Peter-Wiechenthaler-Hütte
by Janet Brittnell
The Peter-Wiechenthaler-Hütte, 1752m, in the Berchtesgadener Alpen, is beautifully situated on the Kinalkopf, a rocky knoll under the Persailhorn, 2347m, with distant panoramic views of most of the Hohe Tauern and the Kitzbühler Alpen.
The hut, belonging to Sektion Saalfelden with about 2,600 members, is named after a Saalfelden builder, who was the Chairman in the 1920s and built the hut between 1924 and 1926; the cellar was added in 1930. The hut has 65 sleeping places and about 2,500 overnight visitors a year. The hut is in a good location for day visitors, with a relatively easy 2½ hours walk up from the valley and they have about 4500 day visitors a year. The hut is open from 1st May to 26th October. The last major project was the renovation and modernisation of the Materialseilbahn (MSB), such that they now have a modern gondola licensed for transport of employees as well as goods, but not for use by the public. The project cost €600K, financed in part by a loan that had to be paid back over 6 years at €35K/year (2014 – 2019).
The section is very active and is highly regarded in the neighbourhood; they own the hut and the land on which it stands. Wastewater and sewage are carried away from hut via a pipe to the valley. Electricity is supplied via a cable from the valley. There is a small solar panel that supplies a VHF telecommunication system. The electrical supply from the valley is sufficient for the needs of the hut, with the exception of cooking, for which bottled gas, carried up in the MSB, is used. Rainwater is collected into a large tank in the cellar and used for flushing the WCs. It is planned to replace the tank in the cellar with a much larger rainwater tank outside at a short distance from the hut. Drinking water comes from a spring in a small volume of water valley behind the hut. Water flows to a reservoir in the valley, then pumped up to the hut, where it is purified by UV light. The is decreasing so the plan is to put in a wider pipe from the spring to the valley reservoir, increase the number of springs supplying the reservoir and install a bigger pump to a new high quality steel tank near the hut. Since the hut is on top of a knoll it shouldn’t be in any danger from avalanches, but it is exposed to winds from the NW, so the hut has to be braced by guy ropes.
The hut is in good repair, but the inner layout needs to be re-arranged on safety grounds. The original staircase is too narrow for safe evacuation of the hut, and it cuts the kitchen off from the dining/sitting areas with a total of 43 sitting places. There is a need for more food preparation space in the kitchen, easier access to food storage areas, a place to lay out the breakfast buffet, better access between the kitchen and Gaststube and more table spaces to cope with influx of day visitors.
Sektion Saalfelden’s development plan involves extending the hut on the northern and western sides by removing rock to extend the cellar, then putting in walls and ceilings of reinforced concrete and the base of a new staircase at the NE corner of the new cellar. The enlarged cellar will house new loos, showers, washrooms, drying room and boot room, the existing storerooms and winter room.
Once the old staircase has been removed, the kitchen can be enlarged and access to the Gaststube improved. Single storey wooden extensions above the new cellar will enlarge the Gaststube on the western side and house two staff rooms, a cool room and a storeroom to the north behind the kitchen. Later, two more storeys will be built above the rear extension allowing improvement of the overnight accommodation and providing better accommodation for the tenant.
The project was estimated to cost about €900K broken down into 3 phases, each costing about €300K. In order to allow time to rebuild their financial reserves, work on Phase I was planned for 2020, Phase 2 for 2021, and the third could be postponed for up to eight years. Government money that makes up a substantial portion of the hut pot must be spent in the year in which it is allocated and, as a large project on another hut had to be postponed. Sektion Saalfelden were persuaded to merge Phases 1 and 2 and bring the work forward to 2019. Sections can be reimbursed from the hut pot for 40% of actual costs. The rest of the costs have to be found from their own resources. Under the original plan they were hoping to borrow €100K from the Alpenverein in 2020 and another €100K in 2021. Bringing the major expenditure for both phases into 2019 has meant that the section has had to ask for a loan of €300K from the for Alpenverein to be paid back at €30K a year for 10 years.
Sektion Saalfelden had to wait until September to get the final planning permissions for the revised project before starting work. Only then were they able to begin digging out the space for the cellar extensions and the pits the new water reservoirs. With the help of many volunteers they were able to get the reinforced concrete walls and ceilings in place before winter conditions set in. Most of the fittings have been purchased in 2019, ready for installation in 2020.
The AAC(UK) Board agreed in October 2019 to make a Hut Fund donation of €30K towards this major hut project. On hearing the news, the section replied, ‘We are truly delighted to hear this news. Your donation is extremely welcome at this phase of our Peter-Wiechenthaler-Hütte renovation and extension project. The name of the Austrian Alpine Club (UK) / ÖAV Sektion Britannia will be placed on a Plate of Honour close to the Hut’.
As you can see, our Hut Fund donations are very much appreciated by the sections receiving them. Thank you for supporting the fund, and please keep the donations coming in.
Work in progress 16th October 2019 Photos Josef Straif
SW corner of ceiling of the new cellar, view of Kitsteinhorn (Hohe Tauern),to the left Schawalbenwand (Hundsteingruppe),11th Nov 2019
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