Long-lived tree species optimize resource allocation processes, and there are likely trade-offs between the growth and response to environmental stressful conditions. The study aims to investigate the growth of healthy and declining Norway spruce trees using dendrochronological analysis. We have selected a natural high mountain spruce population and established 27 sampling plots in Poľana Mts. We measured 270 trees, from which we visually evaluated 133 individuals. Moreover, 51 trees were sampled for increment cores. Our study reveals thatspecific extreme combination of winter, spring and summer temperatures and precipitation sums within the particular year 1974 induced long-term growth divergence of neighboring spruce trees of comparable age and size and differentiated between healthy and declining (highly defoliated) trees. This period accounts for a decrease in size of relativized increments by 30.2% in declining trees compared to visually healthy individuals. Trees with a low ability to recover from climatic stress compensate the response to environmental conditions by lower growth rates. In high mountain temperate forests, the long-term growth decline of spruce trees last about 40 years. The single-tree selection silvicultural system should be preferred in high mountain conditions, where frequent small-scale, low-intensity disturbances drive stand dynamics. Trees showing low growth resilience to revealed combination of weather conditions should be preferentially removed from stands , especially within the transformation of even-aged spruce monocultures using selective cuttings.