There are literally hundreds of huts and shelters in the Alps. Some huts are with guardians all the time, some with guardians over weekends only, some without guardians at all. In this page you will find some basic information about them.
[J.S Bach, Sonata BWV 1001, presto]
Shelters are without guardians and typically in remote locations, sometimes without any equipment, but in most cases with blankets and even with some sort of stove (for wood or gas, and sometimes with both).
It is good to be well informed about a shelter where you plan to spend a night; coming unprepared may bring you into a serious situation. Having a Bivacco Battaglione Ortles, Igloo des Pantalons Blancs, and many others.
Regardless of what kind of hut or shelter you are heading to, I can claim with certainty you will know to appreciate the fact that it is there. After a long walk at high altitude, sometimes in very cold weather, you will enjoy the place even if it is the most basic one.
I am not saying it is always pleasant to stay there, but their presence in mountains is essential.
Imagine you have been walking 7-8 hours or longer, and you get a place in a mattress room. Problem is, so have been 30-40 others who are sleeping in the same room, in socks or having them near the bed (luckily, and thank God for that, in Swiss huts, shoes are as a rule always kept at the entrance room).
And then, many people snore and this is the reality, nothing can be done. And if this is not enough, some of them are getting up at 3 or 4 am, to start their early tours. But even if they do not get up so early, do not worry, the guardian will turn on the lights at 5 am and there will be a wake-up call.
So yes, you will be tired after such a night. But again, see this from another perspective. You are at some 3000 meters. And you will remember that there was some running water outside of the hut the afternoon you arrived. In the early morning, you will get out hoping to wash your face, only to realize that what the water was yesterday, is now a pure ice.
And then, you might also see somebody’s tent on the glacier or on the rock not far from the hut. In such moments you will feel that this same hut where you spent a sleepless night is the most pleasant place on this planet, and you would not exchange it for the clean and fresh air in the tent.
What you need in huts and shelters in the Alps
Huts with guardians will have food for you if you want it. The water is usually not free, unless there is some water source running outside. For sleeping, you will have blankets and pillows.
Some huts request you to have a Bivacco Battaaglione Ortles, or the one about the Refuge Igloo Pantalons Blancs, or my text about Pizzini hut in Italian Alps.
You will use huts and shelters when you are high in mountains. However, you will need some accommodation in the valleys around. Camping is a great option, there are camps everywhere in the Alps and people are using them.
But you might also like to rent some holiday flat or house. Their prices in the summer time can sometimes be comparable to camping. For more information about such possibilities please visit my another post within this site.
Please leave some comment in the box below, I shall be happy to read and to answer any question which you might have. Thank you.
Jacques says
Hi Jovo,
I’ve read your post on the Zurgspitz as well as this one.
I’m planning on doing the Hollenthal route up and the Reintal route down in early October this year.
Plan is to summit and then descend to the Knorrhut for the night. Next day to do the long slog out the Reintal.
My question is about the Knorrhut. From what I’ve researched it seems to be closed from the beginning of October onwards, but has “Winter rooms”. Do you perhaps know what is in these Winter rooms in terms of amenities?
Also, any comments on the possibility of deep snow in October?
Thanks for a great website!
Jovo says
Hi Jacques, great to hear from you. I shall disappoint you, but I have not been at the Knorrhut so cannot give any useful info. Winter rooms are different from one hut to another, I do not think there is any rule about it. To be sure, take your own sleeping bag and a gas burner.
I would not expect snow so early, I think this will not be a problem at all. But what comes into mind is that perhaps the entrance gate in Hollenthal can also be locked if this is the end of the season. So this you should check because passing it looks impossible to me. Though I have a friend who was there in May once, the gate was closed because of a lot of snow (I was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the same period), and he somehow managed to cross it. So if he manged perhaps you might as well but it looked hard to me.
Do not go in case of snow because cables can be in ice in this case, and you would not be able to manage the upper ferrata below the summit.
Jacques says
Thank you for the reply, Jovo.
My second option in case of the gate being locked is to simply do the long walk up and down the Reintal.
I’m an experienced trail runner so the distance should be fine.
Looking forward to the climb! Will let you know how it goes.
Jovo says
Hey Jacques, if you get any info about the gate please let me know and I shall add it to the site. This would be a very useful information. I am sure you will enjoy Reintal, this is something for me to do. All the best to you, and indeed I shall be happy to hear from you.
Aiden says
Very interesting read!
I think I’d enjoy going on a trek on the Alps.
I didn’t think about it enough to realise all that was involved in the task.
The benefit of having 40+ people in one room would definitely be the body heat, you would be thankful for that at least, even if the snoring did keep you up all night haha.
Jovo says
Hi Aiden, thank you for reading my text. You have realized how it can be in the sleeping room in a hut, but indeed those are pleasant places to visit so if you have a chance do not miss it.
Todd says
Another great post. There’s no doubt that huts and shelters on mountains are a great initiative for long hikes which require camping out overnight. I guess the hardest thing is to know where the huts are, so that you can plan your trip to make it there before nightfall. Do most mountain ranges around the world have these huts for hikers to use?
Jovo says
Hi Todd. Thank you for visiting my site. For shelters and huts it is indeed necessary to have good planning and to have reliable information about access routes and time needed. As far as I know the Alps have the most advanced system of shelters and huts. But i have seen them in Japan as well, and also on Tenerife island and in Spain mainland mountains. I know that they are available to some extent in South America. As for USA, I am not familiar and cannot say much.