Similaun Hütte

The place

Capacity: 70 Sleeping places are split between the dormitory (30 places) and small rooms (40 places). The main route from this hut: the Similaun of course, easy and safe as long as you don't stray too far N on the glacier in case of fog. Then Finailspitze, Marzell, Hintere Schwärze, in order of increasing difficulty (crevasses!). The area is ideal for lazing around, obviously, and it's one of the easy points to cross on either side of the border ridge if you're doing a full tour of the massif. The most pleasant approach, even if long, is to choose the route from Vent (1900 m altitude), possibly stopping over at the Martin Busch hut (Samoar), which with its 140 places must feel a bit like a factory. But the climb is gradual and steady, with fine views of the surrounding mountains. Allow a good 2h30/3 h for the first section, then another 2h to reach the Similaunhütte. From Vent, say 6 h without rushing. If coming from Italy, you start from 1800 m, at a car park just above Vernagt and its lake (there used to be a small cable car belonging to the hut, which when it operated was used to carry backpacks up to the hut...!) and head straight N up a long, steep valley, well exposed to the S, where generally not a drop of water flows among the scree in the middle of summer: don't leave your water bottle in the pack if you had it carried up by the cable car! It's shorter in distance, but much less pleasant... it's the route I took. Say 4h/4h30 h, probably a bit less without a pack. Private. The Pirpamer family, who also run the Hotel Post in Vent (Austrian side). hut phone: +39/0473/669711 off-season phone: +43/5254/30122 mobile phone: +43/676/5074502 hut fax: +43/5254/81194 Email: info@similaunhuette.com All other full details, including rates, are on the website (page in English or German). Official website: http://huetten.alpenverein.at/huettenHome/EN/Home/index.php?huetteNr=1206