Hoverla

Hoverla
Говерла
Hoverla, September 2003
Highest point
Elevation	2,061 m (6,762 ft)
Listing	Country high point
Geography
Hoverla West Ukraine
Region	UA
Parent range	Chornohora (Carpathians)
Climbing
First ascent	Orysia Khakhoula

Hoverla mountain (Ukrainian: Говерла, Hoverla; Hungarian: Hóvár; Romanian: Hovârla; Goverla, Czech and Slovak: Hoverla, Polish: Howerla, Russian: Говерла ) at 2,061 metres (6,762 ft), is the highest mountain in Ukraine and part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountain is located in the Eastern Beskides, in the Chornohora region. The slopes are covered with beech and spruce forests, above which there is a belt of sub-alpine meadows called polonyna in Ukrainian. At the eastern slope there is the main spring of the Prut river.

The date of the first ascent is unknown. In late 19th century the mountain became a notable tourist attraction, especially among tourists from nearby cities of Galicia. In 1880 the first tourist route between the peak of Hoverla and Krasny Luh was marked by Leopold Wajgel of the Galician Tatra Society. The following year the first tourist shelter was founded there.

In the 20th century the mountain has been increasingly gaining popularity as an extreme sports site. Some routes are classified as 1A in the winter period (from late autumn to May), according to the USSR grading system. Nowadays because of its prominence too many unskilled extreme-lovers are taking attempts to climb it in winter, resulting in regular frostbites or even deaths.

In October 2007 the new Right pro-Russian Eurasia Party-affiliated “Eurasian Youth Union” vandalized the official Ukrainian state symbols that had been placed on the summit of the Hoverla mountain.

External links

• Hoverla Guided Tour
• Info, advices and equipment lists on winter Hoverla ascends Template:Language icon
• Hoverla - photographs and information in Czech
• Extreme winter sports on Hoverla