Trekking in the Stubai Alps - The Stubai Rucksack Route

With its shapely peaks, good paths and welcoming huts, the Stubai in the Austrian Tyrol is an ideal venue for a first Alpine season. This guide describes two celebrated routes, the Stubai Rucksack Route and the Stubai Glacier Tour, which take the walker into the heart of the range.

Topography

The Stubai Alps are situated south-west of the old Austrian city of Innsbruck, in the province of the Tyrol. The area has no access difficulties and is easily reached by local transport from Innsbruck in about 1 hour.

Generally, the main peaks of the Stubai, Wilder Freiger, Zuckerhütl chain straddle the border with Italy and embrace the area known as the South Tyrol, referring to previous Austrian territory annexed to Italy after World War One.

The boundary of the Stubai is generally recognised as the Brenner Pass to the east, the Sölden valley in the Ötztal to the west, the mountains of the Italian South Tyrol to the south and the Inn valley to the north.

The Stubai’s highest mountain is the Zuckerhütl at 3505m, with a further 130 peaks over 3000m, many of which are glaciated.

Getting to Austria

By road
The most direct route is via the Dover–Ostend channel crossing, then the motorway system to Munich and into Austria at Kufstein. This is followed by a short drive up the Inn valley to Innsbruck.

Tour plans and route descriptions are available from the RAC and AA organisations, who will advise of any toll road charges en route.

By rail
There is a regular train service across Europe most days of the week. National Rail Enquiries will advise of possible routes, such as Ostend – Brussels – Munich – Innsbruck, or London – Calais – Paris – Innsbruck. Travel time is approximately 24 hours from London.

By air
Presently there are several flights per day to Munich by British Airways/ Lufthansa from London/Manchester which takes a little over 2 hours. From Munich there is a frequent train service to Innsbruck.

Alternative air routes via Salzburg and direct flights to Inns­bruck still remain unviable to various carriers.

It needs to be noted that even if you travel by air, which is without doubt the quickest way to get to the Stubai, you do not have sufficient time to leave the United Kingdom in the early morning, get a train into Innsbruck followed by a bus journey up the Stubaital and then to get to one of the huts before nightfall. At best you will get to Innsbruck or Neustift.

Of course travelling by air will get you to mainland Europe quickly but then you may lose precious time on the railways and experience frustrating delays and hold-ups just finding your way about as you negotiate the unfamiliar.

At Munich: The airport connects direct with the regional railway network where there are frequent trains about every 20 minutes or so. This is a similar set-up to the London underground, which means that you need a pre-paid ticket before getting on the train. Do not push your luck without a ticket as the Germans do not take kindly to freeloaders no matter where they come from. Be warned. There is also a railway booking office in the arrivals hall adjacent to the concession counters for car hire, hotel reservations and what have you. This facility is not always open, but if it is, get your ticket to ‘Innsbruck und zurück’. Once on your journey you  need to get off the regional train at Munchen ost (Munich East) and get on one of the intercity trains (schnell zug). Look out for the sign boards on the train; get on the first labelled Innsbruck or Brennero, Brunnech, Venedig – anything heading into Italy will do as they all have to go via Innsbruck.

If the ticket office is closed at Munich Airport you can get your ticket at Munich East – the ticket office is found at road level with other shops and fast-food outlets. With express trains it is also possible to pay on the train if you can show that you are a genuine traveller (passport and air ticket) and didn’t have enough time to get to the ticket office.

Accommodation in the Valley

Hotels
A vast array of hotel accommodation is available throughout the medieval city of Innsbruck, catering for all tastes and budgets. Hotels may be booked in advance by obtaining a hotel list from the UK Section of the Austrian Alpine Club, or be booked on arrival in Innsbruck at the Tourist Information Centre at the railway station. (See Innsbruck street map, p9.)

Hotels in Neustift tend to cater for the tourist trade, but there is an abundance of guest houses and small hotels where climbers and walkers will feel more at home! As with the hotels in Innsbruck, advance booking may be made via the Tourist Information Centre in Innsbruck or Neustift.

Campsites
Innsbruck: several campsites exist within a short distance of the city. There are two sites at Kranebitten, a few kilometres west of the airport, and two more on the east of the city, one at Reichenau and one at Amras.

Neustift: good campsites exist at Madrager Stille in the hamlet of Madras, south of Fulpmes, and at Volderau, south-west of Neustift. Anyone intending to camp should enquire from the campsite warden about reduced fees whilst they are away: these are referred to as leeres Zelt.

The Austrian Alpine Club

The Österreichischer Alpenverein (ÖAV) was founded in 1862 to foster and encourage the sport of mountaineering. Presently the club has over 200,000 members of all age groups, embracing all facets of mountaineering. Membership is open to any person without exception who has a love of the mountains, regardless of age or ability.

The club’s principal activities include development and provision of mountain huts, marking and maintenance of footpaths, the production of guidebooks and maps, and the organising of mountaineering courses, tours and expeditions. In addition, the club is becoming increasingly involved in environmental issues, particularly those which are seen to spoil the mountains by either physical or visual pollution.

