Żabi Mnich, Border summit in High Tatras, Poland and Slovakia
Żabi Mnich is a granite summit on the border between Poland and Slovakia in the High Tatras, rising to 2,146 meters (7,041 feet). The peak features a steep western face with numerous climbing routes that traverse compact rock walls.
Żabi Mnich was first climbed on 18 August 1907 by Janusz Chmielowski, Adam Kroebl, Adam Staniszewski and guide Józef Gąsienica Tomków. The first winter ascent came on 6 April 1925, by Jan Kazimierz Dorawski, Kazimierz Piotrowski and Adam Sokołowski. The peak's three rock faces, about 200, 100 and 80 metres high, now carry many climbing routes.
The name Żabi Mnich, "Frog Monk", comes from its position in the Żabia Grań (Frog Ridge) and its shape, which resembles the Mnich (Monk) tower above Dolina za Mnichem. The peak is visible from Morskie Oko, though it often merges with the rocky slopes of Żabi Szczyt Wyżni behind it. Its German, Slovak and Hungarian names (Froschmönch, Žabí Mních, Békás-Barát) carry the same meaning.
Żabi Mnich lies on no marked hiking trail; access is only for climbers holding a permit from the Tatra National Park administration. Climbers usually start from the PTTK shelters at Morskie Oko or in the Roztoka Valley. From the south-east shore of Czarny Staw pod Rysami, a faint climbers' path leads up the Wyżni Białczański Żleb to Wyżnia Białowodzka Przełączka; the easiest variant bypassing the rock step is grade I and takes about one hour.
The south-western ridge holds a second summit, Żabi Kapucyn, separated from Żabi Mnich by the sharply cut Żabia Szczerba at about 2,111 m. The two are similar in shape and size, and the gully below them carries a chute known as Komin Świerza. Climbers reach the ridge from a path trodden from the south-eastern shore of Czarny Staw pod Rysami.
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