Hut Fund Report

by Janet Britnell

Hugo-Gerbers-Hütte
Photos by George Unterberger

The Hugo-Gerbers-Hütte, 2347m, was built in 1910 and named after the founder of the Niederösterreichischer Gebirgsverein, which later became the Österreichischer Gebirgsverein (ÖGV). It is the highest hut in the Kreuzeckgruppe, in the SE of the Hohe Tauern, and sits just beneath the Kreuzelhöhe, 2624m, in a conservation area with several lakes.

The water supply comes from a spring on the hillside to a wooden basin 20m from the hut, and there is one 'traditional' loo under the hut staircase. However, by 1968 it was in need of repair. During that summer, on his own initiative, Philip Tallantire, AAC/Sektion England (1922-2001) member, author of the 'FELIX AUSTRIA' guide books and one of the founder members of the Hut Fund, started to restore the hut. He not only spent several summer vacations single handedly repairing the hut, but had to carry all the building materials up from the valley on his back. ÖGV named a room in the hut after Philip Tallantire, in recognition of his role in saving this simple, self-catering hut.

These days it is bewartet, manned by volunteers, from July to mid-September. The Hüttenwart, Gerhard Nesvadba, organises a rota of families who spend their summer at the hut, helping to maintain the hut, and providing food and drink for day visitors, who walk the 2½ hours up from a nearby Alm, or 5½ hours from Ober-drauburg, and also for overnight guests, many of whom are probably walking the Kreuzeck Höhenweg along the spine of the mountain group, via Hochkreuz, 2709m, the Feldner Hütte and Salzkofel Hütte. Even with the money from the bed-night fees (25 sleeping places in 3 rooms), the hut does not make an overall profit. The takings are just enough to cover costs. They have one helicopter delivery a year, that delivers supplies at the beginning of the season, and takes away the rubbish and waste from the previous summer, costing between €2K and €3K. Although the hut is relatively near to public transport links via Villach, there is no road to the hut, so any other supplies have to be carried up from the valley by the volunteers.

Hugo-Gerbers-Hütte

The fabric of the hut is basically sound; the larch shingles were renewed in the 1980s; the kitchen, with an oven run on wood and gas, was renovated by a local carpenter at cost in 2013. Electricity is supplied by a small simple photovoltaic cell and battery, but they only have one fridge. There is a good water supply from the spring, but Health and Safety rules mean that drinking water has to be flown in, in bottles, at the start of the season.

However, in 2014, the chimney sweep deemed the chimneys in need of repair and unfit for use. Quotes from professional companies were prohibitively expensive, so the volunteers decided to do most of the work themselves. Nevertheless, the cost, including materials and specialist equipment to repair the insides of the chimneys before fitting them with new steel liners was estimated at €11.2K, most of which would have to be found by the ÖGV. ÖGV may be one of the largest ÖAV sections, but it has 18 other huts, many of them needing a lot of work. The Executive Committee agreed to donate €3K towards the repair of the chimneys, subject to the work being satisfactorily completed. The equipment and materials were delivered with the other supplies at the start of the 2015 summer season and the planned work was completed that summer. But during the course of the work two more related problems arose. In one of the bedrooms, the connection between the stove and the chimney was in need of remedial work before the chimney could be used, and a new fireback was needed in the kitchen. Both the new fireback and the chimney sweep were delivered by helicopter at the start of the 2016 season, and the chimneys were finally found to meet regulations. This was reported to us at the 2016 Hauptversammlung, and the Hut Fund donation of €3K has now been made!

The saga of the Hugo-Gerbers-Hütte chimneys not only highlights just how difficult it is to maintain valuable but non-profit-making mountain huts, but also one of the many ways our independent hut fund can help hut projects to get under way. Thanks to your generosity, the Board has already been able to promise €20K to Sektion Wien towards the much needed extension to the Salmhütte, which is planned for this summer; €15K to Sektion Reichenberg, and €5K to Sektion Steinnelke for improvements to the photovoltaic electricity supply at the Neue Reichenberger Hütte and Salzkofel Hütte, respectively. Please keep the donations coming in.

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