There is one extraordinary profession that has survived in the High Tatras to this day, even though various means of transportation have gradually replaced it worldwide. It is so unique that it has been added to the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Slovakia.
The Representative List symbolises recognition of exceptional forms of folk and traditional expressions that receive international support and protection, as well as the possibility of being put on the UNESCO world list. Unique alpine load bearers were added there in 2018. All the knowledge and experiences related to load bearing or carrying are passed only by word of mouth – through direct communication from generation to generation. It involves knowledge related to making special wooden pack frames called “krošňa” in Slovak (that are used for carrying loads), methods of putting the load on one’s back and the technique of carrying loads, which can exceed 100 kg. This demanding profession is performed in harsh conditions by respecting the surrounding landscape and nature. Manual load bearing in the mountains is a remarkable ecological form of transport that is not easily found around the world.
The origins of load bearing
The first visitors to the High Tatras – herbalists, shepherds carrying sheep to inaccessible places, hunters and poachers, smugglers or miners looking for various treasures can be considered the predecessors of the Tatra load bearers.
From the 16th century, wealthier tourists, researchers and later photographers explored the Tatras. Shepherds or poachers familiar with the terrain offered them guiding and load bearing services. In the second half of the 17th century, the load bearer and guide profession began to develop as a new occupation for the people living at the foothills of the Tatras. Load bearers carried all building materials needed for the construction of Tatra chalets in canvases and baskets which were replaced by wooden pack frames (“krošňa” in Slovak) only in the 20th century and are used still today. Load bearers helped also build the cable car running to Mt Lomnický štít, where human power was the only possible way to carry more than 100 tons of material to the summit.
This profession requires physical and mental strength because load bearers are often accompanied only by heavy loads and inclement weather. On their backs, they carry food, fuel, laundry, building materials, or souvenirs to six chalets in the High Tatras: Chalet below Mt Rysy, Zbojnícka chalet, Rainer’s hut, Zamkovský’s chalet, Téry’s chalet and materials from the cable car station in Skalnaté pleso to Skalnatá chalet. Other chalets are accessible by cable cars or motor vehicles. On the way to the chalet, load bearers often surpass themselves and break old records. They “compete” as for the number of their load bearing trips per day, the maximum weight of their load or the most attractive load contents. In addition to seemingly stereotypical supply carrying, they also pit their strength in competitions twice a year: in the “Sherpa Rallye” race by carrying loads weighing 60 kg (women 20 kg), and in the more demanding “Juraj Petranský Memorial”, they carry more – 100 kg load (women 25 kg) from Hrebienok to Zamkovský’s chalet and even during regular tourist hours.
If this extraordinary profession has attracted your attention, don’t hesitate to try load bearing between Popradské pleso and the Chalet below Mt Rysy in summer. You’ll be rewarded with a cup of tasty tea (the material is prepared for interested parties at the beginning of the trail running from Popradské pleso (tarn) to the chalet). This profession, currently practised mainly by young volunteers and experienced load bearers alongside their regular jobs, is the main focus of a museum in the so-called Swiss House (Švajčiarsky dom) in Starý Smokovec, where the certificate of the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Slovakia is on display too.
