87: Berliner Hut (Zillertal Alps)
88: Plauener Hut (Zillertal Alps)
89: Grutten Hut (Kaisergebirge)
90: Brechhornhaus (Kitzbüheler Alps)
91: Bochumer Hut (Kitzbüheler Alps)
92: Schönleiten Hut (Kitzbüheler Alps)
93: Bürgl Hut (Kitzbüheler Alps)
94: Statzerhaus (Salzburger Schiefer Alps)
95: Salzburger Hut (Glockner Group)
96: Kals-Matreier-Törlhaus (Granatspitz Group)
97: Nassfeldhaus (Carnic Alps)
98: Julius-Seitner Hut (Türnitzer Alps)
The Julian Alps
99: Triglav Lakes Hut (Julian Alps)
100: Bogatinom Hut (Julian Alps)
APPENDIX A Useful Addresses
APPENDIX B Suggested Equipment List
APPENDIX C Glossary
APPENDIX D Bibliography
The Mont Blanc range seen across Lac Léman (photo: Jonathan Williams)
The Ticino has a range of outstanding huts catering for walkers in a quiet part of the Alps (photo: Jonathan Williams)
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
The opportunity to produce a new edition of this guide has enabled me to update the previous edition, replace a handful of routes and introduce some new huts. That is not to suggest that those no longer included were lacking in interest – either the huts or their routes of approach – but were sacrificed to give a slightly better balance to the collection. Once again I have been encouraged by users of previous editions of the book who wrote to share their experiences and suggest other routes to include. They have my thanks, as do the hut guardians and members of various Alpine Clubs who keep the huts maintained and waymark many of the trails. I’m grateful as ever to Switzerland Tourism for generous assistance during research, to Jonathan Williams and his team at Cicerone Press for their continued support and encouragement, and to my wife who makes it all worthwhile.
Kev Reynolds
INTRODUCTION
The Mont Blanc massif seen from the Col d’Anterne. The Brévent is in the foreground (photo: Jonathan Williams)
Extending in a huge arc of more than 1000km (620 miles) from the Mediterranean coast near Nice to the low, wooded foothills outside Vienna, the Alps display the full gamut of mountain landscape features. With such a varied panoply of dramatic and spectacular scenery, there’s nothing remotely comparable anywhere else in Europe – maybe in the World – and for two centuries and more walkers, mountaineers and general tourists have been flocking there in increasing numbers, and coming away enriched.
Walking is unquestionably the best method of exploring, and it is the mountain walker for whom journeys in the Alps reveal some of the finest views, the greatest contrasts. This book then is a guide to just 100 walks out of the many thousands possible, with a geographical span that ranges from the Maritime Alps of southern France to the Julians of Slovenia, from Italy’s Gran Paradiso to the little-known Türnitzer Alps of eastern Austria, from the ice-bound giants of the Bernese Oberland to the green rolling Kitzbüheler Alps and the bizarre towers of the Dolomites of South Tirol, the routes having been especially selected in an attempt to show the amazing diversity of this wonderful mountain chain.
There are walks to suit every taste: gentle and undemanding, long and tough, and everything in between. Most of the routes avoid climbing of a technical nature, beyond the odd scramble aided by a fixed rope. Glacier crossings where crevasses lurk for the unwary have also been avoided in the main, although just a small handful of walks stray onto ice in order to reach a distant hut. And it is, of course, the huts which give this collection a unique flavour.
Mountain huts are found right across the Alpine chain and provide a focus for these walks. On some of the outings a hut will be reached in time to have lunch in the dining room, or outside on the terrace with a view, and then return to your valley base. But some are located too far from the valley to make a round-trip in a single day, so one would need to spend a night there. On a few occasions I’ve suggested making a short hut to hut tour, as an introduction to one of the most satisfying methods of spending an active mountain holiday. Some of the huts visited will be familiar to regular Alpine walkers and climbers, but I’ve also included a number that are likely to be unheard of. Each has its particular merit, its own character, and will be worth seeking out.
Mountain Huts
Private hut above Les Contamines (photo: Jonathan Williams)
The Alpine hut system is a tremendous boon to both walkers and climbers. Initially built as simple overnight bases in order to reduce the time mountaineers might need to tackle a chosen peak, a comprehensive series of huts (cabane, capanna, refuge, or rifugio) gradually developed that were of use to mountain walkers too. It is now virtually possible to traverse the Alps from one end to the other using huts throughout.
Most have been built by mountaineering clubs, but there are many – especially in Austria – that are privately-owned but open to all. Accommodation is not cheap, so if it is your intention to stay in a number of them during your holiday, consider joining the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) or an Alpine club to benefit from a discount on each overnight, although meals are not subject to reductions. Note that in Italian huts members should be of the same nationality as the club they belong to in order to benefit from discounts. Addresses are given in Appendix A, but it is worth noting that it is cheaper to join the Austrian Alpine Club, which has a UK branch, whose membership card is accepted for reduced rates in all huts other than those that are privately owned. (Another benefit of AAC membership is that of automatic insurance for mountain rescue, medical treatment and repatriation worldwide.)
Strategically placed, most huts visited in this book are looked after in the summer season by a guardian, or warden, who provides hot meals, snacks and drinks. French huts sometimes have a separate room for self-catering where you can prepare food on your own stove. Meals provided by the guardian are usually served at set times. They may not be haute cuisine, other than by definition of the hut’s altitude, but they are often good and fairly substantial as to quantity – apart from breakfast, that is. In huts owned by the Austrian Alpine Club there’s usually a choice of menu, the cheapest item being the Bergsteigeressen (literally the mountaineer’s meal) which must contain at least 500 calories. It is often possible to buy a jug of boiled water to make your own hot drinks, so it’s worth taking your own tea bags or coffee. A bag of muesli, pre-mixed with milk powder (simply add water), could also be carried to enhance a breakfast that would otherwise be limited to a few meagre slices of bread and jam or cheese.
Sleeping arrangements in huts vary little from one