Cross-Country and Ski Touring at Chopok South: Trails and Avalanches

Where to go cross-country skiing from Bystrá

The south side of the Low Tatras has no single big cross-country resort. It has three smaller areas of different character:

• Čertovica and Jarabá - the most groomed trails, in mountain terrain around the Čertovica pass (1,238 m).
• Pohanské - about 15 km of trails in four loops, by the road from Brezno to Mýto pod Ďumbierom.
• Ski Tále - four short loops by the ski resort, good for the first steps on cross-country skis.

Cross-country trails in the south are groomed only when there is enough snow. Always check the situation on the operator’s website before you set out. At Čertovica they publish after every grooming which trails are passable and what the snow is like.

Čertovica: the most groomed trails

The trails at Čertovica and Jarabá are groomed and marked by the civic association Horské spoločenstvo. They include the Čertovická trail, the Jarabská trail, Malý Líščí loop, Veľký Čučoriedkový loop, and the Mýtňanská and Braväcká trails. They are groomed at weekends and regularly once or twice during the week, when the snow allows. On bezkycertovica.sk each trail shows the date of the last grooming and a description of the snow; the track is for both classic and skating.

Cross-country skiers pay for grooming through a contribution. In winter 2025/26 it was:

• €5 a day in cash into the box at the start of the trail at Čertovica and at Jarabá, or by QR payment from a banking app,
• €6 a day by text message in the format “certovica” to number 8866,
• season pass €40 online, at TIC Brezno or at TIC Horehronie in Bystrá. With the Horehronie Card it was 10% cheaper at these TICs.

The car park by the Čertovica ski resort cost €5 a day on working days and €10 at weekends, public holidays and school holidays. At Jarabá you can park free, for example at the Bachláč car park (about 50 spaces) or in front of the chalet in the village. You can hire cross-country skis at the Mountain Rescue Service hut at Čertovica; a complete set cost €17 a day.

Pohanské and Tále: shorter loops

Pohanské has, according to the Mýto resort, about 15 km of groomed trails. Four loops lead from Pohanské towards Dedečkova chata: Pohanské 5.1 km, Krajčovo 3.5 km, Diel 1.5 km and Vysielač 4 km. Depending on conditions, the connecting trails are groomed too, among them the trail to Čertovica (9.9 km). Entry costs €2 per person and is paid by text message in the format “POHANSKE” to number 8866. At the start of the trails there is a café, and at the end of the loops a mountain chalet with a restaurant.

Ski Tále has four loops, 5.5 km in total:

• red 3 km, medium difficulty,
• green 500 m, easy training loop,
• brown and pink, each 1 km, easy.

According to the resort they run only when there is enough natural snow. According to the trail map, pedestrians and dogs are not allowed on them. They are enough for a first day on cross-country skis; for an all-day trip, go to Čertovica instead.

Ski touring in Jasná: routes from Krupová and Srdiečko

The Jasná resort has marked ascent routes for ski tourers. On the south side they lead from Krupová and from Srdiečko via Kosodrevina and Dereše up under the summit of Chopok. The resort publishes a map of the permitted routes on jasna.sk.

The rules for winter 2025/26:

• time: the routes are open from 8:30 to 16:00. Before the start and after the end of operating hours, entering the routes and pistes is forbidden, because of the risk of injury on snow gun cables and the winch cables of winch-assisted snow groomers.
• ticket: a day ski touring ticket cost €7 online and €9 at the ticket desk in the client centres at Krupová and Biela Púť. The ski touring season pass cost €99 and was sold online only.
• who does not pay extra: holders of a ski pass for that day, a Gopass season pass or a ticket as part of a stay.
• checks: eligibility is checked in the field by the ski patrol, and you show your Gopass card.

The ski touring ticket is not valid for the lifts. Anyone who buys the ski touring ticket online via Gopass gets a discount on parking. In winter 2025/26 evening ski touring was only on the north side, on the Chaletová piste.

The resort’s instructions remind you that ski touring is at your own risk. You climb along marked corridors, and you must watch for skiers on the piste, especially below summits, in narrow and steep places and when crossing a piste. The routes run through the Low Tatras National Park, so the park’s visitor rules and the Mountain Rescue Service’s instructions apply as well. Dogs are forbidden on pistes and ski touring routes.

Ski touring in Mýto and the ban in Tále

Mýto Ski & Bike lets ski tourers in only during the resort’s operating hours, with a ticket bought through the turnstile and on the marked routes. The ticket cost €9 in winter 2025/26, €8 in spring, and the ski touring season pass €99. At the machine you can pay by card only.

Ski Tále does not allow ski touring. According to the 2025/26 operating rules the resort runs no ski touring routes and ski touring is banned across the whole resort.

Avalanches and safety

The avalanche forecast for the Slovak mountains is issued daily in winter by the Avalanche Prevention and Education Centre of the Mountain Rescue Service (HZS). You will find it at laviny.sk and in the free HZS app, which can also send your position when you call the emergency line. In Jasná the current level is shown on electronic maps at Krupová, at Srdiečko and on Chopok, and in front of the Rotunda there is an avalanche transceiver checkpoint.

From the HZS instructions for ski tourers (January 2026):

• do not set out on a tour when danger level 4 or 5 is declared,
• carry an avalanche transceiver, a probe and a shovel,
• plan the tour so that you are back in daylight,
• if the weather worsens, end the tour and turn back.

Outside the resort’s marked routes you are in the national park, where you may not walk everywhere. If you go into Jasná’s freeride zones, the same applies: avalanche transceiver, probe and shovel. In an emergency call the Mountain Rescue Service on 18 300.

Getting there from Bystrá

To Krupová and to Tále it is a few minutes by car from Bystrá, to Čertovica a good deal longer, via Mýto pod Ďumbierom and Jarabá. You will find the exact distances in the box above.

Without a car the Horehronie ski bus helps; in winter it also runs as a cross-country ski bus (bežkobus) and stops at the cross-country trails at Pohanské, at Čertovica and in Tále. With the Horehronie Card it is free. In winter 2025/26 it ran daily during the Christmas and spring holidays and at weekends from 10 January to 8 March 2026. From the Bystrá, Hotel Bystrá stop a service left at 9:38 for Čertovica (arriving 10:09), and you could come back at 14:43. The timetable for winter 2026/27 has not been published yet.

What to combine it with

If you would rather go up Chopok by gondola, you will find prices and parking in the article Chopok South ski passes. Save the Ďumbier hike from Trangoška for summer, and for a day with children try the smaller Tále and Mýto resorts.

At Bosorka Apartments skis, skins and cross-country skis fit in the ski room, and wet things dry by the thermostat in the room. You will find more about winter below Chopok on the Skiing Chopok South page.