Why Sněžka is famous
Sněžka is the highest point of Czechia, of the Krkonoše (Giant Mountains), of Silesia and of the whole Sudetes, and it belongs to the Crown of Europe, the list of national high points that peak-baggers collect. The official height since a survey of 2013–2014 is 1,603.3 m; older maps give 1,602 m, the height of a survey point set up in 1936, not of the summit. The survey also showed that the true top lies on Polish territory, a few metres west of the chapel and about 3.5 m from the border; the highest point on the Czech side is only about 10 cm lower. Sněžka is the most prominent peak of both Poland and Czechia and rises about 1,200 m above the Jelenia Góra basin to the north.
The cone is made of hornfels, a hard metamorphic rock, and its slopes are covered with boulder fields from the ice ages. Glacial cirques bite into it on two sides: Łomniczka on the Polish side and Úpská jáma at the head of Obří důl (the Giant's Valley) on the Czech side, with walls up to 600 m high. It is a busy summit: in 2019 the cable car alone carried almost 312,000 passengers.
Where it is and how to get there
Sněžka stands on the main ridge of the eastern Krkonoše, between the Hradec Králové Region of Czechia and Lower Silesia in Poland. Both sides are national parks: the Czech Krkonoše National Park (KRNAP, founded 1963) and the Polish Karkonosze National Park (KPN, founded 1959), which together form a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
The main Czech base is the resort of Pec pod Sněžkou (about 750 m) in the Úpa valley; other starting points are Velká Úpa, Pomezní Boudy and Špindlerův Mlýn further west. On the Polish side the base is Karpacz, whose territory reaches up to the summit; since June 2025 passenger trains again run there from Jelenia Góra after a 25-year break. A seasonal bus links Karpacz and Pec, so you can cross the mountain from one country to the other: as of 2026 the operator lists an adult single fare of 25 PLN or 160 CZK, with daily buses from late December to February and from late April to October, otherwise at weekends.
The cable car from Pec pod Sněžkou
A lift has run to the top since 1949. The original Von Roll chairlift, on which passengers sat sideways to the slope, was designed to last 17 years and ran almost unchanged for 63, carrying more than 7 million people to the summit; in the 1970s queues at the bottom could last four hours. The present Leitner gondola opened in 2013–2014 and cost about 311 million CZK. Four-person cabins run from Pec (829 m) via the middle station on Růžová hora (1,339 m) to the top station at 1,588 m, a few minutes' walk below the summit, in about a quarter of an hour. Under an agreement with the national park its capacity was kept at the old lift's 250 people per hour, so queues are common on fine summer days.
- Main season prices (1 May – 31 October 2026): adults 400 CZK up and 750 CZK return between Pec and the summit, 350 CZK down only; juniors aged 12–17 and seniors 65+ pay 360/680 CZK, children aged 5–11 190/370 CZK; under-5s ride free. Cash in CZK and cards are accepted, and tickets are valid only on the day of purchase.
- The lift may stop in strong wind without refund. According to the operator, the upper section is out of service because of wind on almost half the days of the year, and gusts on the summit often reach 200 km/h.
Hiking routes from the Czech side
- Pec pod Sněžkou through Obří důl (blue). The classic route climbs the glacial Giant's Valley under the south face to Obří sedlo, the pass below the summit at about 1,400 m, and the hut Dom Śląski: 5.9 km and about 2¾ hours from the U Kapličky car park. The red path then climbs the west ridge, 1.1 km and 40 minutes: about 3½ hours and 850 m of gain in all. Closed in winter because of avalanches.
- Pec via Růžová hora. A gentler line follows the ridge under the cable car, about 6.1 km via the Růžohorky huts. A yellow route comes up from Velká Úpa along the old porters' path used to carry supplies to the summit.
- Špindlerův Mlýn. Up the White Elbe valley (blue) or the Kozí hřbety ridge (red) to the Luční bouda hut, then across the Úpa peat bog to Obří sedlo: about 7.9 km and 3¼ hours to Dom Śląski. The red Czech–Polish Friendship Trail follows the main ridge from Špindlerova bouda, 10.5 km to the summit.
- Pomezní Boudy (red). From the east the Friendship Trail climbs over Svorová hora past the Jelenka hut, 7.5 km.
Routes from Karpacz (Polish side)
Polish routes meet at Dom Śląski (also called Śląski Dom, Czech Slezský dům) at 1,400 m, a hut built in 1921–1922 with a restaurant bar and 58 beds.