Club members enjoy reciprocal rights agreements with all the other major alpine clubs: in France (CAF), Switzerland (CAS), Italy (CIA) and Germany (DAV).

The English section was formed in 1948 to make it easier for British mountaineers to visit and travel throughout the eastern Alps. Today the English section is one of the largest UK mountaineering clubs. It organises its own activities by having a regular outdoor/indoor meets programme, together with the publication of a quarterly newsletter, and also runs tours and courses for its members in Austria.

Anyone intending to undertake a hut-to-hut tour anywhere in Austria is strongly recommended to join the English section by applying to:

The Secretary
Austrian Alpine Club; UK Section
PO Box 43
Welwyn Garden City
Hertfordshire AL8 6PQ
Tel: 01707 324835
Fax: 01707 394694
email: manager@aac.demon.co.uk.
web: http://www.aacuk.demon.co.uk.

Apart from the very real benefit of enjoying preferential treatment and reduced costs at the huts, perhaps the main advantage of being a member is that of ‘belonging’. This feeling of friendliness – greatly cherished and fostered by everyone – will be experienced many times when various huts are visited, particularly over a number of years. It is referred to as gemütlich!

Huts

Whilst ‘hut’ is frequently used throughout the guidebook, it is not what the word implies: mountain inn would be a more appropriate description for these wonderful buildings. Collect­ively there are well over 1000 huts in Austria, half of which are owned by the Austrian and German Alpine Club. In the Stubai there is a total of 30 ÖAV–DAV huts, most of which are open from the beginning of July to mid-September. All the huts in the Stubai have a resident guardian, usually a guide (Bergführer) and his family. Each hut has simple sleeping accommodation in the form of mixed dormitories (matratzenlager) with blankets and pillows, and perhaps a number of bedrooms with blankets, duvet and sheets.

Sometimes when the huts are full, bed space will be found in the winter room. This is where logs are stored and can be quite cosy, but remember to store your kit off the floor as it is usually home to the hut’s permanent four-pawed residents. Alternatively, bed space will be found in the dining room and along various corridors. This is known as notlager, but sleeping with the furniture is a more apt description.

In all instances visitors should provide their own cotton sheet sleeping bags. These are now becoming compulsory to help save water and fuel and reduce the effects of detergents polluting water courses downstream of the huts. Its seems likely that bed linen will be phased out and blankets only will become the norm.

In addition to sleeping accommodation, each hut will have some form of restaurant service offering a number of tradition Austrian dishes (see Meals and Provisions, below). The menu generally comprises soup, a choice of main meals, bergsteigeressen, 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 chocolate and biscuits. Postcards may be purchased and posted at the hut. The post is usually taken down the valley once a week and handed in at the main post office. Post to the UK this way normally takes 10–14 days.

Each hut will have some form of wash and toilet facilities which vary from being excellent – Franz Senn, Amberger and Sulzenau huts, to more modest at the Bremer, or may be quite primitive – like the Müller Hut. However, it does seem likely that the provision of hot water at some huts will gradually diminish as the club moves towards more simple and basic necessities and tries to do its bit to minimise the use of fuel and water.

Elsewhere in the hut, usually near the front door, is the trockenraum, or the drying room, where wet clothes can be dried.

The main room at all huts is the gaststube or common room, which also doubles as the dining room. It is here where the day’s events are reviewed, routes planned, meals enjoyed, birthdays celebrated, games played, songs sung and all manner of activity that goes into fostering camaraderie – that is gemütlich!!

At the Hut
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 and rope on the racks provided. Ice axes and crampons are not permitted in the dormitories and bedrooms. If you are wet on arrival, your waterproofs should be shaken as dry as possible outside and hung up 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 its surplus water and as much dirt off boots outside as possible. Many of the huts are spotless, and obviously for the benefit of all guests should remain that way.

You should then establish contact with the housekeeper – usually the Bergführer’s wife – to obtain your overnight accommodation. A maximum of three consecutive nights is the club rule, but this is not generally rigidly enforced. You will usually find this most important person in the kitchen (küche) or in the dining room (gaststube). Having found her, it is important to greet her by saying Grüss Gott, and then to explain that you (and, if relevant, those in your group) are members of the UK section of the Austrian Alpine Club and that you would like some accommodation. The lady will usually ask to see your membership card and may retain it overnight or until such time as you leave, when you will be asked to pay.

If you do not speak German or feel uncomfortable with asking for rooms in German, then write down some notes based on the language section of this guide. Be polite by asking bitte when handing her the message and thanking her danke when she gives it back. Trivial as these polite gestures may seem, they are extremely important, and if practised will go a long way to ensuring a pleasant stay.

On departure, remember to fold your blankets, to look round and ensure nothing is forgotten, and finally to search out the housekeeper and thank her for a pleasant stay. You should also remember to collect your club card if it has not been given back to you, and you should complete the hut book to record your stay and indicate where you will be going next.