Volosyanka - Khashchovanya - Verkhniy Studeniy - Nyzhniy Studeniy - Pylypets - mountain ridge Polonyna Borzhava (Mt. Gemba, Mt. Kurtiy, Mt. Midyanytska, Mt. Magura-Zhyde, Mt. Grab, Mt. Opolonok, Pryslip Pass) - Lozyanskiy - Mizhhirya

Distance: 53.8 km / 33.6 mi (at least 21.5 km / 13.5 mi on either very bad pavement or dirt roads - shown in green on the map; at least 29.8 km / 18.6 mi off-road shown in red on the map). A confirmed descent (escape route) via the village of Tyushka is shown in different shades of orange. A paved alternative to riding Polonyna Borzhava is shown in purple.

Elevation: gain 2418 m / 7933 ft; drop 2358 m / 7736 ft

Gradient: n/a at this time

It is unclear how bad the "forest road" (according to a Ukrainian map) between Khashchovanya and Verkhniy Studeniy is. If it is used by loggers, chances are there are very deep ruts and a lot of logs and tree branches scattered around. At this point, this section is assumed to be an "off-road" section. Because of this, this route is suitable only for a mountain bike even if one decides to bypass Polonyna Borzhava and take the paved detour.

One of the highlights of this leg is waterfall Shypit marked with a green pushpin on the map. It is 14 m / 46 ft high. According to many sources, it is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains. 

The biggest highlight of this ride is definitely the traverse of the mountain ridge Polonyna Borzhava. It is a relatively flat-top mostly deforested mountain ridge. If the visibility is good, it provides great views of the valleys on both sides and the surrounding mountain ridges.

However, it involves some serious challenges:

  • There are several paths onto the top of the ridge. Reportedly, only one of them is not too steep to climb on/with a bike (riding all the way up is out of the question no matter which path is taken). However, so far no detailed directions have been found.
  • The path along the top of the ridge is reportedly narrow and at times deep (more like a rut). At times, it gets very rocky.
  • The top of the ridge may not be flat and wide all the time (based on some photos).
  • There is no information available about how steep the descent from the ridge to the village of Lozianskiy may be (most probably very steep) and how rough the surface is. As a matter of fact, there are no reports at all about getting off the ridge there.

Note that there are many passes in the Carpathian Mountains (both in Ukraine and the neighboring countries) called "Pryslop", "Prislop" or "Pryslip" depending on the transliteration (in the local dialect it actually means "pass"). This is just one of them.

There is no water on the ridge!!!

Some variants of the geographic names used on this page (read more about these lists here):

  • Volosianka, Volosyanka, Wołosianka
  • Khashchovania, Khashchovanya, Khaschovania, Khaschovanya, Khashchovane, Khaschovane, Khashchovanoye, Chaszczowanie
  • Verkhniy Studeniy, Verkhniy Studenyy, Verkhniy Studenyi, Verkhnii Studeniy, Verkhnii Studenyy, Verkhnii Studenyi, Felsőhidegpatak, Vyšný Studený
  • Nyzhniy Studeniy, Nyzhniy Studenyy, Nyzhniy Studenyi, Nyzhnii Studeniy, Nyzhnii Studenyy, Nyzhnii Studenyi, Alsóhidegpatak, Nižný Studený
  • Pylypets, Pilipets, Pilipecz, Filipec
  • (Mt.) Kurtiy, Kurtyi, Kurtyy, Kurtii
  • (Mt.) Mydianytska, Mydyanytska, Midianytska, Midyanytska
  • Tiushka, Tyushka
  • Lozianskiy, Lozyanskiy, Lozyanskyy, Lozianskyi, Lozyanskii, Lozianskii
  • Mizhhiria, Mizhhirya, Miżhirja, Ökörmező, Mežhorje, Mezhgorye, Wołowe, Volovo (not to be confused with Volovets)
  • Shypit, Shypot
  • (Mountain ridge) Polonyna Borzhava, Borzsa-havas, Polonina Boržava, Połonina Borżawa

 

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, this is a draft and, as such, may or may not be accurate.
Use at your own risk.