Instructions for those who are going to climb Hoverla

Dear friends! We welcome your wish to climb the highest summit of the Ukrainian Carpathians and the whole Ukraine – Hoverla (2061 above sea level). At the same time we would like to note that even though climbing this mountain doesn’t have the hight difficulty level, yet not everyone has the power to do it.

First of all make sure that you don’t have any heart disorders, problems with blood pressure, varicosis or other serious diseases.

If you are young and healthy, your wish to climb the mountain is in this case of the biggest importance. Tourism is a group kind of rest, and on the route you shouldn’t go far behind or ahead of other members. That’s why your physical fitness needs to be in satisfactory condition to keep the pace of the guide and the rest of the group. If it turns out to be too fast for you, do not hesitate to ask to slow down.

Do not take with you too many things, especially those which are not necessary. Your clothes style has to be close to the sportswear. Take into account the fact that at the altitude of 2000 meters the temperature is usually10-12? lower than in the lowlands. Rainfalls are usual for all summer period, so waterproof jacket or rain poncho is necessary for you. Cold winds blow here almost all the time, this is why make sure you have warm sweater and wind jacket with you. A hat is also of great importance as it will help to keep your head warm in a cold weather and protect it from direct sun rays on a hot day. By the way, the weather can change dramatically during just several hours on Chornohora. Also remember that in summer months, May to September, the temperature on the top of Hoverla can go down to 0 degrees even in the daytime and sometimes a mix of snow and rain is possible here.

As far as it concerns shoes, it is preferable to have hiking boots (shoes with a Vibram-type protector) or good trainers, but their soles should not be smooth. Bedroom-slippers or sandals are absolutely inappropriate. You will also need a compact backpack with capacity of 10-20 litres. You can put there reserve clothes, a small first-aid kit, photocamera, videcamera or binoculars. Some sandwiches and a thermos flask with tea or coffee will also be useful. One can’t go to the mountains with plastic bags. During the climbing your hands can only hold ski poles.

To make the climbing the easiest for you, we recommend you to do some physical exercises before it, to go to the gym or to do morning exercises every day. Climbing Hoverla is a one-day tour with the duration of 6-8 hours of active walking. If you start your route from the sportcentre “Zaroslyak” the distance in both ends will be 7-8 km.

For more details you can call (+38096) 3724400.

I will be glad to meet you in our Ukrainian Carpathians!

Faithfully yours, Vasyl Oleksiyovych Kobylyuk