Alpine hut
Encyclopedia
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
, climbers
Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...
and hiker
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
s. Mountain huts are usually operated by a section of an Alpine Club
Alpine Club
The first Alpine Club, founded in London in 1857, was once described as:Today, Alpine clubs stage climbing competitions, operate alpine huts and paths, and are active in protecting the Alpine environment...
. Most mountain huts are tended to by Alpine Club personnel throughout the mountaineering season, who prepare meals and drinks for mountaineers, similar to a restaurant, but usually with a limited selection, as it is not always easy to transport the food to the hut. Furthermore, mountain huts provide simple sleeping berths. Any mountaineer is allowed to access Alpine huts, but members of an Alpine Club usually get a discount. Some huts in more remote areas have no personnel, but mountaineers are allowed to access them.
As there is a lot of mountaineering activity in the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, there are a large number of Alpine club huts as well as private huts along the mountaineering paths. These huts are categorised according to their location and facilities and may have beds or a mattress room (Matratzenlager
Matratzenlager
A Matratzenlager , sometimes called massenlager or touristenlager, is the simplest and cheapest type of sleeping accommodation offered in mountain huts. It generally consists of a large room with mattresses usually placed very close together.The Matratzenlager is usually found in the attic of the...
) for overnight stays. They may also offer discounts for members of the various Alpine club
Alpine Club
The first Alpine Club, founded in London in 1857, was once described as:Today, Alpine clubs stage climbing competitions, operate alpine huts and paths, and are active in protecting the Alpine environment...
s. One cannot necessarily count on finding a similarly dense network of paths and huts in other mountain ranges.
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
the tradition is of unwardened "climbing huts" providing fairly rudimentary accommodation (but superior to that of a bothy
Bothy
A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are to be found in remote, mountainous areas of Scotland, northern England, Ireland, and Wales....
) close to a climbing ground; the huts are usually conversions (eg of former quarrymen's cottages, or of disused mine buildings), and are not open to passers-by except in emergency. Many climbing clubs in the UK have such huts in Snowdonia
Snowdonia
Snowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...
or in the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
. A well-known example is the 'Charles Inglis Clark Memorial Hut' (the 'CIC Hut') under the northern crags of Ben Nevis
Ben Nevis
Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles. It is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands, close to the town of Fort William....
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
- this is a purpose-built hut, high up the mountain, probably nearest in character to the Alpine huts.
In Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
mountains shelters and huts are run by PTTK
PTTK
Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno-Krajoznawcze, PTTK, is a Polish non-governmental tourist organization founded in 1950...
- Polish Tourist Society. Most of them offer only common sleeping rooms and refreshments; no organised catering is available. Polish mountain huts are obliged by their own regulations to overnight each person who is not able to find any other place before sunset, though the conditions may be tough (eg. a mattress
Mattress
A mattress is a manufactured product to sleep or lie on, consisting of resilient materials and covered with an outer fabric or ticking. In the developed world it is typically part of a bed set and is placed upon a foundation....
in hall or warm basement). The hut shall provide each tourist or hiker with free boiling water for hot drinks.
See also
- Alpine club hutAlpine club hutAlpine club huts or simply club huts form the majority of the over 1,300 mountain huts in the Alps and are maintained by branches, or sections, of the various alpine clubs.- Purpose and facilities :...
- BothyBothyA bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are to be found in remote, mountainous areas of Scotland, northern England, Ireland, and Wales....
- simple shelter - Wilderness hutWilderness hutA wilderness hut is a rent-free, open dwelling place for temporary accommodation, usually located in wilderness areas, national parks and along backpacking routes. As such, the tradition is largely found in Finland, and to some extent in Sweden, Norway, and northern Russia too.The huts can be...
- rent-free, open dwelling place for temporary accommodation - Log cabinLog cabinA log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
- small house built from logs - Backcountry hutBackcountry hutBackcountry huts are huts that serve overnight hiking and trekking needs and can be found in many places in the world.-New Zealand:New Zealand has a network of approximately 950 backcountry huts...
– huts that serve overnight hiking and trekking needs - Vernacular architectureVernacular architectureVernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
- traditional architecture in a particular area - High Huts of the White MountainsHigh Huts of the White MountainsThe High Huts of the White Mountains are a series of eight mountain huts in the White Mountains, in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, owned and maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club. Modeled after similar huts in the Alps, they are positioned at intervals along the Appalachian Trail, allowing...