Answer

By Trail magazine

Alpine huts vary greatly both in types of location and the standard of accommodation. The most basic are bivi huts, the most luxurious have restaurants and self-catering facilities and can hold over 150 people. Bivi huts usually hold four to six people and are equipped with bunks, blankets and sometimes cooking utensils – you’ll need to take food and a stove in addition to your hill gear. Bivi huts tend to be in very remote and extreme positions and are usually placed to service a particular route, one such hut is the Dames Anglaises Hut on the Peuterey Ridge of Mont Blanc - just getting to it is a serious climb.

On average though, huts hold 30 - 100 people. They open for the main season from June to September and are run by a warden and a number of staff. All you need to take is your hill gear, washing kit and a sheet sleeping bag – this bag is very important as wardens do not look kindly on people who turn up without them. You can take your own food (you will need to check if there are cooking facilities) but food served at the huts is very good and plentiful, and having it prepared for you is a real treat after a hard day. Beer, wine, soft drinks, hot drinks and snacks can also be purchased. 

The key thing with Alpine Huts is pre-booking. In theory you can just turn up, but most wardens prefer you to give them a call, even if it’s only a day in advance. All serviced huts can be contacted by phone and you will find that either the warden or one of the staff will speak English - although it is courteous to at least try a few words in French. And some huts on popular routes book up months in advance - the Aiguille du Gouter hut on Mont Blanc is a classic example, with people booking as much as a year in advance. This problem also occurs on the long distance routes like the Tour du Mont Blanc or the GR5.

When you arrive at the hut you need to contact the warden, book in and pay the tariff. He will then quiz you about your next day’s plans and allocate you a dormitory dependent on which route you are doing. Different routes need different wake up times so you will be given a dormitory in which all the occupants will be woken for breakfast at the same time. Once you have been allocated your dormitory, sort your
bed out and sort your gear for the morning – there won’t be time in the morning and lights out are usually just an hour after the evening meal – and sorting your kit whilst others are trying to sleep is not a popular move!

Meal times are usually pretty hectic. You’ll be allocated a sitting and a table when you book in, or it will be written on a board in the dining room. If you’re having drinks with your meal try and buy it before you’re seated. In the morning, if you’re on a very early start, a continental breakfast with a flask of coffee or tea will be
left for you to help yourself. If you’re starting later, it’ll be the same continental breakfast but it’ll be served for you. 

Once you have finished your breakfast you need to pick up your pre-packed rucksack and head for the lobby where you will have left your boots – and maybe ice-axe and crampons depending on season. And it’s as well to have your head torch ready because if it's a proper Alpine start it will still be dark outside.

To book a hut you can contact the tourist information in the nearest valley, or by contacting the hut guardian direct.