PTTK Mountain Hut on Hala Boracza

The PTTK mountain hut on Hala Boracza stands in the Żywiec Beskids, on a saddle between Prusów and a summit of 998 m, at an altitude of about 854 m above sea level. The address is Żabnica, ul. Boracza 22. The first building was put up in the 1920s by the Jewish Sports Society “Makkabi” of Bielsko, and the history of the building includes a fire, the construction of one of the most modern huts in Poland, and reconstruction after the war.

The first Jewish mountain hut in the world

The first hut was built in 1926 (according to other sources in 1925) by the Jewish Sports Society “Makkabi” of Bielsko; it was a small wooden building on a stone foundation with a porch.

It is regarded as one of the first Jewish mountain huts in the world. Its care was later taken over by the Jewish Tourist and Ski Society of Bielsko, formed from the club's ski section. The host until 1932 was Rudolf Antoni, and the hut's website links the origins of the building to the society's ski section, founded in 1928. Dates from different sources differ, so treat them as approximate.

The fire and the new building of 1932

The wooden building burned down on 12 April 1932, and a new, brick hut was opened on 18 December 1932.

The hut's website describes it as the most modern in Poland, with electric lighting in all rooms. The new building was named after Max Nordau. It had two large restaurant rooms, eight guest rooms and a common room, and next to it a spa cottage and a ski store were built; a postal agency operated here, and from December 1936 also a telephone line. During the Second World War the hut was looted and devastated, after which it was taken over by the Beskidenverein.

After the war and today

After the war the hut reopened on 29 September 1946.

In 1968-1970 PTTK carried out a general renovation that changed the appearance of the building. In the autumn of 2008 the cement-asbestos panels on the facade were replaced with wooden cladding. The hut has about 35 beds in rooms for 2 to 10 people, a dining room, a room with a fireplace and a ski equipment rental, and a ski lift operates nearby. Since 2005 the building has been gradually renovated and modernised.

Hala Boracza and the views

Hala Boracza is a former pastoral meadow on a saddle at about 860 m, on the border of Żabnica and Milówka.

In the past the area was covered with fields where oats and potatoes were grown; what remains are the heaps of stones gathered from the fields. Today the meadow is grazed by sheep, and about 40-60 species of flowering plants grow in it; in spring the cuckooflower blooms in masses. In the area of the meadow lies the Cave in Boracza (Jaskinia w Boraczej), considered the best known in the Żywiec Beskids, and a junction of six trails. From the hut one can see Barania Góra and Ochodzita, Sucha Góra, Muńczoł, Boraczy Wierch, Lipowski Wierch, Rysianka and Romanka.

Access and surroundings

The shortest approach leads from Żabnica Skałki and, according to sources, takes about an hour, or 1 hour 10 minutes according to the hut's website.

From Milówka it is about 2 hours' walk, from Rajcza about 3 hours. It is close from the hut to Hala Redykalna, about 2.3 km.

Further on, about 4.3 km away, rises Rysianka.

About 4.4 km from the hut stands the PTTK Mountain Hut on Hala Lipowska.

Practical information

• Address: Żabnica, ul. Boracza 22, 34-350 Węgierska Górka.
• The hut's website gives 35 beds in rooms for 2-10 people and the possibility of camping. Reservations are made through the hut's website or by telephone; check the rules and dates on boracza.pl.
• The website also has a subpage describing the approaches from Żabnica Skałki.