Returning from a ski tour in Switzerland, you don't even go inside the hut, just hang on the front porch, watch the other skiers return, and order up some goods. Yep, that's your friendly blogger packing it in.
Things get pretty busy keeping WildSnow.com going, so sometimes I wish I could clone myself. Apparently, some of my counterparts in Austria already did that for their own gig.
I got a ride over to the Dynafit press event in Switzerland from Viennese twin brothers Axel and Andreas Jentzsch, who run what’s considered one of the most influential websites for mountain sports in central Europe, Bergsteigen.com. During the 3 hour drive the brothers kept up a superhuman workload of photographing various climbing and ski touring areas, answering their phones, checking things on a laptop with mobile wireless, and even finding time for a calorie stop.
We were headed for Dynafit’s fourth annual “Press Event,” their journalist junket they hold at a different classic European mountain hut every year. I’ve been to a lot of press events over my years of magazine writing and now blogging, and these Dynafit deals take the prize. They’re not particularly deluxe. No pole dancers or free luxury suites. Instead you hunker down with a bunch of like minded colleagues in what could be described as clean, well maintained, but funky accommodations. Like this year, when most of the men were lodged in one room with long continuous beds at the Sulzfluh Hut (actually a large lodge) in Switzerland. Earplugs, essential. On the Dynafit press junket plan you spend two nights, with a classic guided ski tour during the full day you’re there. The idea is sort of a roots seminar for those of us not from the ski touring motherland, and some goodwill banking (otherwise known as Coolaid drinking) for those who are.
Axel and Andreas figured it would be faster to head over the famed Arlberg Pass, as well as more interesting for their guest. They were right. The closest thing I've seen to this in North America is Colorado's Red Mountain Pass, but it doesn't even come close to the Arlberg's mixture of ski resorts, dwellings, and huge avalanche slopes. Plus, the way they construct the roads blows your mind. That's what you see on the cliff in the photo above, a major highway cut in like something from a fantasy novel.
The view as you head over Arlberg Pass, just huge terrain, avalanche prevention structures everywhere. It's almost like another planet.
We had to drive through Lichtenstein to reach the Partnun area of Switzerland, and Axel said this castle in Lichtenstein is where the King lived. I'll bet it's an interesting place to visit. They probably still wear armor and do jousting for recreation.
For those of you who may be familiar with this area, here is the sign at the turn, heading out of Lichtenstein.
Austrians check their oil too. Axel owns a really nice diesel Volkswagen van that I envied.
I'm always amazed at how many excellent roads probe the Alps. Yeah, it's not the empty American west, but at least you don't have to own a snowmobile just to get to your local stash. One such road took us to the trailhead for Sulzfluh Hutte, where we met up with Dynafit staffers as well as a gaggle of journalists. These things are always an eye opener for me, the innocent country boy, as you get a bunch of somewhat cosmopolitan Italians, French, Swiss, Germans, Austrians and so forth, all chattering away. They all seemed to like me better, now that Obama is president. Pretty amusing, really, how much Europeans like our cowboy culture -- unless it involves the leader of the free world.
During the past few years of Euro ski trips, I've been amazed at how prevalent the use of snowmobiles are in the Alps. Not so much for recreation, as they just don't have room for that, but use for farming/ranching and backcountry hut logistics is very common. I guess great minds think alike, as we certainly put sleds to such good uses all over North America.
Most huts I've been to don't look like much on the outside, but once you get used to what they have inside, the sign is enough.
And just so you know what is outside the hut... This Sulzfluh rises above as a beautiful rocky edifice that frankly doesn't look like great skiing, but a nice glisse route winds up to the right and behind the cliffs for about 4,000 vertical feet. This is like having a full service hut up in a place like Pearl Basin between Aspen and Crested Butte. I wouldn't want to see as many of these around here as they have in Europe, but a few more would certainly be appreciated. What irks me is the lack of vision many of our hut builders in this part of the country have had over the years, resulting in far too many huts built down in the forest, some even without views. Let's have a few more at or above timberline!
The next day, we climbed and skied the Sulzfluh. I’ve got some good photos so I’ll be working on a trip report. Meanwhile, if you’re planning a ski trip in Switzerland, Sulzfluh Hutte and surrounding region are a recommended destination.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