- Śląska Droga, the "Silesian Road" (black). From Karpacz past the top of the Kopa chairlift to Dom Śląski. The four-seat chairlift takes 7 minutes to Kopa (1,377 m), from where the summit is 2.5 km and about an hour away. In the 2026 high season an adult ticket cost 85 PLN up and 95 PLN return, including the national park fee.
- Through the Łomniczka valley (yellow and red). From the car park in Karpacz past the Nad Łomniczką hut and up the cirque: 5.7 km and about 3 hours to Dom Śląski. Closed in winter because of avalanches.
- Via the Samotnia and Strzecha Akademicka huts, from upper Karpacz by the Wang church past the lake Mały Staw.
From Dom Śląski the direct zigzag path up the west ridge is steep and partly exposed, with chain railings, and is used for the ascent. The Jubilee Road (Droga Jubileuszowa), a cobbled track built in 1905, winds around the cone for about 1.4 km and 210 m of gain; its section across the north face is closed in winter because of avalanche danger.
On the summit
- Chapel of St Lawrence. The oldest building, on the Polish side: a round stone chapel 14 m high, founded by Count Christoph Leopold Schaffgotsch and consecrated on 10 August 1681. It is the highest baroque monument in Poland; mass is still said there every year on St Lawrence's day, 10 August.
- The observatory. The three discs of the Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management were built in 1966–1974 to a design by Witold Lipiński and Waldemar Wawrzyniak, who said the 1950s talk of flying saucers inspired the shape. The top disc, reaching 1,620 m, holds the observatory, one of two Polish mountain stations in the World Meteorological Organization's network. In March 2009 it partly collapsed under snow and wind and was rebuilt within months. The restaurant in the lowest disc has been closed since 1 November 2015; a tender for a general renovation was announced in 2026.
- Czech post office. The timber-and-glass Česká poštovna by Martin Rajniš and Patrik Hoffman replaced the Czech hut in 2007 and is the highest post office in Czechia; shutters close over its glass walls in bad weather, and a spiral staircase leads to a viewing terrace. In clear weather the view reaches more than 200 km.
National park rules and fees
The alpine grassland on the summit is active for only about 70 days a year, so both parks have strung orange nets along the paths, and leaving the marked routes is forbidden.
- Czech side (KRNAP). There is no entrance ticket. In the quiet areas, which include the eastern ridges, you may move only on designated routes, in winter only along the pole markings. Camping, fires, drones and cycling off marked cycle routes are prohibited.
- Polish side (KPN). As of 2026 a one-day ticket costs 11 PLN (5.50 PLN reduced), two days 20 PLN and three days 26 PLN; children under 7 enter free, and nobody pays on 16 January, 24 May and 10 August. Tickets are sold online and at booths at the Karpacz trailheads. Hiking is allowed only on marked trails and only from an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset; there is no camping (overnight stays only in huts), no fires or smoking, and dogs must be on a lead where allowed.
Weather and when to go
The Krkonoše lie in the path of moist, cold westerly winds from the Atlantic, and the Czech park calls their climate wetter, colder and harsher than that of the Tatras. On Sněžka the mean wind speed in 1951–1975 was 11.4 m/s (41 km/h), with strong winds on about 206 days a year and calm only 1.8% of the time; the highest 10-minute mean, 65 m/s (234 km/h), was recorded on 21 February 2004. The summit is in fog on more than 300 days a year, snow lies for about half the year (usually October to May), and precipitation exceeds 1,000 mm. The mean annual temperature is about 0.2–0.4 °C: about 9 °C in July and −8 °C in January.
The best time is June to September, when the daily mean on the summit is above 5 °C (on average from 2 June to 15 September) and all routes are open. Start early, because the weather usually turns in the early afternoon. In winter the summit can be reached along the pole-marked routes, but the Obří důl and Łomniczka routes are closed.
Water and food
There is no spring on the summit; from 1912 to 1956 water for the summit huts was pumped up by a turbine station on the south-west slope. Carry water for the whole walk, at least a litre in summer and more on the long routes from Špindlerův Mlýn. With the observatory restaurant closed, the nearest places for drinks and hot food are the huts below: Dom Śląski on the pass, Luční bouda, Jelenka, Růžohorky and the huts on the Polish trails.
