PTTK Mountain Hut on Hala Rysianka

The PTTK Mountain Hut on Hala Rysianka stands at an altitude of 1,290 m above sea level, on the meadow below the summit of Rysianka, in the Żywiec Beskids. The first hut was opened here in May 1937, and today it is one of the larger trail junctions in this range. The building has about 50 beds, a buffet and a kitchen, and in summer a campsite operates beside it.

How the hut on Rysianka came about

Its construction is linked with Gustaw Pustelnik, who in 1936 leased the hut on Hala Lipowska. He marked out and fenced a plot in the upper part of the Rysianka meadow, and on 18 April 1936 he obtained a permit for a farm building with a small upper floor. Instead, however, a three-storey residential house on a stone foundation went up, which provoked protests from tourist organisations and local residents, and the authorities ordered its demolition.

The building was saved by the intervention of the Tatra Ski Society (Tatrzańskie Towarzystwo Narciarzy) of Kraków, which supported Pustelnik financially and opened the hut under the name “Hut of the Tatra Ski Society - Lipowska”. The official opening took place on 16 May 1937. The building, designed by the Żywiec architect Gustaw Maślanka, measured 13.72 by 12.60 m and offered 50 beds.

The hut during and after the war

On the eve of the Second World War the hut was occupied by soldiers of the Border Protection Corps (Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza). After the German troops entered, it operated as “Lipowska-Baude”, served Wehrmacht officers and soldiers, and in 1943 Home Army partisan units attacked it twice. The building was fortified, trenches were dug and a radio listening post was set up. In the autumn of 1944 the building was abandoned, and the empty hut fell into decay and only rarely served as a hideout for partisans.

After the war the building had interiors stripped of windows, doors and furniture. The hut was officially opened on 25 May 1947, and management was taken over by the Żywiec Branch of the Polish Tatra Society. Since 25 January 1955 it has belonged to PTTK. In 1960-1970 a modernisation was carried out: a new water intake, a kitchen and boiler room in the basement, a sewage treatment plant, central heating and electrical installation, and in the 1980s the hut was extended on the west side. In the outbuilding additional sleeping places and a GOPR duty room were set up.

Location and trails

Rysianka is 1,322 m above sea level and is the junction of three ridges. By the meadow there is a large junction of hiking trails. Hala Rysianka lies on the north-eastern slopes of the summit, and just below it is the Kaziorka meadow. The summit rises above the valleys of the Żabniczanka, Bystra and Sopotnia streams.

Walking trails lead to the meadow from Sopotnia Wielka Kolonia, from Żabnica Skałki, from Hala Boracza via Hala Lipowska, from Złatna, from Złatna Huta and from Trzy Kopce. Walking times range from about 45 minutes from Trzy Kopce to over 3 hours from Sopotnia Mała via Romanka. The popular Beskid trail from Wielka Racza also runs across Hala Rysianka. On the slopes of the saddle between Rysianka and Trzy Kopce lies the Pod Rysianką Nature Reserve, established in 1970, covering about 27 ha.

Practical information

• Address: Sopotnia Wielka 607. The hut has 50 beds in rooms for two to ten people, as well as a buffet and a kitchen with full board.
• The hut's official website is currently unavailable. Check accommodation, the offer and the route with PTTK or by phone before setting out.
• About 700 m further on is the PTTK Mountain Hut on Hala Lipowska, built in 1931-1932 by the Beskidenverein.
• About 6.8 km from here, on Krawcowy Wierch, stands the PTTK Bacówka.