I have the chance to activate some summits in Poland and Czech Republic in October. I’m going to be based in Berlin for a week and would like to activate some new associations once my business trip completes. As I’m out on a business I cannot take serious walking gear with me but I can slip my 817, battery and antenna into my luggage.
Can anyone suggest any simple and straightforward summits in Poland and Czech Republic that are reasonably close to the German border? I’ll be flying to/from Berlin and will be hiring a car at the airport and driving reasonable distances is not a big problem and I expect to stay overnight in both or either country. If I have enough time I could extend this to include a day in Slovakia as well so suggestions from there would be useful.
Of course it all depends on the WX and if it’s terrible I’ll do some sight seeing in the large towns/cities instead.
Nothing to do with summits … but bear in mind that not all car hire companies allow you to take their cars out of the country where the car is hired. There are also insurance issues. I know, because I’ve encountered these problems in the past.
Thanks for that Walt. I’ve already checked, the company I’d use allows cars to be taken out of Germany to SP, OK, OM, HA for an extra 5Eu/day. First thing I checked after the fun I had this summer with changes in the EU to EU residents hiring cars in Switzerland and not being allowed into the EU with them. Cost me £110 extra in the end to hire a car in the French side of Basel/Mulhouse airport rather than the Swiss side. Grrr!
In Slovakia, OM/BA-004 Devínska Kobyla, above the city of Bratislava is an easy summit. There is a tarmac road to the summit so no need for boots, but there is a locked gate or maybe just a no entry sign about 1km from the top. That was where I was dropped off by taxi, and there were a few cars parked nearby…
I walked up past derelict military buildings which were apparently listening stations during the cold war. There is a large summit area for an antenna of any size. There were a few mountain bikers around on the evening I was there.
Activated successfully on 20m and walked back down hill in the dark (when the derelict buildings were more alarming and all the parked cars had gone) then caught the tram back into town.
In Poland the summit closest to to German border is SP/PO-004, next to a military training area. Depending on the activity in the last one, acessing the activation zone might prove difficult and/or dangerous
Few other easy SOTA summits in the southwestern part of SP might be more convenient:
SP/SP-001, -002 and -003 - 3 summits close to each other, not far Wrocław and from the A4 highway, making it a few hours drive from Germany
If you are after higher number of points per summit, check out the whole of SP/SZ region, closer to Czech border. Activated only SP/SZ-001 and -002 there myself. The first one requires 6 kilometers miles walk from the parking and ascent of about 400 meters. The other can be reached from the same parking spot, and to reach it you’d need respectively 3 km and 200 m, but there’s no marked trail nor clear path to the summit. I suppose no problem - for you coming from Scotland
Well despite coming down with a head cold, the heavens opening in Poland and disturbed geo-magnetic conditions, I did manage 2 activations in the Czech Republic and 1 in Poland. I was going to try for another SP activation but rains and my cold made me quit whilst I was esentially dry despite the rain.
However, I offer the following photo from the summit of OK/LI-057 Luz (Lausche). The summit is in OK but the OK/DL border runs across the top. I didn’t see the border marker until I tripped over it! Then I could see it said C on one side and D on the other with a plus marking the border line. So I was compelled to stand with one foot in each country. Left foot is in CZ and right foot in DL.
To revive this old thread: now in Czech are much less summits than before but I found one country where they are
This this information for speed scorers
The silly easy summits have gone but having activated in OK twice and having spent time in the country it’s still somewhere I want to return to and activate further. Even if it’s now harder. So many nice summits, so much nice food and beer and so many nice people.
Yes Andy, many other advantages which no doubt you are aware of:
Low cost flights at good times into Prague from many UK airports.
In Czech most guest houses do not charge single supplements for rooms.
Car hire is generally cheaper than most other countries.
Restaurant food and beer not only good quality but also good value.
Summits generally are still easier to climb and access than in the UK.
This is why we need to go again while my OK callsign is still current. My next SOTA visit will be my 9th. So far I have 3669 activator QSOs logged from OK.
Very good Jarek - I’ll send you our plans nearer the time, hopefully this time the plan will come to fruition. We will be west and south west of Prague, so further for you to travel.
