Jaskinia Mroźna

Frosty Cave - Ice Cave


Useful Information

Location: On the eastern slope of Kościelska Valley in the western Tatra Mountains National Park, province of Nowy Sacz. 20 minutes hike from the bottom of the valley, trail marked black from Lodowe Zrodlo.
(49.25231956209508, 19.870276042228177)
Open: MAY-OCT daily 9-17.
[2021]
Fee: Adults PLN 5, Children (0-4) free.
[2021]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave horizontal cave
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: L=773 m, A=1,100m/1,112 m asl., VR=42 m, T=4 °C. V=150,000/a.
Guided tours: L=511 m, D=40 min.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography: J. Grodzicki (1993): Jaskinia Mrozna, Jaskinie Tatrzanskiego Parku Narodowego. Jaskinie wschodniego zbocza Doliny Koscieliskiej, Grodzicki J. (red.), PTPNoZ, Warszawa. (Polish)
Address: Jaskinia Mroźna, State Treasury, The Tatra Mountains National Park, 34-500 Zakopane, ul Chalubinskiego 42a, Tel: +48-165-63203, Fax: +48-165-63579.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1934 discovered by Stefan Zwoliński and Tadeusz Zahorski.
1934-1937 first 64 m of corridor discovered.
1950 exploration continued by Zwoliński, the brother of the discoverer. Start of development, construction of tunnel.
12-JUL-1953 provisionally opened to the public with carbide lamps.
1956-1959 further development work, electric light with generator and new paths.
29-OCT-2000 additional parts discovered by Jakub Nowak.
SEP-2020 cave closed for modernization.

Description

Jaskinia Mroźna is called Frosty Cave or Ice Cave as it is rather cold because of its altitude. As a result there are only few speleothems. The cave is entered through an artificial tunnel and left through a natural entrance, the tour is a through trip. The cave has a single, more or less horizontal passage.

The Koscieliska Brook appears in the cave and at one point forms the Sabalowe Jeziorko (Sabala Lake). The biggest chamber is the Wielkiej Komory (Great Chamber), 27 m long, 10 m high.

The Kościeliska Valley in the Tatra Mountains is a popular hiking area. The valley has four caves which are open to visitors, three of them are semi-wild caves, and Mroźna is the only show cave with trails and electric light. The only way to reach this cave is by walking through the vally and then taking the trail which leads up to the cave. It is located in the eastern slope of the Kościeliska Valley in the Organ massif, 120 m above the valley floor.

From September 2020 to April 2021 the cave was closed for a massive renovation. It included the construction of a 12 m long wooden shelter at the exit, because there is frequent rockfall from the cliff face above. Also nets were used to cover the rock face to protect the trail from falling rocks. The ticket office at the entrance, a wooden hut, was renovated and got a new roof. Also the trails inside were renovated and equipped with stainless steel railings. Nevertheless you should not expect a comfortable show cave, its more like an underground mountain walk, with stooping, crawling, and even a litte mud and water for crawling through.

From the sounds of the people in front it was an interesting and surprising experience for them too. It was brilliant, and completely different to an English show cave!
Nicola Overton (199): Public Caves of the Kościeliska Valley (caving for non-cavers in Poland) Westminster Speleological Group – Bulletin: Vol 10 No.3 - February 2018 Page 16-23. pdf