Trekking in the Zillertal Alps. Allan Hartley

is excellent.

       Mountain Rescue (Bergrettung) Austria 140

       Mountain Rescue (Bergrettung) Italy 118

       Red Cross (Rotes Kreutz) 144

       European emergency telephone number 112

      International Alpine Distress Signal

      Help required: signalled by shouting, blowing a whistle or flashing a torch at 10 second intervals for one minute. Then pause for one minute and repeat.

      Answer received: signalled by shouting, a whistle or a flashing a torch at 20 second intervals. Then pause for one minute and repeat.

      Signals to helicopters

      Should you be involved with a helicopter rescue...

       Stay at least 50m from the helicopter.

       Do not approach the helicopter unless signalled by the winch man to do so.

       Do not approach the helicopter from behind.

       Ensure that all loose items of equipment are made secure.

The Austrian Alpine Club

      Above Schwarzsee, with Turnerkamp (left) and the Grosser Moseler (centre) (ZRR Stage 4)

      Huts throughout the Zillertal are administered by the Austrian and German Alpine Clubs, the OeAV and DAV respectively, except for those in the South Tyrol that are owned and administered by the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) or its regional equivalent, the Alpenverein Sudtyrol (AVS)

      The Oesterreichischer Alpenverein (OeAV), translated as the Austrian Alpine Association, was founded in 1862 to foster and encourage the sport of mountaineering and is largely credited to Franz Senn, who was the village priest in Neustift (Stubai valley) until his untimely death, aged 52, from pneumonia, and his associates Johann Studl, a wealthy Prague business man, and Karl Hofmann, a young lawyer from Munich.

      The Alpenverein, which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2012, was the first alpine club to be established in mainland Europe. Presently the Club has just over 400,000 members in 195 Sektions that embrace all facets of mountaineering. Membership is open to any person who has a love of the mountains, regardless of age or ability.

      The Club’s principal activities include the development and provision of mountain huts, marking and maintenance of footpaths, production of maps, organising of mountaineering courses, and action on environmental issues, particularly those which are seen to spoil the mountains by either physical or visual pollution.

      The establishment of the United Kingdom section, OeAV Sektion Britannia, is largely credited to Major Walter Ingham and Henry Crowther. It was formed in 1948 just after the Second World War to foster Anglo-Austrian relationships and to make it easier for British mountaineers in the immediate post-war years to visit the Eastern Alps.

      Presently OeAV Sektion Britannia is one of the largest UK mountaineering clubs, with over 8000 members. The Club has a regular programme of indoor and outdoor meets, together with a website (see www.aacuk.org.uk) and quarterly newsletter. The Club also runs training courses for its members, both in the UK and in Austria, through the Alpenverein Akademie mountaineering school. The Austrian Alpine Club (UK) enjoys full reciprocal rights agreements with all other alpine clubs in France (CAF), Switzerland (CAS), Italy (CAI) and Germany (DAV). This means that if you were to visit the South Tyrol in Italy to stay at the Schwarzenstein Hut, for example, you would pay the same fees as those enjoyed by members of the Italian Alpine Club and vice versa.

      Anyone intending to undertake a hut-to-hut tour in Austria is strongly recommended to join OeAV Sektion Britannia (see Appendix B for full contact details).

Mountain huts

      A smiling face awaits you at the end of your day’s walk

      The word ‘hut’ is a misnomer. All the huts in the Zillertal as described here are more akin to mountain inns or guest houses that provide overnight accommodation and some form of restaurant service (see ‘Meals and menus’ below). This means that the mountain traveller does not need to return to the valley every few days to stock up on provisions.

      There are well over 1000 huts in Austria, half of which are owned by the Austrian and German Alpine Clubs. In the Zillertal there are 30 OeAV and DAV huts, most of which are open from the end of June to mid-September. All the huts in the Zillertal have a resident guardian (Huettenwirt), who traditionally was a mountain guide (Bergfuehrer). Each hut has simple sleeping accommodation in the form of mixed dormitories (Matratzenlager) with blankets and pillows, and a small number of bedrooms (Bettzimmer) with duvets and sheets.

      In addition to sleeping accommodation, each hut has some form of restaurant service offering a number of traditional dishes (see Appendix C for a glossary of menu terms). The menu generally comprises soup, a choice of main meals, Bergsteigeressen (literally ‘mountain climbers’ food’), cold meats, cheese and sometimes cakes and sweets. All huts serve drinks, tea, coffee, beer, wine and so forth, and most huts have a small shop where visitors can buy postcards, chocolate and biscuits.

      On arrival at the hut, you should first remove your boots and store them in the boot rack, which will be close to the front door. You should also hang your ice axe, crampons, rope and other clobber on the racks provided, since such paraphernalia is not permitted in dormitories and bedrooms. If you are wet on arrival, your waterproofs should be shaken as dry as possible outside and hung up to dry with your ice tackle. If you are in a group, do not mill around the doorway, and again if you are wet make sure your group leaves outside as much water and dirt from boots as possible. Many of the huts are spotlessly clean, and for the benefit of all guests would like to remain that way.

      You should then establish contact with the hut guardian to obtain your overnight accommodation. You will usually find this most important person in the kitchen (Kuche), dining room (Gaststube) or office (Bureau). A maximum of three nights is the Club rule, but this is not generally rigidly enforced. (Note that members have priority when accommodation is busy.)

      Having found the guardian it is important to greet him or her (‘Gruss Gott’) and to explain that you would like some accommodation. The Huettenwirt is then likely to ask if you are Alpenverein and to ask for your membership card, which may be retained overnight or until such time as you leave, when you will be asked to pay.

      If you do not speak German and feel uncomfortable asking for rooms in German, then write down and read out the following phrase ‘Ich/wir hatte gern ein zimmer oder matratzenlager, bitte’ (‘I/we would like a room, please’). Be polite by asking bitte 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 ensuring a pleasant stay.

      At the Olperer Hut – it doesn’t come much better than this!

      If the hut is full you may have to take residence in the Winterraum, which is usually the preserve of ski-mountaineers and those visiting when the hut is closed. The Winterraum is generally an annexe to the hut and may double as a storeroom or shelter for animals (as is the case at the Greizer Hut). Although the Winterraum can be quite cosy, remember to keep your gear off the floor out of reach of any mice.

      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. In the Zillertal this is a rare scenario, which results in some