The Bremer Hut, one of more than a thousand built in the Austrian Alps
Staffed from at least July to the end of September, but often with an open period which extends either side of the high summer period, accommodation on offer ranges from large mixed-sex communal dormitories (matratzenlager) to two- or four-bedded rooms suitable for couples or families. Sheet sleeping bags are obligatory, so take your own. Separate-sex washrooms with showers are the norm, although some of the older and more remote huts are still rather basic in their amenities. However, despite the name, most of Austria’s huts resemble mountain inns rather than the simple refuges of old. Wardens provide refreshments, snacks, meals and drinks (coffee, tea, hot chocolate, lemonade, beer and wine), with a choice of evening meals sometimes matching in variety the menus of local valley restaurants. (See Appendix C for a translation of menu items.) In ÖAV and DAV huts, the evening menu usually includes a Bergsteigeressen (literally, the mountaineer’s meal – available only to Alpenverein members). Low-cost and high in calories, for the hungry walker prepared to take ‘pot luck’ the Bergsteigeressen offers very good value. Since most of the income for self-employed hut wardens is derived from the sale of food and drinks (the overnight fee goes to the club owning the hut), it follows that all users ought to make some purchases. Self-catering facilities are not provided, other than in bivouac huts and winter rooms.
Walking group near Grieralm in the Tuxertal (Zillertal Alps, Route 33)
Many walks in this guide choose a mountain hut as their destination, for the majority are not only situated among exciting landscapes, but have refreshments available on arrival. Multi-day hut-to-hut tours, of which several are included in this book, are an Austrian speciality worth tackling.
HUT CATEGORIES
Huts belonging to either the ÖAV or DAV are divided into three categories which offer discounts of varying amounts on overnight charges (not meals) for Alpenverein members – including members of the UK branch of the Austrian Alpine Club (see below).
Category I: These huts are usually situated at least 1hr’s walk from mechanised transport or the nearest road, and may have basic facilities. Members have priority in allocation of accommodation, and claim a minimum 50% reduction.
Category II: Located in popular areas, and usually reached by road or cableway, these huts are often open throughout the year. With better facilities and more varied catering than at Category I huts, members have a minimum discount of 30%.
Category III: Primarily used by day-visitors and accessible by mechanised transport (car or cableway). These huts are almost akin to hotels, offering a minimum overnight discount of 10% to Alpenverein members.
HUT ETIQUETTE
When arriving at a mountain hut remove boots before entering, place them on a rack in the bootroom, and help yourself to a pair of hut shoes (clogs or slippers) provided. Locate the warden to book bedspace for the night, and make a note of meal times. It is often possible to purchase a litre of boiled water – Teewasser - to make tea or coffee for yourself between meals, so carry a supply of teabags and/or instant coffee with you. Make your bed as soon as you have been allocated a room, using your own sheet sleeping bag (sleeping bag liner); blankets and pillows are provided, but keep a torch handy. Lights out (Hüttenruhe) is usually 10pm. Before leaving in the morning, make sure you have entered details of your planned route and destination in the visitors’ book provided.
Package Holidays
Holiday packages providing both accommodation and travel can offer a very useful service at competitive prices for independent walkers looking for a base in specific locations. The following tour operators are among many with packages to various Austrian resorts: Crystal Holidays (www.crystalholidays.co.uk), HF Holidays (www.hfholidays.co.uk), Inghams (www.inghams.co.uk), Inn Travel (www.inntravel.co.uk) and Thomson Lakes and Mountains (www.thomsonlakes.co.uk). There are, of course, many other UK and Irish tour companies that organise all-inclusive walking holidays in Austria.
The Austrian Alpine Club
Evening light at the Stripsenjochhaus (Kaisergebirge, Route 63)
Founded in Vienna in 1862 the Österreichischer Alpenverein is the world’s second oldest mountaineering club (Britain’s own Alpine Club began in 1857), with one of the largest memberships. In addition to the provision and maintenance of mountain huts, the club is involved in organising mountaineering courses, waymarking and maintaining footpaths and the production of maps and guidebooks.
In 1948 a UK section, officially known today as Sektion Britannia, was established to promote and facilitate visits to the Eastern Alps for UK-based enthusiasts. From its current headquarters in Dorset, the AAC produces a quarterly newsletter, organises a regular programme of lectures, walks and meets, and supports various alpine hut projects with financial donations, but its main attractions for many members must surely be reduced hut charges and mountaineering insurance. Anyone planning to undertake a mountain walking holiday in Austria is strongly recommended to join, for as the late Cecil Davies wrote in Mountain Walking in Austria (the predecessor of this guide): ‘Apart from the priorities and reductions at the huts … if you are an AV-member in an AV hut, you “belong”’.
Austrian Alpine Club (UK)
Unit 43, Glenmore Business Park
Holton Heath, Poole, Dorset BH16 6NL
tel 01929 556 870
website: www.aacuk.org.uk
The Routes
Summit ridge of the Bielschitza (Karawanken, Route 101)
Austria’s mountains make an almost perfect destination for the first-time visitor to the Alps. Though many regions have glaciers, snowfields and abrupt rock walls, on the whole the mountains are not as intimidating as some of their larger neighbours in the Central and South-Western Alps. That is not to suggest there’s a shortage of dramatic scenery – far from it! And the routes described in this book have been chosen to make the most of Austria’s rich landscape diversity – the lakes, flower meadows, tiny hamlets, huts, and abundant vantage points that can take your breath away with surprise.
With more than 40,000km of paths to choose from, the principal objective of each walk is to enable you to enjoy a day’s exercise among some of Europe’s best-loved mountains. But to gain the most from a walking holiday in Austria, it is advisable to be reasonably fit before you go, for most routes described here involve considerable uphill effort.
If you’ve never walked in the Alps before, avoid being too ambitious in your plans for the first few days until you’ve come to terms with the scale of the terrain. A rough guide in terms of time, distance and height gain and loss is given at the head of each walk description, which should aid the planning of an itinerary.