Hutting in Austria

Fancy trying a hutting holiday? 

Nurnberger Hütte in the Stubai Alps

Hutting is a great way to enjoy mountains like The Alps, hiking between remote mountain hotels at around 2000m. Once up at that level, you follow waymarked paths, contouring along mountainsides, traversing cols and avoiding too many long ascents and descents. On a clear day the scenery can be stunning. You won't often see many people between huts, except a few at midday doing the route in the opposite direction. You'll probably come across marmots and steinbock, with birds of prey circling overhead.

A mountainside path in the Verwall Circuit

In making your decision, you need to find a place you can get to reasonably easily, a route within your capabilities, the type of scenery you want and pick the right time of year. 

We started with the Stubai Alps in 2006, because there is an English language guide book.  This is a well-known route, so possibly a little more crowded than the others.  We progressed to the superb Verwall Circuit, based on a leaflet in German we picked up. Next came a Schober/Grossglockner tour we planned from the start using paper maps and hut information on the web. Our last route was a tour in the Venediger area we also planned from the start.  After our first trip, we favoured areas within national parks, as they were free of ski infrastructure. Paths are usually well marked with red and white paint on the rocks. Signposts at junctions gives times, rather then distances to the next feature.

Facilities in huts (applies to Austria only, 2012 prices)

Socialising with German hikers

Meals and drinks (including beer) are available.  Breakfast is pricey but subsidises the hut - €9 for 2 or 3 slices of bread, jam and butter (ham and cheese available if you pay more).  The evening meal is only €7 or 8 for "Bersteigeressen" (for members only; usually pasta Bolognese); €10 upwards for other meals.  Lager is about €4/3.50 / half litre.  Tea water (hot water) is €1.3/half litre (members only).  You can also pay for half board if you want 3 courses in the evening.  Some huts are supplied by helicopter so tend to be more expensive for the food and drink; others are supplied by cable lift from the valley.

Huts are usually linked to a parent club, mostly from German and Austrian towns. Many Hütten were constructed at the end of the 19th century as bases for club members to go climbing and exploring the alps. They are often named after the relevant town or a prominent alpinist.

Sleeping platforms (Larger) in the Elberfelderhütte

You sleep in either mixed dormitories (often quite small) or lager.  We normally take bunk beds in dormitories (if available) and sometimes have a room to ourselves.  Lager are wide sleeping platforms with individual places on a shared mattress.  They may be one level or two (like a giant bunk bed).  If you are in the middle of the upper deck, it's advisable not too drink too much!  However, we've always ended up on the lower deck or in a single storey one.  On occasion, lager can be compartmentalised so they are just like bunk beds in a dormitory.  If everything is full, you have a notlager – a mattress on a floor or table.  Members' prices (half-rate) are of the order of €12-13 for a dorm bed; €8-10 for a lager and €5 for a notlager.  You need to carry a sheet sleeping bag; blankets and pillows are supplied.

Hot water is unusual: many huts have limited supplies heated by solar panels and, unless you are a fast walker, it will have run out by the time you get there – always assuming it’s sunny. A few have an electric shower (usually for a high fee).  However, virtually all (excluding bivouacs) have running cold water in wash rooms and inside flush toilets.

Alpine Association membership and insurance

In France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Slovenia and Liechtenstein. you get a half price overnight fee in huts if you are a member of an Alpine Association (separate, more expensive, arrangements operate in Scandinavia). We joined the Austrian Alpine Club (which has a UK section) - this is good value.

Mountain Rescue helicopter

AAC membership also includes insurance to cover your rescue costs, repatriation and limited medical care.  This is useful as normal travel policies often exclude mountain walking.  (Our own policy covers us for mountain walking on recognised paths, without ropes and without ice axes.  Other policies exclude walking above 2000m or charge a supplement for hill/mountain walking.  There is an element of doubt about my own policy as I have assumed they mean you should not carry ropes or ice axes; they could mean the paths should not have fixed ropes (they do) and using crampons could count against us.)

Most important, AAC membership means you can not be turned away from a hut.

Skills and equipment

Retreating after overnight snow

If you are not skilled in ice and snow walking you need to check that your route will not present too many hazards.  You are likely to encounter residual ice in July, but snow can fall any time of the year.  Snow makes navigation more difficult (waymarks covered.)  If heavy, the huts close and navigation becomes near impossible. You can not make progress in thick soft snow without snow shoes and you then have to make your way down to the valley. It is a good idea to have a plan B (fixed centre) in case snow or bad weather makes high level walking too difficult or dangerous. Be prepared to make more than one attempt at a circuit: there may be too much snow the first time you travel there.

