PTTK Mountain Hostel on Hala Krupowa

Shelters

Widok spod drzewa na schronisko na Hali Krupowej przy którym odpoczywają turyści

Sidzina 625, 34-236 Sidzina Tourist region: Beskid Żywiecki i Orawa

tel. +48 184475005
tel. +48 607033997

Contrary to its name, the mountain hostel is not located on Hala Krupowa, but on the former pastoral glade of Sidzińskie Pasionki, at an altitude of 1152 metres above sea level in the Polica Range (part of the Mt Babia Range), on the border of the Beskid Żywiecki and Beskid Makowski. In the area, the Main Carpathian Trail leads through Hala Krupowa from the Beskid Śląski to the Bieszczady Mountains, a dense network of hiking trails and attractive bicycle trails, including the historic Tabakowy Chodnik smugglers’ route. The southern windows of the chalet offer a picturesque panorama of the Tatra Mountains and Orava, and the extensive surrounding forests are full of blackberries, raspberries and mushrooms.

The first hostel, called 'Pod Policą' (due to its location in the Mt Babia Góra Polica Range), was built in 1935 at the initiative of the Sidzina Municipality and the Jordan and Łódź branches of the Polish Tatra Society. Professor Kazimierz Sosnowski led the construction of the shelter. The Nazis burned it down in 1944. The reconstruction of the hostel, carried out by the Kraków branch of the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society, was completed in 1955. From that year on, the hostel has borne the name of Kazimierz Sosnowski. It was extensively renovated and rebuilt in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The mountain hostel is a wooden, single-storey building in the highland style. It provides 38 beds in 2, 4 and multi-bed rooms with shared sanitary facilities (on the first floor and in the basement; the one 2-bed room has the toilet) and central heating. The buffet and cosy dining room with a large stone fireplace on the ground floor serve delicious home-cooked local delicacies. Snowshoes can be hired here. The Mountain Volunteer Rescue Service has its base in the chalet.

There are commemorative plaques on the hostel building: one dedicated to the Home Army partisan unit ‘Huta – Podgórze’, which was stationed in the years 1943 – 1945 in the area of Polica and Babia Góra, and another dedicated to Pope John Paul II, who on 9 September 1978, as Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, was here on his last mountain excursion before leaving for the conclave in Rome, where he was elected Pope.

The mountain hostels can be reached from Mt Babia, Bystra Podhalańska, Jordanów, Juszczyn, Kojszówka, Osielec, Sidzina, Skawica, Zawoja, Zubrzyca Górna, Passes: Bory and Krowiarki, and shelters on Markowe Szczawiny, Opaczne Pass, Mt Luboń Wielki, Mt Stare Wierchy, and Mt Turbacz.

You can reach the shelter on Hala Krupowa by following one of several attractive hiking trails. It is also accessible by mountain bike and on skis. The nearest car park to the mountain hostel is in Sidzina Wielka Polana, from where it is possible to transport guests or their luggage on request.