The Diverse Huts of the Swiss Alpine Club - essay by Marco Volken and Remo Kundert
“The SAC huts are open to all and serve as a meeting place for a variety of outdoor enthusiasts. They are both objects of identification for members and an important infrastructure for alpine tourism.” This is how the Swiss Alpine Club summarizes the purpose of its huts in its 2006 hut regulations.
But what is an SAC hut? The simplest answer would be a mountain hut that belongs to the SAC. This is not false but, as becomes apparent when one widens the scope, only half the truth. The SAC is composed of 113 independent sections, each rooted in a distinct place, as well as a central committee. Whereas the central committee owns only one emergency bivouac – the Solvay-Bivouac on the Matterhorn – the sections own over one hundred huts in the Alps, alpine foothills, and the Jura mountains. Not all club shelters are “official” SAC huts: many are independently financed and run, some are open only irregularly or primarily serve as the meeting place for a section’s members, as a club, or as a ski house. Others, like the Grubenberghütte, the Capanna Monte Bar or the Refuge des Dents du Midi, differ little from the “official“ SAC huts in the eyes of the visitor. “Official” SAC huts are in fact only those that commit to follow general guidelines and to turn over a part of their earnings to the central committee. In return they have access to financial support for renovations and new constructions.
This includes a total of 152 huts. But here, the similarities end. From spartan bivouacs in remote heights to modern huts, little different from mountain hotels, they encompass a wide spectrum. The average hut is located 2508 meters above sea level and contains 60 beds. In reality, of course, there is a hut at 1475 meters and one at 4003 meters, a hut that has room for 8 and one for 155 persons, and huts that are never staffed and those that are staffed continuously. The first hut in the club’s history, the Grünhornhütte, holds a special place: since 2003 it is no longer open for overnight stays but instead is there to inspire wonder – as a small museum it recalls a long gone era of pioneers.
In comparing the Cantons, Wallis has by far the most SAC huts (52), followed by Grisons (32) and Berne (27). In 2012, the various huts logged between 35 and 8583 overnight stays – for a total of 327,422 persons across the country who spent a night in SAC huts (not including hut wardens). More facts and figures can be found at the end of the book.
In terms of the types of huts, there are three rough categories: bivouacs, unstaffed huts, and staffed huts. Bivouacs are in most cases located in remote areas, are usually small and spartan, and primarily serve the mountaineering clientele. Unstaffed huts, also called self-service huts, are somewhat bigger but too small to justify the constant presence of a hut warden. Visitors bring and cook their own food and organize their own stay – just as is the case in bivouacs.
The staffed huts are different. In these, hut wardens are present during the summer high season and occasionally in the winter and spring as well – usually consistently but occasionally during the weekends and holidays only. The hut wardens ensure the hut’s smooth operation, prepare meals, pour drinks and provide valuable information. Roughly 80 percent of SAC huts belong to this category.
In principle SAC huts are always open. In the case of staffed huts, only few are open in the off-season and then usually only the so-called winter room or shelter – which occasionally encompasses an entire section of the hut.
For this book we re-shot most of the huts. Our impression: the palate of SAC huts is becoming increasingly diverse and multifaceted. Especially in the last two decades various sections have moved beyond the traditional hut architecture in drafting renovations and new constructions. After 150 years the SAC is still searching for the ideal hut – or more specifically for ideal huts, because each location and each particular situation demands unique solutions. The future development of these “places of great experiences” is thus something to look forward to.
Reprinted by permission from their book: The Huts of the Swiss Alpine Club, AS Verlag, 2013
Editors note: See the SAC Photo Gallery for a small selection of the photos from this sumptuous book.
A Short Chronicle
1863 In the year of its founding the SAC builds its first hut, the Grünhornhütte below the Tödi (GL), a minimalistic stone construction. Instead of a roof, a tarp was employed that was rolled up again after use.
1864 The Trifthütte (BE), the second hut in the Club’s history, is also the first to have a solid roof.
1871 In its first eight years the SAC constructs ten huts, one of which, that at Platta Sura (GR), had already fallen into disrepair.
1878 Fifteen years after its founding the SAC operates 23 huts.
1880 The SAC Section Tödi proposes to expand the Glärnischhütte to accommodate 50 persons. The SAC denies the request: it is not the Club’s responsibility to provide “accommodation for Sunday outings and business excursions of whatever variety.”
1885 Wood becomes the dominant construction type of the SAC. Huts are prepared in the valleys and assembled on site.
1889 The Silvrettahütte (GR), located on a moving moraine, is abandoned and rebuilt at a new location. Many later huts suffer the same fate and are moved due to poor location, avalanche danger, construction of dams, or other circumstances.
1905 The first hut with over 50 beds begins operation: the Blümlisalphütte (BE), in which 60 people can spend the night.
1912 The Capanna Campo Tencia (TI) is opened – it is the first hut of a generation of masonry. It starts a country-wide trend: for the next 70 years the SAC relies mainly on stonework construction.
1943 After undergoing expansion renovations, the Cabane du Mountet (VS) becomes the first SAC hut to host over 100 beds.
1957 The Refuge de Chalin, the SAC’s first modern bivouac, is constructed. Inspired by the Italian «Bivacchi fissi», the SAC constructs several more bivouacs in the 1960s and 1970s.
1957 The St. Gallen architect Jakob Eschenmoser celebrates his first project, the Domhütte (VS). His architectural plans and projects make him one of the most important hut architects of the Alps in the 20th century. His work for the SAC continues up until the renovation of the Capanna Sciora (GR) in 1986.
1975 Another milestone is achieved, that of 150 beds: after expansion renovations the Cabane du Trient is able to host 155 persons (reduced today to 129).
1991 The SAC refashions an old army barrack into the Monte-Leone-Hütte. It is the last SAC hut constructed in a new location: since then the SAC has not expanded its huts geographically.
1993 The Cabane du Vélan (VS), constructed of wood and shaped like a towering lentil draped in zinc plating, is opened – a modern, path-breaking design, with which the SAC moves into unchartered architectural territory.
2009 The Monte-Rosa-Hütte’s (VS) opening is covered extensively by the media. This collaboration between the SAC and the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich is the most experimental and complex hut in the Club’s history to date. With its cost of 6.5 million Swiss Francs it is also the most financially taxing.
2013 After 150 years and numerous renovations, the very first SAC hut, that below the Grünhorn (GL), is refashioned as a small museum without any overnight stay accommodations.
This essay appears as the introduction to “Huts of the Swiss Alpine Club”, a luscious commemorative volume reviewed on this site.