDS class 2+ (along the ridge)
Climbed April 16. 1989
Information:
How to get there:
The natural starting point is the (ski) resort village
of Strbske Pleso.
Route description:
Traverse several named points,
Patria 2203m, Mala Basta 2288m, Predna Basta 2374m.
Comments:
I had been invited to the conference Algorithms'89 in the resort village
Strbske Pleso in the High Tatras. I flew via Prague to xxx and arrived (most likely)
on Saturday. On Sunday, I decided to explore a nearby mountain. The weather was overcast,
the broad ridge coming down seemed like a natural choice. I went up the ridge to
the point named Patria 2203m, then continued as the ridge had higher points further
onwards. Passing Mala Basta 2288m and Predna Basta 2374m, I eventually reached the
highest point, Satan. The terrain was generally ok, with some large patches of snow.
The area around the summit was steep and there may have been some easy scrambling,
possibly a few points at (YDS) class 3 (my memory is a bit vague). The summit was pretty
much in a cloud, ie. dense fog all around and no view. There were some footsteps in
the snow that I partially followed.
On my return hike, I observed ski tracks, rather surprising as I had not seen any on my
ascent. Eventually, this mystery found its solution as I caught up with a man from
Prague that had carried mini-skis for an easier descent. It turned out that he was also
attending the conference.
Later, as it turned out that much of the conference was conducted in Russian and Czech
language, I went on a couple of additional mountain hikes with the same guy.
One, rather longer hike brought us steeply up and across a saddle connecting two
valleys. The terrain near this saddle was steep enough that we had to kick steps in
the snow, the saddle itself turned out to be "cusp-like", ie. one could sit with one leg
down on either side. We visited a rather large mountain refuge (I unfortunately, do not
know where) and generally had a very good time.
At the end of the conference, I travelled (1. class) by an overnight train back to
Prague (throwing away my airline ticket), sharing a sleeping cabin with the same guy,
as he wanted me to have breakfast at his house and say hello to his wife. After a nice
visit, he gave me a short, guided tour of Prague baefore it was time to hit the
Prague airport for my trip back to Norway.
If this person, whom I have lost track of, reads this report, then please drop me an email.
