Hoverla: description of the mountain
The shape of Hoverla (Transcarpathian region) is a cone-shaped mountain covered with alpine meadows and somewhere shrubs. In some places, there is a loose stone, which will not interfere with the ascent at all, if you choose the right shoes. It is near this mountain that the Prut River originates, so, if you wish, you can enjoy the beautiful waterfalls near Hoverla with a total height of 80 meters.
If you have enough energy, desire and good weather, you can explore the entire Chornohirsky ridge, Kolomyia, Ivano-Frankivsk and the Pip Ivan observatory. At the very top there are alpine grasses, and a flagpole with the flag of Ukraine is also installed. A cross and a trident are installed here. The peak used to serve as the border between Poland and Czechoslovakia, so there is still a memorial obelisk here.
There are several routes to Mount Goverla and they all have the same length – from 10 to 16 kilometers, and the ascent – from 1150 to 1350 meters. It is recommended to choose different routes for ascent and descent, which will allow you to see the view from Hoverla from different angles. After spending the night in tents or in private estates, the next day you can climb Mount Petros, which is slightly inferior to Hoverli in terms of height.
For travelers, Hoverla (or as some call it “Noverla”) has already become so familiar that they don’t even remember how the name of the mountain came about. According to one of the versions, the name came to us from other languages, for example, if we take the Romanian language, the name is translated as “difficult climb”.
If the name is translated from Hungarian, it translates as “snow peak”. And this is not surprising, because in fact 9 months a year there is snow on the top, and sometimes even in summer. But let’s try to find out a few legends that will tell about the mysterious and mystical events that caused the appearance of this mighty peak.