Slovakia with the boys!

Slovakia and the Tatra mountains have been on my wish list ever since Martin Wild, a great outdoor enthusiast from Bratislava, visited the Slovenian Alps. My boys were quickly ready for the action and somewhere in the middle of December we set-off towards the Promised Land. We were sleeping in Tatranska Lomnica, which is located on the foothills of the High Tatras (picture below).

The problem is that these mountains are very rocky and steep and would therefore need greater quantities of snow for any kind of ski-touring. So after spending a day on the pists, we set-off towards the Low Tatras, which had abundant snow and are in general more attractive for ski adventure. There we skied Chopok (2024m) and Dumbier (2043m) on different sides. In one of our climbs, a herd of Slovakian chamois were very reluctant to move off our path:

On the way back we stopped in Banska Štiavnica, a deserted but historical mining town. Overall, I can say it was a great trip and Slovakia has proved to be a very good mountaineering and skiing destination. It is almost completely covered with mountains, while High Tatras are reaching well over 2500m. The Slovakian language is similar to ours and it's very easy to understand them. We were also surprised by the low prices of food, drinks and ski-tickets. In different restaurants and hotels we were paying 1.1 - 1.3 Euros for half a liter of beer. The boys were satisfied (picture below) and so we completed another great trip.