Liptov 50 (within K100 Virtual - 52,4km / 2540m+), Liptovský Ján, 12.3.2022

 The year has come and gone and I again got the desire to complete our Winter Ultra in Liptov again, which we ran with Katka last year as part of the virtual Kysucká 100 (read here: K100 2021 Virtual with Katka), but this time I wanted to go to Poludnica and I didn't want to miss the top of Demänovská hora. At the same time, I exchanged Smrekovica and the dense descent of Trail Smrekovica with a speed of 2 km/h for a popular hill rising above Liptovský Hrádok, called Zapač.

Katka hasn't been much of a ride this year, so I'm thinking about who I would lead to vicious trails (it's all bears out there - last year at this time they were already up - and lots and lots of snow). I approach Karin and Janko F. and I don't even have to persuade them much, they immediately get hooked and enthusiastically agree. Karin will go with us for first - a shorter circuit, and Janko promises me to come the whole route, saying that when we descend from Demänovská hora, he will probably disconnect and run straight home (I take this opportunity to thank Janka F. for lending him to me). At the same time, Katka threatens that she will be waiting for us somewhere with her legendary soup. The weather promises beautiful sunny, refreshing minus 12 in the morning, and during the day it will warm up to one or three degrees, so it will be pleasantly warm 😂. There is a lot to look forward to.

Just before six in the morning, we meet in a large parking lot in Liptovský Ján, and we somehow don't want to climb out of the heated cars into the frosty morning. One last check of the equipment, fine-tuning the layering optimally, and we are ready to go. We warm up with a jog, run around the Baths in Liptovský Ján and, as a warm-up, we take a short hike along the ice path to the Svätojánská vyhliadka - a viewpoint. A beautiful frosty day is born, even our nipples on the soft flasks freeze from that beauty.

We don't linger there for too long and continue with a hopscotch along the path under the forest through Borová Sihoť, pass the embankment to Zapač. For the people of Hrádok, Zapač is something like Kamzík for the people of Bratislava or Háj for the people of Mikuláš. It is interspersed with footpaths and it is possible to run criss-cross on it  and even gain 1000 meters of elevation. There was once a lookout point at its top, and there are beautiful views of LH City and Western Tatras. The inhabitants of Hrádok sometimes have the opportunity to observe bears strolling up and down the hillside from their balconies. In the spring, the Pulsatillas blossom everywhere in the golden grass among the pines and it is beautiful there.

From Zapač, we run down the well-worn footpath to the cycle route leading from Liptovská Porúbka through Vislavice to Liptovský Ján. Towards the top below Smrekovica, the terrain was very difficult, but the descent beneath Mundo was rewarding - the road was well travelled, the snow was hard and held well. After about 2.5 hours, we reach Ján and having covered 19 kilometers and 650 meters of altitude. Katka and the soup are unable to catch us there, so we agree that they will meet us at ATC Bystrina below Demänovská hora. At the cars, we pour tea into thermo flasks, replenish our supplies, say goodbye to Karin, who will run Jánska dolina to round up her kilometers to some nice number, and Janko and I climb up the ski slope to Javorovica.

I know Javorovica like the back of my hand, so I eagerly bite into the steep slope and climb up. This direction to Poludnica must be crowded, because the footpath in the snow is very well trodden and we pass groups of tourists. The sun is already high and leans into the slope and onto us, so we shed the layers and I enjoy the warm sunbeams. Even the frozen suckers on the soft flasks have thawed. From the top of the slope there are breathtaking views of Liptovská Kotlina. We enter the forest and the deceptive sun is gone. However, the coolness is pleasant, there is no need to overdo it with the heat like this at the beginning 😀. After all, I didn't have time to buy that cap with a neck protector against the sun 🙆‍♀️.

On the way up through the forest, we pass a group of six tourists. Below Javorovica, I show Janko the turn to the top and ask if he wants to go there to see that there are nice views from there. He says no, that he has a route in front of him and he wants to follow it, and there are no detours. Immediately, we unanimously head towards the top 😁 nice views are completely covered by trees. It doesn't matter. Subsequently, we caused crowd psychosis and a crowd of six tourists followed our steps to the top of Javorovica, probably secretly hoping that they were already at Poludnica. When they saw us returning to the trail, they asked if they were going well. They were going well, but in a wrong direction. 😂 it's still a nice slog up to Poludnica. So they disappointedly turn around, we leave them, disappointed, behind and trot in the direction of Sedlo Rakytovica. From the saddle, we ascent a two-kilometer and 450-meter climb through the forest to the top. The strenuous ascent is rewarded with views for which I can't find a suitable adjective, so here you are:

We stayed up there for the necessary time to admire the scenery and have a photo session, recharge our batteries and have some food. However, this is where the fairy tale ends and the horror begins. I don't know what to call this downhill, from Poludnica to Kúpeľ, but it wasn't a run downhill. rather an alpine ski. Or a get off. Or a slide down. The trail was marked with sporadic footprints buried deep in the snow, meaning that our feet were wriggling in deep tracks, or sank even deeper into the softening but still hard cover. Alternatively, we slide on icy sections and on hard snow like Kilian in the Salomon videos. The trail was pretty unstable, but at least it was nice and steep. In three kilometers we descended some 500 meters in height, but it was otherwise a very nice section - the blue sign led us around the endless rock formations and caves - I definitely recommend it. We went carefully and that's how it was done without any escapades and there was not even a nasty fall. So we could boldly continue two kilometers down the Iľanovská valley, the surface of which was in a similar spirit - mega lots of mega deep snow, which will melt down in half a year, if at all.

