LOPALEWSKI

Yes, it is already January 2026, but one can never have too many summaries.
2025 passed somehow very quickly, yet I managed to visit a handful of truly enchanting places.
They were moments of respite in the everyday rush — a rush towards what, exactly?
A difficult question. Let us leave it unanswered.

Below is a list of my small wonders of 2025.
And may there be at least as many in the year that has just begun.

The Sowie Mountains.
A place filled with silence, history, mysteries and beautiful nature.
I will return — all the more gladly, as it lies very close to home.

Val di Fiemme and Val di Sole.
The Dolomites are the Dolomites — their grandeur never fails to impress me.
And their closeness, their almost tangible presence while skiing, makes these valleys among my favourite winter places.

The Tatra Mountains.
I no longer know which visit this was, but this time — between winter and spring.

Limone.
A return to Lake Garda, lemon-scented, full of flavour.

Gdańsk.
Paths so well trodden, and yet the desire to return remains just as strong.

The Gorce and the Beskid Mountains.
The beauty of nature, places less obvious, perhaps still partly undiscovered.
And may they remain so.

Glaciers.
Kitzsteinhorn and Stubai — the highest points of the Salzburg and Tyrol regions.
Where altitude and space take your breath away.
Literally and metaphorically.

A beautiful start to the year on the „Alpine Roof” – return to the Ziller Valley and its spectacular end – the Hintertux Glacier.

The first time I was there during a pandemic, slightly letting go. It was summer, 2020. After difficult months, I decided that … summer skiing will be the thing that will allow me to break away from everyday topics. It was an exotic, wonderful experience.

I returned to the glacier last winter in the wonderful company of my son and friends. The weather was good and the views fed the senses.

The last trip was as wonderful as the previous ones, despite the spring in the middle of winter. At an altitude of 3,250 meters, the temperature was only -0.4 degrees, at 2,660 meters +4, and at 2,250 meters almost +9 … It’s hard not to notice climatic changes in the high mountains. So let’s enjoy skiing while we still can…