The Franz Senn Hut in the Stubai Valley of the Austrian Tyrol offers an ideal base for high quality ski touring, with great scenery and reliable conditions. This is a relaxed paced ‘ski focussed’ touring week, taking in excellent descents and various ski summits along the way. The tour can be completed in most conditions, with lots of possible variations making it a great first hut trip, or for anyone wanting a comfortable hut based ski touring holiday. **Free safety equipment rental is included with this trip**

Tour Info

This is a more relaxed paced tour with a wide variety of terrain, making it suitable as a first hut based touring week, or for anyone looking for a relaxed ski touring holiday. When you arrive at the hut you’ll find hot showers, a comfy bar and full restaurant service – one of the most comfortable huts in the alps!

We meet in Innsbruck because it’s easy to get to and if you turn up early there’s good warm up skiing accessible directly from town. Onward travel to the Stubai is also fast and straightforward, as we are able to hire a private transfer minibus rather than relying on public transport.

Suitability

This is a relaxed/introductory level trip. To take part you should be at Fitness Level 2/3 and Tech Level 2/3 (see our Fitness/Experience guidelines below). You need previous ski touring experience in order to join this tour – eg a few days worth of touring is enough.   For reference, Ski Club of GB High Silver/Purple off piste ski standard is required for this trip. The week includes 5-7 hour days with 700-1200m of climb a day, so you can expect to be skinning for 3-4 hours a day.  Type of ascent: depending on the exact tours selected during the week, there is some uplift potential on the first 2 days, then 100% skinning from the hut, all at mid altitude.

Guiding ratio

One IFMGA guide skiing with 6 clients, or occasionally 2:7, with one Aspirant guide joining the team too.

Included in price

• 6 days of guiding
• All guides expenses
• 2 nights accommodation in Innsbruck, including breakfast
• 2 nights accommodation in Stubai Valley including breakfast and evening meal
• 3 nights accommodation in mountain huts, including breakfast and evening meal
• Return transfers between Innsbruck and the Stubai
• Equipment hire: avalanche transceiver, shovel, probe, ice axe, crampons, harness

Excluded from price (see course factsheet for cost estimates)

• Evening meals in Innsbruck
• Uplift
• Lunches and drinks
• Flights and transfers
• Insurance

Hotels

We start and finish the trip at the excellent 4* Alphotel in Innsbruck – its a convenient meeting point and also a great way to end the trip, seeing the sights and having a nice meal out in the town. Rooms are provided on a twin (or occasionally triple) sharing basis, but if you wish to book a single room please let us know and we will confirm availability. Any extra luggage not required on the tour can be left until the end of the week. Hotel details can be found on our Accommodation page.

Huts

For overnights in the high mountains we will use mountain huts. The Austrian hut network is the finest in Europe – many have hot showers, a very well stocked bar and the food is usually excellent. For more info please read the Using Alpine Huts article which provides an overview of typical hut facilities, average costs to help you budget for lunches/drinks and general info on hut etiquette. Also, our Ski Touring FAQs page answers some of the most common questions we are asked about multi day ski touring and logistics etc.

ABTOT Protected

This trip is protected by ABTOT – Alpine Guides Ltd, Membership Number 5394.  For further information, please visit our Financial Protection page.

Subject to weather and snow conditions, the plan is as follows. Please note that this is a sample itinerary only – on trips like this, itineraries are always subject to change as the current snow, weather and avalanche conditions need to be taken into account. This is an essential part of safety planning for all backcountry skiing, so please be ready for changes as part of your trip.

Saturday

You should arrange outward travel on Saturday, arriving by 6-7pm latest in time for the briefing at your accommodation. Your guide will run through kit checks and safety routines, as well as hand out any rental equipment, before going on to discuss the current weather and mountain conditions and how these affect our plans. We’ll have maps and guidebooks of the area to show you, so if you’ve any further questions or last minute requests, then this is the ideal time to bring them up.

Overnight in Innsbruck.

Sunday – Monday

2 Days Ski Touring in the Stubai Valley

A great variety of day touring and off piste skiing is available within the Stubai valley, which offers reliable day tours, as well as extensive glacier skiing and lift assisted touring at the well known Stubai glacier resort.

We’ll choose tours and locations to make best use of the current conditions.

800-1000m ascent and descent per day ~5-6hrs

Overnight at valley hotel in Stubaital.

Tuesday

To the Franz Senn Hut

AM Taxi transfer to the roadhead, then skin up to the Franz Senn Hut.

Named after the father of Tyrolean ski touring, this a place of pilgrimage for local ski tourers!

PM Half day tour above the hut.

900m ascent, 500m descent ~5hrs

Wednesday – Thursday

Day touring from the Franz Senn Hut.

There are numerous excellent day tours around the Franz Senn Hut – we’ll choose objectives based on the group and current conditions.  Examples include:

• Wildes Hinterbergel (3288m), one of the best known classic tours in the range and an excellent viewpoint from the summit.
• Wilder Turm (3292m), a slightly easier option in the same area, which gives an equally good descent.

Being based at the hut means we can carry slightly lighter packs each day, with packed lunches also available to order at the hut.

1000-1200m ascent and descent ~5-6hrs.

