Mała Koszysta (2,014 m a.s.l.) is one of the northernmost two-thousanders in the Tatra Mountains — a rugged granite peak separating the Waksmundzka Valley from the Pańszczyca Valley. If you're drawn to untouched alpine wilderness far from the tourist crowds, this summit has a special kind of pull.
The massif is built from granite and draped in mountain grasses, with patches of ancient spruce forest sheltering Swiss stone pines (arolla pines). The stone pine stand here is considered one of the highest-elevation in Poland and has been scientifically monitored since 2002. The slopes hide an extraordinary range of rare plants found nowhere else in Poland outside the Tatras — glacier gentian, lance-leaved willow, and Hungarian fleabane among them. Bears roam the area regularly, making this one of the genuinely wild corners of the Polish Tatras. In winter, the summit takes on a truly alpine character.
How to reach the summitThe first recorded winter crossing of Mała Koszysta was made by Witold Henryk Paryski and Stanisław Krystyn Zaremba on 17–18 April 1931 — a pioneering feat in the history of Tatra winter mountaineering.