03 / 28 · Karkonosze
Śnieżka
1603 m a.s.l.
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Queen of the Karkonosze
The highest peak of the Karkonosze and of the whole Sudetes. Its cone rises 200 metres above the Równia pod Śnieżką plateau, and in good weather the view from the summit reaches more than 200 kilometres.
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A border on the ridge
Śnieżka lies on the Polish–Czech border. On the Czech side it is called Sněžka, and a gondola lift runs to the summit from Pec pod Sněžkou.
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Above the forest
In the Karkonosze the forest reaches about 1,250 m, higher up grows dwarf mountain pine, and from about 1,450 m begins the alpine zone with herbaceous plants and lichens. Śnieżka’s slopes are covered by a boulder field – rock debris from the Pleistocene glaciations.
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Discs and a chapel
On the summit stand side by side the Chapel of St Lawrence, built from 1665 of local stone, and the meteorological observatory from 1974 with its distinctive discs.