Finally we arrive at Za vrátami turn and the climb and the section we are most worried about begins. A little visited place and surprisingly, there is a lot of mega deep snow 😂 the ascent is, just like last year, perhaps long, but it is at least steep - nothing has changed here since then, there is just about 3 times more snow here and it's impossible to run even on flat sections. It is also colder today and we are more wet in our sneakers. Here and there we sink deep up to an "organ", here and there we slide down from the sidewalk. Endless switchbacks through an endless forest. It sucks for me here, just like it did for Katka last year, but I don't lose heart and actually realize how great we are doing, despite the conditions, and that with every next step we are closer to that BLODY Iľanovské sedlo. Just that instead of the word "BLODY" I use much juicier expressions. I curse in my mind and out loud like a woodcutter slash wagoner.

We finally emerge at the signpost and another infinitely long section awaits us - a three-kilometer traverse below Magura and Kurence to the foot of Demänovská hora, which is said to be originally unofficially called Iľanovská or Demänovská Poludnica. The surface is still very difficult to run on, it's a waste of speech and fingers on the keyboard... So I set the cruise control to an admittedly slow but even pace, turn off my head and move forward step by step. I also realize that I am physically and mentally much better than a year ago - I still have the strength to think about climbing to the top of the Demänovská hora this time. Last year, Katka and I skipped it, even though it's only a short distance - about 10 minutes steeply uphill from the sign below the summit. Janko and I discuss various running topics, we run the place where he scared off a bear with two cubs a year ago, and the place where Katka and I found the remains of a wolf feast. We haven't met a single soul since Poludnica, until about half way through this traverse we pass a pair of similarly frazzled people - they were going in the opposite direction.

I follow the route on my watch and eagerly await the hint of a zigzag to the top. However,  all I can see on the display is a straight, now and then curving line ahead. Another never-ending story... But I know that the worst is behind us and Katka will be waiting with her legendary soup under Demänovská hora. The long straight line on the watch display finally turns into a zigzaging curve that leads to the top of Demänovská hora and I shout ooohhhh yes with relief and in a few minutes I'm standing at the signpost where Janko has been waiting for me for a while. This time I don't coax him to the summit, so we say goodbye and he runs home. I crawl upwards, hoping to hang out up there quietly for a while, but it doesn't happen - there's a whole busload of people there (without the bus, of course 😅), probably some kind of tour. Disappointed, I quickly eat a peel with butter and salt, wash it down with tea (BTW, a peel with butter and salt kicks brutally hard 💪), I write to Katka that in about half to three quarters of an hour I'll be down at the meeting point and I'm running away. The views from the trail are like that:

The timing worked out perfectly, Katka and Martin meet me in the parking lot at ATC Bystrina. They went skiing in a nearby resort, so I console myself that I probably didn't disturb them too much that day. Katka drives up like Fittipaldi, skids into park, jumps out of the car and in a second pulls out a small gas cooker, soup, necessary utensils and lays it all out right in the parking lot. While the while the soup heats up, Martin compliments me that I look bad (literally: How is it going? Well, great, cool.. Are you sure? Because it doesn't look like that... Oh, thanks for the compliment 😂). It's a good thing that those gentlemen haven't become extinct yet 💗 Meeting these folks always uplifts the spirit, warms a person, brightens the mind and makes a beautiful day even more beautiful. I guzzle hot life-giving soup, we chat, we laugh, and I am incredibly grateful to them for these moments.

After replenishing solid and cosmic energy, I move on. I have the final 11 kilometers through three villages and plus or minus 200 meters of elevation. Down here, the sun is heating nicely, so I throw down the wind jacket and trot through the snow-soaked meadows in the direction of Ploštín. From there, following the asphalt lane through three hills to Závažná Poruba. I don't want to rush at all, I enjoy the warm rays of the sun, enjoy the beautiful views and just chill there jogging lazily. The sun slowly descends towards the horizon. Between Závažná Poruba and Liptovský Ján there is only a muddy field road. I try to hop over the least muddy areas, but I'm not very successful. So I end with one more moan - hell, that's why I washed those sneakers in the snow for ten hours, so I could dye them a nice slimy-brown 🤷. At least everyone will believe me that I was really somewhere out there today 😁

I run further up Liptovsky Ján and stop my watch in the parking lot. The final time is 10 hours and 21 minutes, which is ten minutes better than a year ago. Considering the given conditions, I am satisfied - compared to 2021, today's route was two kilometers longer, 400 meters higher and 3000 tons of snow heavier. So for the fact that we went so slowly, we went pretty fast 😁

Thanks again to everyone involved and I'll be looking forward to the summer version of L50 with you 💗