Our winter room - our responsibility
The winter rooms of Alpine Club huts are important bases for mountain adventures on skis, splitboards or snowshoes and many people can tell stories of convivial evenings with nice encounters. Unfortunately, the negative reports have predominated recently. Vandalized or broken into winter rooms, unattractive leftovers, stolen cash boxes and depleted wood supplies in the middle of the season have forced some sections to close the winter room permanently.
The winter rooms are usually looked after by sections and hut keepers on a voluntary basis. After the summer season, they equip them with fuel, cooking utensils and blankets, provide dry or composting toilets if necessary and regularly check that everything is in order during the season.
In addition to the hours spent on a voluntary basis, financial resources are also spent on the procurement of fuel and maintenance. This makes the consequences of willful vandalism all the more annoying. Due to the winter, it is not always possible to repair the damage immediately, meaning that the winter room may not be available to guests at all or only to a limited extent until then.
There are a few things to consider before, during and after your stay to ensure that the winter rooms continue to operate in as many huts as possible and that you don't experience any nasty surprises on arrival:
Find out whether and how the winter room is locked and where the key can be obtained.
If necessary, use the option of reserving sleeping spaces online to avoid ending up in a completely overcrowded winter room.
Winter rooms are intended for necessary overnight stays (1-2 nights) for longer tours, but not for partying or long-term nomadic living.
