Coping with altitude
The average altitude of the tour(s) is in the region of 2500m to 3000m (8000 to 10,000ft). It is therefore not normal for people visiting the Hohe Tauern to suffer badly from altitude sickness. However that is not to say you will not feel the effects of altitude, such as feeling out of puff, a mild headache and slowed pace, particularly on the high peaks of the Gross Venediger and Gross Glockner.
The best defence against altitude is to be as fit as possible, to eat and drink normally and to get adequate sleep.
European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)
This card, previously known as the E111, is available free from any post office: all you have to do is fill in the form to receive a credit card sized EHIC identity card that will entitle you to free medical care in any EU member state. Should you be unfortunate enough to need medical attention while on holiday then this card will help. However the EHIC only entitles you to those services provided free in the member state. It does not cover any aspect of medical repatriation.
The top and bottom line with the EHIC is that you will still need to be insured.
Emergencies, Mountain Rescue and Insurance
All the routes described in this book involve sustained activity in a mountain environment. Inevitably this increases the risk of an accident taking place. This means that a severe fall, breaking a limb or some other serious mishap will result in the mountain rescue team being called out.
As noted elsewhere one of the benefits of membership of the OeAV (Austrian Alpine Club) is mountain rescue insurance in case of accident. This can be supplemented from a specialist insurance company; details of some of these are available from the Austrian Alpine Club UK section or by simply scanning the adverts in one of the many climbing magazines. Similarly the British Mountaineering Council, the BMC, has an excellent insurance policy, which is available to non-members.
The value of insurance should not be underestimated as the cost of a mountain rescue can be considerable when helicopters, police and professional mountain guides are brought into use. Unlike in the UK, where mountain rescue services are generally provided free, in the Alps most countries will charge the hapless victim. Be warned!
Mountain rescue is as much about prevention as it is about cure so please practise your glacier travel before you go. Check out all your gear and practise the time-consuming tasks of putting on crampons/harnesses/roping up; and then practise your crevasse rescue techniques. Basic though this may seem I am still amazed how often we forget to do this and how often we get it wrong.
EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS IN AUSTRIA
It is worth remembering that emergency services operate on a different satellite frequency and that the following numbers can be dialled from a mobile telephone even when the phone indicates there is no reception from your service provider. Fortunately in Austria mobile telephone reception is excellent.
Mountain Rescue (Bergrettung) 140
Red Cross (Rotes Kreutz) 144
European emergency telephone number 112
Alpine Distress Signal
Help required: signalled by shouting, whistling or flashing a torch 6 times at 10 second intervals. Then a pause for one minute then repeat.
Answer received: signalled by shouting, whistle or flashing a torch at 20 second intervals. Then a pause for one minute then repeat.
Signals to Helicopters
Help required: arms outstretched, feet together to give a bold Y outline as in YES, help is required.
All is well: one arm raised above the head, one arm lowered to give an N outline as in NO, help not required.
The Austrian Alpine Club
Founded in 1862, huts throughout the Hohe Tauern are administered by the Austrian Alpine Club (Oesterreichischer Alpenverein, OeAV), founded in 1862, or by the German Alpine Club (DAV), except for those that are private or belong to the Oesterreichischer Touristen Klub (the OeTK) and those in the South Tyrol which are owned and administered by the Italian Alpine Club (CAI).
Membership of the Austrian Alpine Club is open to all regardless of ability and is recommended because of the reduced hut rates and the provision of mountain rescue insurance that comes with it.
The United Kingdom section of the OeAV was formed in 1948, just after World War II, to foster Austro-Anglo relationships between like-minded people in the spirit of mountaineering and to make membership easier for British mountaineers.
Presently the Club has over 6000 UK members. Current annual membership rates are £38 for adults, £66.50 for a husband and wife or family group, £28.50 for seniors and juveniles. On acceptance of membership, the Club provides an excellent Members’ Handbook packed with useful information.
The Club’s principal activities include development and provision of mountain huts, marking and maintenance of footpaths, the production of maps and guidebooks and the organising of mountaineering courses and expeditions. In addition the Club is becoming increasingly involved in environmental issues, particularly activities that are seen to spoil the mountains by either physical or visual pollution.
The Austrian Alpine Club enjoys full reciprocal rights agreements with the alpine clubs of France (CAF), Switzerland (CAS), Italy (CAI) and Germany (DAV). This means that while in the Reichen group, should you cross into the South Tyrol to stay at the Birnlucken Hut you will pay the same fees as those enjoyed by members of the Italian Alpine Club, and vice versa.
The Austrian Alpine Club also has a thriving UK Section which has an active indoor and outdoor meets programme to suit most members and publishes a quarterly newsletter (see www.aacuk.org.uk and Appendix A for full contact information).
About Huts
The word ‘hut’ is a misnomer as all the huts in the Hohe Tauern as described here are more akin to mountain inns or guest houses, and provide simple overnight accommodation in the form of rooms or dormitories together with some form of restaurant service (see ‘Meals and Menus’ below). This means that if you are travelling through the mountains you do not have to return to the valley to stock up on provisions every few days.
On arrival at a hut it is essential that you make contact with the hut guardian (the huttenwirt). Normally this is a husband and wife team, with the husband sometimes being a mountain guide (Bergfuehrer).
The huttenwirt will normally be found near the kitchen (kuche or at the hut office (bureau, buro). You should greet this person by saying ‘Gruss Gott’ and presenting your passport and OeAV membership card. You should then explain that you are member of the Austrian Alpine Club Sektion Britannia and that you would like some accommodation.
If you do not speak German and feel uncomfortable with asking for rooms in German, then write down the phrase noted in the language section. Be polite by asking bitte (please) when handing over the message and answering danke (thank you) when the message is returned. Trivial as this may seem these polite gestures are extremely important and will go a long way to ensure a pleasant stay.
Having made your reservation for a bed (bett) or dormitory (matratzenlager) you should stow your boots in the boot rack and hang your other clobber – rope, axe, crampons – on the pegs provided in the hallway or schuraum.
If you are wet on arrival, your waterproofs should be shaken as dry as possible outside the hut and hung up with your other tackle. If you are in a group do not mill