Gubałówka

Gubałówka, photo: P. Klimek. For many years Gubałówka was the second most popular ski area around Zakopane after Kasprowy Wierch, and at the same time one of the most popular tourist destinations in Poland. Here too, as at Kalatówki, Polish skiing was born: in 1907 one of the first ski courses in the country was held here. Because of its proximity to the centre of Zakopane and the mountain's undoubted merits for skiing (despite its south-facing aspect, natural snow holds up quite well here), in 1938 it was decided to build a funicular. Building it in five months (from the start of work to the first passenger run) was without doubt a real record for the world of the time. The funicular was built in a hurry so that it would be ready for the FIS World Championships in March 1939, which were also partly held on the slopes of Gubałówka. Built in 1938 by the Von Roll company, the funicular was about 1,300 metres long with a height difference of just under 300 metres. In 2001 it was completely rebuilt: the old cars were used to build the funicular on Mount Żar in the Beskid Mały, while the slopes of Gubałówka got Poland's most modern funicular, made by Doppelmayr. It has two cars on a single track, with a passing loop halfway along the 1,298 m line, and the height difference is exactly 299 m. The modern cars with glass roofs let you take in the panorama of the Tatras on the way up. The top station of Gubałówka offers one of the finest views of the Polish Tatras. This is also where the pistes used to start: one ran over a distinctive bridge across the funicular and on through the Gładkie clearing, the other through the Choćkowskie clearing. Unfortunately both pistes are now closed because of ownership disputes, and a row of young trees has even been planted across one of them. In spring 2014 reports emerged of plans to expand the Gubałówka resort and open pistes towards Zakopane, but so far nothing has changed. What does run every winter is the lift on the Gubałówka clearing, near the top station of the funicular: there is a short, 300-metre piste and a snow park here. Near the summit, which in winter is now visited mainly for the view, there are also several restaurants and bars.