As if to add to the hut’s appeal, as we sat outside without need for words, an ibex came clambering over rocks bordering the glacier to inspect the new arrivals.
Huts for walkers
Hundreds – perhaps thousands – of alpine huts exist that would meet the needs of mountain walkers looking for somewhere to stop for refreshment on a day’s hike. And for those who’ve never spent a night in one, a day visit provides an ideal opportunity to sense what it would be like to stay there.
Austria‘s Alps are particularly rewarding for this. Consider the Rätikon Alps in Vorarlberg in the far west of the country. Relatively easy to get to, Brand is a small but popular resort on a bus route from the railway station at Bludenz, and from it you can either walk across meadows and through woodland to a cable car station, or take a bus to the roadhead and ride the cableway, eventually to be deposited on a dam wall overlooking the Lünersee reservoir. The large un-hut-like Douglass Hut (www.douglasshuette.at) stands next door, its restaurant brimming with visitors by day, and with walkers and trekkers when the last cable car has descended to the valley. It has excellent facilities for those who stay the night, but a day visit restricted to the restaurant won’t give you much of an idea of a ‘real’ mountain hut. A much better plan would be to walk alongside the reservoir, then take a signed path climbing steadily to the timber-built Totalp Hut (www.totalp.at), set in a wild, almost barren landscape at 2385m (just 1¼ hours from the cable car station).
Only a few metres above the Burg Hut in the Bernese Alps a memorable view rewards the walker
The immediate surroundings of the Totalp Hut may be as barren as suggested by its name (literally ‘dead alp’), but it has exciting views onto the Lünersee 400m below and south-east along the mountain ridge that forms the border with Switzerland. Refreshments and lunchtime meals are served at tables outside, or indoors if you prefer, while above the hut rises the 2964m Schesaplana, highest of the Rätikon peaks, whose summit may be reached by a non-technical route in a little under 2 hours. With its atmospheric Stube and 85 places in creaky-floored dormitories, the Totalp Hut would be a great place to spend a first night in a hut, and it’s so easy to get to.
Another refuge accessible by a very fine morning’s walk from the Douglass Hut cable car station is the Heinrich Hueter Hut (www.hueterhuette.at), a delightful building clad with larch shingles at the foot of the Matterhorn-like Zimba. Its balcony provides a distant view of the Drei Türme of the Drusenfluh, while its location above an alp farm adds to
‘it is justifiably famous for the chandeliers in its panelled dining room, the lovely hallway and wide staircase more in keeping with some baronial schloss’
its charm. The hut itself can sleep 110 in bedrooms and dormitories, has good showers and even an indoor climbing wall, and the bright and comfortable dining room provides a clear hint of the hut’s atmosphere.
Further east, the Zillertal Alps, with Mayrhofen as the main valley base, are another great area for walking, trekking, skiing and mountaineering, with a number of huts within the reach of most active walkers. None would be better suited for a there-and-back visit than the historic Berliner Hut (www.berlinerhuette.at). Owned by the Berlin section of the German Alpine Club (Deutscher Alpenverein, DAV), it’s the largest in the district, and every group I’ve taken there has been wowed by the hut and its outlook. Built in 1879, it is justifiably famous for the chandeliers in its panelled dining room, the lovely hallway and wide staircase more in keeping with some baronial schloss. It stands near the head of the Zemmgrund, some 3 hours’ walk from Gasthof Breitlahner on the road from Mayrhofen. Not only is the hut a striking building in its own right, but its location looks out on snow-draped mountains and rushing streams, and the 8km walk to reach it from the Breitlahner bus stop is both obstacle-free and full of interest.
Totalp Hut in the Rätikon Alps is extremely popular with visiting walkers
While still in the Zillertal Alps, there’s another fine hut to visit, standing just across the Italian border at the head of the Zamsergrund – the upper reaches of the long Zillertal where buses from Mayrhofen terminate at the Schlegeis reservoir. The 2-hour walk through the Zamsergrund begins here – a delightful walk through pastures bright with alpenrose and dwarf pine, with views of waterfalls crashing down the right-hand slope. At the head of the valley, the 2246m Pfitscher Joch carries the Austrian–Italian border below the Hohe Wand and Hochfeiler. There’s an old abandoned customs house standing there, and shortly after, when you’ve walked between two small lakes on the Italian side, you come to the privately owned, 30-bed Pfitscherjoch-Haus, also known as Rifugio Passo di Vizze (www.pfitscherjochhaus.com), which looks down the length of Val di Vizze.
Although Austria has numerous first-class huts and hut walks, the Italian Dolomites can challenge any alpine region for dramatic landscapes. They also have some wonderful multi-day treks, exciting via ferratas and a rich selection of rifugi (huts) to visit on a day’s walk, a number of which are large inn-like buildings with excellent facilities. At least one boasts a sauna, but at an altitude of 2752m Rifugio Lagazuoi (www.rifugiolagazuoi.com) is more like a high-altitude hotel than a conventional mountain hut, and while it’s on the route of Alta Via 1, it can also be reached by cable car from the Falzarego Pass. With stunning views of the Tofana and Cinque Torri, it has 18 beds in small rooms and 56 dorm places, and has been cared for by the same family ever since it was opened in 1965. If you’ve never stayed in a mountain hut before, try this one for size. But remember, not all rifugi will provide quite the same experience.
Without question, the best-known and most popular of Dolomite mountains is the three-turreted cluster of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the Dolomiti di Sesto, with Cortina the main centre and several understandably busy huts nearby, all accessible by good paths or tracks. For sheer spectacle, there’s nothing quite like it. A toll road climbs up from Misurina to end in a massive car park at around 2330m by Rifugio Auronzo (www.rifugioauronzo.it), with the towering cliffs of the Tre Cime above and the Cadini pinnacles drawing attention to the south. From here, it’s just a 20-minute walk to Rifugio Lavaredo (www.rifugiolavaredo.com), beyond which a bare saddle at 2457m gives an amazing view of the Tre Cime in profile.
Three hours’ walk from the nearest road, the Berliner Hut in the Zillertal Alps boasts a chandelierlit dining room
When the crowds have departed Refuge du Lac Blanc is a magical place in which to spend the night
Ahead, and some distance away, Rifugio Locatelli can be seen, with a tiny white chapel nearby. Also known as the Drei Zinnen Hut (www.dreizinnenhuette.com), as a reminder that before World War I all these mountains were Austrian, it has a direct view of the Tre Cime from its windows. Easily reached from the Auronzo car park, and with an impressive menu and generous portions served in the