Horné diery: ladders, difficulty and the most beautiful sections

Horné diery are the reason people come back to Terchová a second time. After the small loop they want more, and here they get it: the most water, the most ladders and the most effort. This article is for those who already know Dolné and Nové diery and want to know what they are letting themselves in for.

Where they start and how to get there

Horné diery begin above the Podžiar junction, which you can reach in three ways:

• From Biely Potok through Nové diery: one-way uphill over ladders; details in Nové diery.
• From Biely Potok through Dolné diery: an easier approach, about an hour.
• From Štefanová: on the yellow waymarks over the Vrchpodžiar saddle, roughly half an hour to Podžiar.

Uphill only

Hotel Diery by the car park states that the route through Horné diery is one-way, uphill. Hiking portals recommend walking both Nové and Horné diery against the flow of the stream, in other words uphill. To get back from the Medzirozsutce saddle to Podžiar, use the green waymarks, which bypass Horné diery and Tesná rizňa.

The most beautiful parts

• Cascades: nine waterfalls between 2 and 4 m high, more than in any other part of the gorges.
• Tesná rizňa: a higher section with two more waterfalls, 1.6 to 2 m high.
• Ladders: the highest in the whole gorge system, some 12 to 15 m. They are supplemented by chains and footbridges over the water, and a complete replacement of the steel structures began in 2009.

Difficulty

• Time: about two hours for Horné diery alone, around five hours for the whole big loop.
• Rating: Hotel Diery calls them difficult; they are the hardest part of the gorges.
• Fitness: five hours on foot, 768 m of ascent on the loop and a steady head on tall ladders.
• Children: only school-age children with good fitness and experience on ladders.
• Dogs: according to Hotel Diery, Horné diery are absolutely unsuitable and dangerous for dogs.
• Weather: in winter and after heavy rain they are usually impassable.

For a comparison with the other parts, see How long do Jánošíkove diery take.

The big loop with Horné diery

1. Biely Potok, the Ostrvné junction.
2. Up through Nové diery to Podžiar.
3. Up through Horné diery towards the Medzirozsutce saddle.
4. From the saddle, back to Podžiar on the green waymarks.
5. Down through Dolné diery to Biely Potok.

The loop is 12 km long with 768 m of ascent and takes around five hours.

Extending from the Medzirozsutce saddle

• Malý Rozsutec: 30 to 40 minutes from the saddle to the summit with its chains; more in Malý Rozsutec in autumn.
• Veľký Rozsutec: the loop from Štefanová through Horné diery is about 10 km with 1,050 m of ascent. The ridge between Medzirozsutce and Veľký Rozsutec is closed from 1 March to 15 June; details in Veľký Rozsutec in autumn.

Practical tips

• Set off in the morning; the big loop takes all day, and nobody wants ladders at dusk.
• Do not go into Horné diery after rain; water and wet rungs are the biggest risk here.
• Keep your hands free, strap your poles to your backpack and wear thin gloves.
• In summer there is usually a snack bar only at Podžiar; do not count on anything higher up, so carry food and water.
• The Slovak mountain rescue service, HZS, is on 18 300.

From the cottage

The car park in Biely Potok is ten minutes by car from Chata Ranto in Nižné Kamence, and Štefanová under twenty. After five hours in the gorges, the fireplace is welcome, and so is a kitchen where you can cook for the whole group at once.