Trekking in Austria's Hohe Tauern. Allan Hartley

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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 around the doorways and again if you are wet make sure you leave as much surplus water and dirt off your boots outside the hut. Many of the huts are spotlessly clean and for the benefits of all guests should be allowed to remain that way.

      The OeAV does not provide visitors with hut shoes, so you need to take your own to wander around the hut in as boots upstairs are strictly forbidden (verboten).

      Should the hut be full you may have to take residence in the winterraum, which is usually reserved for ski mountaineers and those visiting when the hut is closed. Most huts in the Hohe Tauern are open from early June to the end of September. The winterraum is generally an annexe to the hut and may double as a storeroom or shelter for animals, as at the Kursinger Hut. While the winterraum can be quite cosy remember to keep your gear off the floor, as it is usually the home of more permanent four-pawed residents.

      Should the hut be beyond full you will be provided with a mattress for notlager which, roughly translated, means ‘sleeping with the furniture’, be it on the floor, in the corridors, on tables, on benches or simply anywhere you can lie down.

      Only on very rare occasions will you be asked to move on by the huttenwirt but only when bed space has been secured at an adjacent hut and only when there is sufficient daylight for you to reach your destination. In the Hohe Tauern all of this is an unusual scenario, and can lead to some cosy if somewhat noisy situations.