Next to the window where visitors order meals at the Zbojnícka chata mountain hut, a sign reads “Wi-Fi password”. Beneath it is a 52-character alphanumeric code that looks like it was created by someone simply smashing randomly at the keyboard.

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According to the staff, the password is fake — there is no Internet connection at the hut. Yet visitors still try, patiently entering it into their phones.

Such moments illustrate how rare connectivity remains in the mountain huts of the High Tatras — one of the few places in Slovakia still beyond the reach of the Internet.

But that may soon change.

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Problematic selection

At the end of August, the Slovak Tourist Club (KST) and the Slovak Mountaineering Association James concluded a selection process for new hut keepers – and sparked a row that has involved petitions, sponsors distancing themselves from KST, and calls for dismissal of the KST chair.

The selection was for the keeper positions at four huts – Chata pri Zelenom plese, Zbojnícka chata, Chata pod Rysmi and Téryho chata. While the current keepers of the first two of those will remain in place for the next five years, there will be new keepers at Chata pod Rysmi and Téryho chata.

This means that after almost 50 years, Viktor Beránek, who has become an almost legendary figure among mountain hut keepers in Slovakia, will no longer be keeper at Chata pod Rysmi. He was succeeded by Ján Ševčík on November 1.

At Téryho chata, Tomáš Hvizdák is replacing Peter Michalko.

The Téryho Chata mountain hut. (source: Matúš Beno)

Soon after the results were announced, Beránek criticised the selection process as non-transparent, noting that both Ševčík and Hvizdák hold positions within KST committees and claimed that a group formed within KST that supported its own members for the post.

Hvizdák is a member of the club’s executive committee, while Ševčík is listed among the members of the property committee.

“Today, decisions are made differently. Whoever offers more, gets the hut. It doesn’t matter whether they have worked there for years, carried hundreds of kilos on their back, or sacrificed the comfort of their own family,” Beránek said.

He dismissed the selection procedure as a farce and alleged its result had been pre-determined.

In a video response, KST chair Peter Švec paid tribute to Beránek, expressing deep respect and admiration for him, but said Beránek’s post had included half-truths and falsehoods.

Regarding the selection process, Švec clarified that the highest bids did not automatically win and that evaluation criteria also included plans and projects for the next five years, and the ability of a keeper to demonstrate they could achieve these goals.

In a later interview with the Korzár daily, Švec argued that one of the criteria was a willingness to introduce modern payment systems, such as online terminals and cash registers, with the end goal being increased transparency at the huts. According to him, both Ševčík and Hvizdák were the first candidates willing to introduce them.

“The keepers say that it cannot be done, it’s not possible, but in practice these [the huts] are legal tax havens. These are things we didn’t want to go public with, but after all this we will have to,” Švec said, adding that any internet connection in the huts would not have to be public, but needs to be there for communication with mountain rescuers.

Change of mind

Soon after, an on-line petition was launched calling for a re-assessment of the selection, or an entirely new selection process with a live video feed, was to either reassess the selection, or to hold a new one with a live video feed.

The petition, which was signed by more than 10,000 people, voiced support for Beránek, saying that through his work and personal commitment to his job he has become a symbol of alpine tourism, raised and inspired generations of young hikers and climbers, and made the hut he kept for 50 years unique.

“We are convinced that the continuity and tradition represented by Viktor Beránek has an irreplaceable value for Slovak tourism and mountain culture which goes beyond the economic criteria of the selection procedure,” the petition read.

The Slovak Mountaineering Association James (SHS), a minority co-owner of the huts, also criticised the selection. Its chair, Anton Pacek, and another SHS member were part of the seven-member selection committee; the remaining five were appointed by KST.

The TASR newswire reported that both KST and SHS met last year and agreed they were satisfied with how the huts had been maintained and no one insisted on a new selection. Yet, some weeks later Pacek was told a selection process would be launched, citing a need for transparency of how the huts are rented.