Mobile coverage and emergencies
Phones work in much of the range, but the Czech park warns not to rely on calling for help: there is no signal everywhere and batteries drain fast in the cold. Near the border your phone may join the other country's network; from a Polish network, call the Czech mountain rescue on +420 1210. Save these numbers:
- 112: the European emergency number, valid in both countries.
- 1210: Horská služba, the Czech mountain rescue (charged, but treated as an emergency line by Czech operators); Horská služba Krkonoše also answers on +420 602 448 338.
- 985 or +48 601 100 300: GOPR, the Polish mountain rescue, whose Karkonosze group has a station in Karpacz and carries out more than 300 rescues a year.
The Czech park recommends the Záchranka emergency app, which sends your position to rescuers, and the numbered "trauma point" signs at trail junctions, whose code tells rescuers where you are.
Dangers and safety
Sněžka is easy in good weather and dangerous in bad. Fog can cut visibility to a few metres on the bare cone, wind can knock walkers over, and rime and ice make the stones slippery. In winter the slopes above Obří důl, Łomniczka and Biały Jar avalanche: on 16 January 1975 three people, two of them Czechoslovak mountain rescuers, died on the mountain. Carry warm clothes, a rain jacket, gloves and a hat even in summer, and turn back early when the weather changes.
History and name
The first recorded ascent was made in 1456 by an unnamed Venetian merchant looking for precious stones; miners digging for copper, iron and arsenic soon followed, and their adits, about 1.5 km in total, survive. Agricola called the mountain Risenberg in 1546; later German names were Riesenkoppe and Schneekoppe, "snowy dome". The Czech name Sněžka, "the snowy one", was adopted in 1823, and the Polish Śnieżka became official in 1949.
Twelve burghers of Trutnov made the first confirmed group ascent on 7 August 1577. The chapel, consecrated in 1681, made the summit a place of pilgrimage, and a summit book was laid out in 1696, the year Maria Adlerin became the first woman known to reach the top. Heinrich von Kleist watched the sunrise there in 1799; King Frederick William III of Prussia and Queen Louise climbed it in 1800, as did John Quincy Adams, later president of the United States, who described it in his letters on Silesia. Huts followed in 1850 on the Prussian side and in 1868 on the Bohemian side, and a weather station opened on 5 July 1900. The first illustrated postcard was sent from the summit on 23 July 1873; by 1900 about 1,500 were sold there every day. The northern slope has belonged to Poland since 1945. The Polish hut was demolished in the 1960s and the Czech one in 2004.
Interesting facts
- In 1563–1566 the Silesian scholar Christoph Schilling measured the mountain and got a wildly wrong result, which long kept alive the belief that it was one of the highest in Europe.
- On 23 August 1935 two Czech drivers took a Škoda Popular car to the summit.
- The Wang church in Karpacz, on one of the routes up, is a stave church brought from Vang in Norway and consecrated in 1844.
- In 1924 the owner of Dom Śląski put up a 100 kW wind turbine, then the largest in Germany; snow and rime destroyed it in January 1925.
FAQ
How high is Sněžka? 1,603 m (1,603.3 m by the 2013–2014 survey; older sources give 1,602 m). It is the highest point of Czechia, the Krkonoše and the Sudetes.
How long does it take to climb Sněžka? About 3½ hours up from Pec pod Sněžkou through Obří důl, 3½–4 hours from Karpacz through the Łomniczka valley, and about an hour from the top of the Kopa chairlift.
How difficult is it? It is a hike on well-marked trails, but with 850–1,100 m of gain from the valley, a final zigzag with exposed sections and chains, and fog and wind that can make the summit hazardous.
How much does the cable car cost? In the 2026 main season an adult return from Pec pod Sněžkou costs 750 CZK (400 CZK up only). The upper section often closes in strong wind.
Do I need a ticket to enter the national park? Not on the Czech side. On the Polish side a one-day ticket costs 11 PLN (5.50 PLN reduced) as of 2026; children under 7 are free.
Is there water on the way? There are no springs on the summit. Carry water and buy drinks at Dom Śląski, Luční bouda or other huts.
Is there mobile coverage on Sněžka? In much of the area, but not everywhere, and near the border phones may switch networks. Save 112, 1210 (+420 1210 from a Polish network) and 985.
When is the best time to go? June to September, starting early in the day. Expect fog and wind at any time of year.