Climbing Mt. Hoverla: Ukraine’s Tallest Mountain

Mt. Hoverla, in the Carpathian Mountains, is Ukraine's tallest mountain at 2,061 meters (6,762 ft). A dwarf compared to other mountains, but the perfect size for an inexperienced climber. 

Like most places outside of major cities in Ukraine, it isn't easy of quick to get to the trail head. I was invited to go with an annual group trip so the train and bus arrangements were made ahead of time and with a bulk rate. The journey to Mt. Hoverla started in Lviv, where I hitched a train to a small village in the Carpathians along with about 100 people, mostly Ukrainian. I woke up on the train to a 6:00 a.m. wake up call, needing to be ready at 7:00 to head to Mt. Hoverla. I peed in the most disgusting outhouses I have seen in Ukraine, which is saying a lot.

We were so unprepared as to how to dress for the climb. We saw all the Ukrainians in full snow gear with ski poles. We were kind of making fun of them because we had heard it was just “walking up a hill”. I decided not to take my winter coat, which was the wrong decision.

The trail starts at Zaroslyak chalet and rises through spruce forests that open up at 1400 meters to reveal beautiful meadows. There is a small spring at the beginning of the meadows where you can fill up your water bottle. It was a peaceful climb until we got to a plateau and headed straight up in about 2-3 feet of snow with wind and hail. I thought my thighs were going to give out and I was going to fall and slide all the way down the mountain. Those Ukrainian poles and snow gear would be great right about now. But I made it!

The summit was closed because of the weather but we made it as far up as we were allowed. It was so cold up there that I pretty much just took some pictures and then started the journey back down. Seeing how we got up, it was scary looking at going down the same way.

I saw people losing their footing and sliding a good distance down the steep side of the mountain struggling to find footing and having a hard time stopping. There were cliffs and I was pretty scared watching these people careen down the mountain. I saw a kid sliding down, hitting bushes, looking like a dead corpse until finally he stopped himself just before falling off. There’s no other way down? Doesn’t appear to be and it doesn’t appear that the Ukrainians are too concerned about this exit route.

I decided it was my time to go and started my decent. On my butt I go hoping I stop myself in time before falling to my death. I find a bush to grab onto, stopping my momentum before getting to the ledge. I climb down the rest of the mountain with no incident. I was so cold and every piece of clothing was wet, including through the boots to the socks. Immediately we changed on the train, sweaty stink filling the train car. We got a beer and went to bed early as the train heading back to Lviv.