Clipped onto fixed ropes

We avoid any routes that require climbing equipment. We take carabineers on a length of tape that goes round the waist so you are able to clip yourself to the fixed steel ropes and ladders.  Not strictly necessary but a help when/if you have to traverse across a smoothish rock face.

Footwear

Using Microspikes to cross a glacier

Glaciers vary, they can be:
·    covered in grit and able to be crossed in normal boots;
·    requiring crampons but no real skills (no crevasses);
·    dangerous glaciers with crevasses for experts only with ropes, Prusik loops, crampons and ice axes. 

As a minimum you need walking poles and robust 3 season boots with stiff soles as you will spend a lot of time on boulder fields/scree and scrambling.

We used crampons once on the Verwall Runde, but try to plan routes without the need for crampons, to save weight and bulk. We now take Microspikes mini-crampons that fit under the instep.  The better ones cover the whole foot and are fine for short glacier crossings – though still not a crampons substitute.

Maps

Reasonable maps are available for all Alpine areas.  For Austria 1:50k maps are easily available in the UK (Freytag and Berndt, and Kompass) and are good for seeing paths and bus stops.  However, the 1:25k maps from the Alpenverein (members can order at reduced price through AAC) are better. We do not recommend smart phones, as there are no facilities for charging your battery.  We carried a basic mobile phone each for calling ahead to huts and for emergencies and the battery barely lasted. 

Time of year

A hot day in the Stubai Alps

Huts tend to be open from the end of June until mid September. Some time around late August/early September, snow often closes the huts, except for those open for ski touring.  In July there could be a lot of ice still about.  In August the huts are crowded.  We tend to start a trip mid-week, avoiding an overcrowded first hut at the weekend, when most people start a circuit.  In September, if you get a dump of snow it is likely to last (in July/August it will probably melt in a day or two).  We have always gone in the first part of September – any later and there will be too much snow – and have managed the trip four times out of five without excessive snow.  One year we ended up staying in the valley.

Location

Wangenitzseehütte (Schober Group)

In planning your destination, you need to bear in mind that the area around ski lifts can be unsightly in summer.  Also huts and paths near summer lifts will be more crowded. We have gone to the Schober/Grossglockner area in the Hohe Tauern National Park to avoid the skiing areas.  On the other hand, lifts can save you climbing/descending at the start/end of your holiday.

Countries

We have so far restricted ourselves to Austria as it has a very good network of alpine association huts, is suitable for non-mountaineers, is a reasonable price and has good public transport which goes to out of the way places – for walking.  Other options we have considered include:

Germany We have had fixed base holidays here.  The Bavarian Alps are very similar to Austria and the huts are similar.

Other areas where hutting is possible, but we have rejected or not seriously considered include:

• Bulgaria  Long treks, poor waymarking, unreliable opening and meals.
• France  Alpine Refuges + gite d'étapes means ups and downs to valleys.
• Iceland  Very short season so huts are crowded.
• Italy  Very scenic in the Dolomites but hot and transport not as good.
• Norway (Jotunheim) Some long muddy treks and tight connections on public transport.
• Slovenia  Long treks, large huts, no drinking/washing water at many.
• Switzerland  Geared towards climbers.

Getting there

For Austria/Germany the airports worth looking at, involving flights then train/bus are: Munich, Memmingen, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt and Friedrischafen.

Further information

There is a wealth of information on the web.  It is often better to search using google.de (for Germany and Austria) and google.fr (for France).  Useful sites include:

• Hut search https://www.alpenverein.at/huetten/finder.php  or
• https://www.alpenverein.de/DAV-Services/Huettensuche/ 
• Map of Austria http://www.austrianmap.at/amap/index.php
• Transport https://www.postbus.at/de/  and https://www.oebb.at/
• and https://www.bahn.de/p/view/index.shtml (can be better than the Austrian train site)
• AAC https://www.aacuk.org.uk/
• Various paths are listed on the AAC site http://www.alpenverein.at/portal/berg-aktiv/wege-touren/trekkingrouten/index.php

Photo albums

Stubai Alps   Verwall attempt     Verwall circuit    Schober Group  Venediger Hohenweg