Our family Heidi hike!
Trekking from hut to hut is an exhilarating way to discover the beautiful Austrian Alps
The initial reaction on informing my three children of our holiday plans was not great. ‘Walking’ and ‘huts’ doesn’t imply ‘ice cream’ and ‘beach’. Oddly enough, my efforts to explain to Flora, Celia and Tabitha that the huts were more like large youth hostels, often built in the late 1800s, didn’t win them over either.
Tough! The bookings were made and a childfriendly route (our girls are nine, seven and four) was chosen. We opted for Mayrhofen in the Tyrol region of Austria for its proximity to Innsbruck airport (one hour by car), as well as the variety of summer activities.
My wife Fiona and I planned to hike for three or four consecutive days and use the rest of our time at the swimming pool, the new climbing zone and generally enjoying this mountain resort.
To ease us into this adventure, a day or two of acclimatisation was necessary, and hotel edenlehen was the ideal spot. Swimming pool, large garden with play equipment and a short walk into Mayrhofen — perfect.
Perhaps too perfect: the huts would not only be a big hike up, but also a considerable step down.
Our first day’s hiking was brilliant. All routes have a stated time that is a consistent, conservative calculation of how long it will take. The first walk was just 90 minutes. It was all steep uphill, gaining 600m in altitude over that time.
Our path proved a massive hit. Scrambling but never dangerous and the children loved it. Tabitha took the role of lead climber and repeatedly managed to veer off what was a perfectly clear path (that’s why four-year- olds don’t do this alone).
her energy and enthusiasm never flagged and we arrived, exhilarated, on the warm sunny terrace of the Olperer hut (altitude 2,389m) after exactly 90 minutes.
Fiona and I enjoyed a beer on the terrace, mightily relieved the children had not only survived, but had enjoyed the hike.
The only downside was that we had to share a dorm (not the private room we were expecting) with three others. The girls were shattered, so by lights out at 10pm they were all fast asleep anyway. The huts are owned by a variety of organisations with an interest in the Alps. There is a communal feel to them. Bathrooms, with good showers, are adequate. There is a limited but good menu to choose from, plus a well-stocked bar.
But given the altitude and challenge in getting supplies to the huts (the Olperer hut is supplied by helicopter), people should not expect haute cuisine.
Children always seemed to get an especially warm welcome, and Martina, the Olperer hut guardian, provided the highlight of the entire trip by taking the girls to collect eggs from the chickens. The sense of community carries on when you are walking. A ‘hello’, or ‘ gruss gott’ in Austrian, is always exchanged when passing (or in our case, being overtaken) by others.
At a tricky stream crossing, assistance was readily offered by a group of fully kitted (ropes, ice axes, crampons, the lot) youths, by helping the younger ones bridge some particularly large gaps.
Day two: would our luck hold out? The stated time on our route was four hours. We traversed boulders deposited by glaciers and, despite broadly following a contour, the trek was never flat and always awkward under foot, especially little feet.
The weather was a concern, forecast to be clear until midday and then a threat of rain, so no time to dawdle. Gone were the shorts and T-shirts of the day before, replaced by everything we were carrying.
We set off at 8am. Six hours, plus quite a few Fruit Pastilles later, we arrived at our destination: the Pfitscherjoch hut ( altitude 2,276m). It was hard going, particularly for our two younger ones.
We KEPT finding unstable rocks that became known as ‘wobblers’ that made sure footing more difficult. The weather was overcast and cool but, thankfully, the threatened rain did not materialise. I was proud of all of them.
This time we had a room to ourselves and after a fantastic spaghetti bolognese we were all in bed and asleep before 10pm.
The next day a different challenge presented itself. Ten degrees colder, horizontal rain and poor visibility. I consulted Joseph Volgger, the fifth generation of his family to operate this hut (built in 1888), who said the weather would improve in the afternoon. We decided to play for time — uno and Monopoly saved the day.
Five generations of experience proved right and the weather window opened after midday. We hiked to our next destination following a beautiful stream to the Schlegeis reservoir.
Austria is set up for family walking. everything works. The paths are well marked. The huts we stayed in were clean, modern, efficient and friendly.
Classic Austrian food — noodle soup, Wiener schnitzel and apple strudel — was simple and tasty.
Would we do it again? Certainly. Would we invest in better kit? Probably. Beach holidays will always be a hit, but hut-to-hut hiking is the preference of Celia and Tabitha for our next holiday. Fiona and Flora may take some persuasion.
TRAVEL FACTS
EASYJET ( easyjet.com) flies to Innsbruck from £47 return. Halfboard in the huts ( olpererhuette.de and pfitscherjochhaus.com) costs from £70 per night for a family of five, with a discount available to members of the Alpine Club (020 7613 0755, alpineclub.org.uk). Family rooms at Hotel Edenlehen in Mayrhofen (0043 5285 62300, edenlehen.com) cost from £56 pp per night half-board in the summer with discounts for children. More information at mayrhofen.at