UKC

After staying in the excellent hut network in Austria last week, I was wondering why we don't do more to get huts in our more popular climbing areas?

60 bed hut in Chamonix for staying in while in the valley would be popular, as would a similar size one on the Costa Blanca, I'm sure there are more that would be great areas for a hut, like eastern Alps and Dolomites. Do they exist already and I don't know, or is there a blocker?

In reply to jonnie3430:

What do you mean by "huts for Brits"? Surely we have roughly the same accommodation options as everyone else?

In reply to Ramblin dave:

We've huts around the UK, but none in the more popular overseas places, I though others on here would be in favour of having some too? I was wondering why we haven't set some up?

In reply to jonnie3430:
Do you mean club huts, specifically? Or just privately run bunkhouses?

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Probably club, I assume private ones get too tempted by tourist prices and accommodate them.

In reply to jonnie3430:

The CC has 8 properties in Scotland, the Lake District , the Peak District, Pembroke, North Wales (3) and Cornwall.

Al

In reply to GridNorth:

I know, I was just wondering why there wasn't some in the popular overseas places?

In reply to jonnie3430:

In that case, it's probably because maintaining a club hut is a fairly massive faff - you're essentially running a small business in your spare time - and the only real payback for it is that your club members get accommodation that's a) cheap and b) often bookable at short notice. That might be worth the effort if the hut's somewhere that you often want to nip out to for the weekend on the back of a good weather forecast, but less so for somewhere that you're going to go out to once every few years at most.

The faff factor would also be magnified by the hut being a long way away and in a foreign country. How often would you want to nip over to Chamonix for the weekend to check that the new boiler has been fitted correctly, and argue with a French plumber if it hasn't?

As far as private ones go, yeah, economics I guess.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Aye, but I think there would be members that would be happy to stay over there running the hut, in the same way that there already is in the Alps.

In reply to jonnie3430:

The FRCC looked seriously at buying a hut in France several years ago, but in the end decided they would be better off buying another place in the UK for the reasons listed above

In reply to jonnie3430:


Are you a club member? If so, get involved.

As mentioned: the idea has been carefully considered in one case - and then rejected for practical reasons.

In reply to jonnie3430:
Sorry I misunderstood you. It would be very difficult to manage a property solely with unpaid volunteers. It's hard enough in the UK. I know I am involved and can tell you that it is very time consuming.

Al

In reply to GridNorth:

Others get paid to manage the huts, would it be possible on a BMC scale? It seemed that the AAC/DAV scale worked?

In reply to jonnie3430:


The AAC, DAV, CAF etc. all run huts only in their own countries - don't they?

Since you mention the BMC: there was talk at the time about a 'Don Whillans Memorial Hut' being set up in the Alps. In the end, the BMC opted for Rockhall at the Roaches.

See e.g. https://www.thebmc.co.uk/the-don-whillans-hut-a-history :

" The Don Whillans Memorial Fund had started under my (Derek Walker) chairmanship in the autumn of 1985 ...

"The initial idea was to secure a permanent base or campsite in the Chamonix valley for British climbers, but after many visits and considerable investigation, this project was deemed just too impractical."

In reply to jonnie3430:

I think that would fundamentally change the character of the club as well as increase the costs significantly. There has been talk, at times, of paying professionals, which of course we have to do sometimes for maintenance of the fabric of the huts, but we do surprisingly well with volunteers. Not sure what you mean by "BMC scale" and AAC/DAV scale.

As far as I can tell French/Italian/Austrian etc. huts are run as commercial ventures. The CC is run primarily for the members.

Al

In reply to jonnie3430:

Wondered if the Alpine club would do better selling it's London pad and buying a big bunk house in Cham for members only. Would give young alpinists a big incentive to join as it's sometimes perceived as a bit of an oldies club.

In reply to jonnie3430:

why just for Brits ? I've been using bunkhouses (mostly privately owned) in the Alps & elsewhere for years, plus the chalets owned/run by the French Alpine Club which are often valley based. Maybe more are required in some areas but for everyone.

In reply to Ramblin dave:


It's that, I would think. The club members who give their time and skills free of charge to maintain club huts would probably just not be able to do this for a hut that was too far away.

In reply to jonnie3430:

You can book an apartment in the Costa Blanca for less than £6.00 a night...no real need for huts is there?

In reply to Rob Parsons:

I know for certain that the DAV don't just have huts in Germany - in particular, they have numerous ones in Austria. And just as an aside, if you ever want a comparison between the BMC and the DAV, get hold of their monthly magazine and compare it to the BMC's quarterly Summit. And before anyone asks, yes, I am a BMC member and have BMC annual insurance for ski and alpine.

JW

In reply to John Ww:

It's almost like they've got about twelve times as many members...

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Over 1.1million last time I looked but of course they cover the ground that in the UK is done by a lot of other oragnisations like the Ramblers Association.

In reply to cathsullivan:

Aye, it's interesting to see the aac/ DAV way of doing it, people live there and take profit off drinks and meals, I think. But all are reasonably priced.

So the big blocker is the complexity of running a hut overseas, where the tradition had been running by volunteers in their spare time?

It's a pity, I'm sure we could list places where a hut would be rarely empty.

In reply to jonnie3430:


Probably, but I think that is really about a business venture of some kind. The tradition of club huts here is more about communities of volunteers running huts for their own club. I know some club huts are rented out to other groups as well, but not all of them, and I would guess that many clubs might reconsider doing this if they could afford it. I think, in the UK, the BMC huts are run in a way that's the exception rather than the rule.

In reply to cathsullivan:

Aye, as soon as it becomes a business venture it won't work for climbers as the tourist industry gives more profit. I agree that individual clubs couldn't do it either and doubt if the BMC is interested. It was just interesting to see how other countries managed.

In reply to jonnie3430:


It's about the fact that club huts are usually cheap because the costs are kept down by getting club members to do a lot of the stuff that you'd normally have to pay other people to do. And often they'll do that for a hut in North Wales that's easy to get to and that they use every month or so, but probably not for one in Zermatt that's time consuming and expensive to get to and that they might use every year or so if they're keen. It also helps that a lot of club huts were either bought for a song back in the mists of time, or are paying relatively low rent based on a longstanding arrangement with the owner.

Basically, you haven't explained how the BMC (or the AC or the West Norwich Mountaineering Club or whoever) are going to cover the same rent and the same costs that an independent commercial hostel would have to pay while charging far less per night.