Exploring the Czech Republic – epic sunrise on Sněžka

Hello mountain lovers!

Last week I went with my mom to the mountains again. This time to catch a sunrise at Snezka, highest mountain of the Czech Republic. It was perhaps the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done, because the idea came literally a few hours before leaving. The weather looked pretty cool and there were about two and a half meters of fresh snow.

We hit the road in Prague at 1:45 at night. My mom was tired from work  and my legs were sore as hell but it was soooo worth it. After two hours we were already in the heart of the Krkonose Mountains and at 4:00am we parked the car at Pomezní  boudy. We only had crampons, headlamps and two protein bars. I had my ten-kilogram backpack (two cameras & drone), my mom had just a light one. 

After five minutes, it already got so dark that the only light we could see were our headlamps. The first part to Jelenka hut was fine and easy, it was impossible to get lost because the path was visible. But as soon as we climbed out of the forest, the trail disappeared and we had to trust our instincts. Glad we still remembered the approximate direction from the summer. We started climbing straight up. When we got to the ridge, the sky was a bit brighter. But the wind began to blow so much that we couldn’t even take off the gloves. It was “only” -15°C, but it felt like -25°C due to strong wind. My feet were slowly getting cold, and I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore.

Knowing that the sunrise was starting in a few minutes, we kept the same killer pace. In another half an hour we were at the top. It was exactly 7:00am. We were the first ones there. A few Polish hikers came from the Polish side a few minutes later, probably from Luční Bouda or the Silesian House, where they spent the night. I bet no one else had such a crazy idea like we did. 

The sunrise was absolutely epic – you can judge yourself! :)))

However, it was impossible to stay on the summit for more than 15 minutes, and even a few squats didn’t help. We rushed down as fast as we could to get warm, and we came back to the car around nine. If we wanted to, we would have been back in Prague for work at 11, but we went to look at one more place, but more about that next time! 🙂

E.