Due to warming, the ice layer on Tatra lakes, including Morskie Oko, is very thin. Employees of the Tatra National Park appeal to tourists not to enter frozen ponds because the ice can easily break.
The week before Christmas brought… Tatra Mountains thaw. IN Zakopane on Thursday, the thermometers showed 15 degrees Celsius, 2 degrees Celsius at Kasprowy Wierch, and 8 degrees Celsius at Morskie Oko. The conditions became more spring than winter.
– The Tatra ponds are now covered with a thin layer of ice, so we appeal to tourists not to enter the surface. The ice is very thin and unpredictable, warned Tatra National Park guide Tomasz Zając. – We must know that when we enter such ice, even in the middle of winter, we take a risk, because the ice cover is irregularly and unevenly distributed, and the most dangerous places are the inflows and outflows – he said.
As he emphasized, “the ice cover may collapse and a tragedy may occur, especially around Christmas and New Year, when a lot of people gather and the pressure on the ice is great.”
A thin layer of ice on Morskie OkoPAP/Grzegorz Momot
The naturalist added that crossing the frozen Morskie Oko is possible, but in frosty winter, when the trail around the lake is at risk of avalanches. – Then it is really recommended to go through the middle of Morskie Oko. Such derogations are used, but only in the middle of winter, when there is thick ice cover and negative temperatures prevail for a long time, he explained.
A thin layer of ice on Morskie OkoPAP/Grzegorz Momot
Avalanche danger
In the higher parts of the Tatra Mountains, the first, lowest level of avalanche danger applies. There is ice on the trails in many places. When going to higher parts of the mountains, you must have winter tourist equipment, such as: crampons, ice ax, helmet and avalanche ABC, i.e. a detector, a probe and a shovel.
Main photo source: PAP/Grzegorz Momot