Friday

Kraulscharte.

The final ascent to Kraulscharte is a great way to finish the week.

This offers a very scenic ascent to a fine viewpoint, followed by a long, open north facing slope down the upper half of the mountain.

In good conditions, it’s often possible to do a short skin and boot track, which links to a second big north facing descent down to the lower valley – 1600m of skiing in total.

900m ascent, 1600m descent ~5hrs

PM Taxi back to valley + return to Innsbruck and the hotel.

Saturday

Return travel should be arranged on Saturday morning, after your final nights accommodation.

Your trip starts and finishes in Innsbruck, the most convenient access point for touring in this part of Austria, on the doorstep of the Stubai, Hohe Tauern, Otztal and Silvretta ranges. The most convenient way to reach Innsbruck in winter is fly directly to the city airport, then take a short shuttle bus journey to our hotel. Alternatively fly into Salzburg or Zurich and catch the train to Innsbruck.

After a comfortable stay in Innsbruck, a private taxi transfer gives quick access to the mountains to start the tour.

Flights and transfers

• Fly to Innsbruck: check Sky Scanner website for best options.
• Shuttle bus into town: www.innsbruck-airport.com/en/train-bus
• Or, fly to Salzburg or Zurich.
• Train from there to Innsbruck: www.oebb.at/en/ (excellent Austrian integrated train/bus timetable)
• Alternatively hire a car at any airport: www.arguscarhire.com / www.holidayautos.co.uk

For flights and other travel options, including train, coach and driving, visit our Travel Planning page.

To enjoy this trip you should be comfortable operating at Fitness Level 2/3, and Ski Tech Level 2/3:

Fitness Level 2
You do 2-3 hours cv training/sport per week. At this level you should be happy doing either a 3-4 hr hillwalk, cycling 30-40 miles or mountain biking 2-3 hours without being exhausted. On foot: you should be able to walk from Ogwen Cottage in North Wales up Glyder Fach – Glyder Fawr – Y Garn – Ogwen in ~5hrs. Or in the Lake District Langdale – Bowfell – Esk Pike – Angle Tarn – Langdale in ~ 6hrs. On skis: you are capable of off piste skiing all day or doing a couple of hours skinning with out finishing up exhausted – ie you can do this for a number of days without taking a rest day.

Fitness Level 3
You do 3-4 hours cv training/sport per week. At this level you are happy doing a 5-6 hr hillwalk, 40-50ml cycle or 3-4hr mountain bike ride without being totally exhausted. If you are into challenges – then the thought of doing a road sportive, or training to do a 1/2 (or maybe even a full) marathon, wouldn’t seem too ridiculous. On foot: you should be able to do the full Langdale Horseshoe: Langdale – Pike of Stickle – Angle Tarn – Bow Fell – Crinkle Crags – Pike of Blisco – Langdale in a day without finishing up exhausted. On skis: you can skin uphill at 300-400m/hr for 3-4 hrs a day (ie 8-1200m of ascent each day)

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Tech Level 2
Improving Off Piste Skier. You enjoy black runs and the kind of tracked out off piste terrain found around many big resorts, but you haven’t skied too much in properly deep snow without a base to it yet. *Equivalent to Ski Club of GB Off Piste Level: Silver – Intermediate*
Likely to say: ‘I’d like to ski well in powder/link lots of short radius turns/go ski touring’
Our Advice: An Off Piste Skiing Course is highly recommended. If you’d like to try ski touring, then do either an intro ski touring course or an intro level ski tour.

Tech Level 3
Confirmed Off Piste Skier. You can put down a reasonable set of tracks in powder, but difficult snow types – eg heavy wet snow, crusts, poor visibility or 40dg slopes – can all cause problems (though you can cope with them safely, if not elegantly!) *Equivalent to Ski Club of GB Off Piste Level: Purple – Advanced*
Likely to say: ‘I’d like to handle difficult snow/steep slopes more confidently in better style’
Our Advice: Off piste coaching still useful. Intermediate off piste weeks are at your level too. If you want to get into ski touring, try a touring course or intro level ski tour. If you’re an established ski mountaineer, then intermediate level tours are generally suitable.

To view all of our Ski Fitness Levels and Off Piste Technical Levels, please visit our Ski Ability page.

If you need to top up your fitness for this trip, please see our Ski Touring Training Advice page.

Off Piste Ski Ability Levels

To join this trip, you need to be skiing at Tech Level 2/3 or higher on our 5 point scale. Use the descriptions above and the following video to help work out your current off piste ski ability level.

Hut to Hut Touring Equipment List

Just remember, every extra kilo on your back knocks 10% off your enjoyment on the descents – so try and keep the weight down!

Technical Clothing

• Waterproof Jacket – preferably lightweight and breathable
• Overtrousers/ski pants – preferably with side zips
• Fleece mid layer – or equivalent
• Socks – specialist ski socks or a warm loop lined pair of mountain socks
• Wicking thermal top – not cotton please…
• Thermal leggings or ski pants
• Thin inner gloves
• Warm ski gloves or mittens, if you suffer from cold hands
• Warm hat
• Spare fleece/lightweight duvet jacket

Personal Items

• Water container – at least 1 litre
• Personal medications and blister kit – regular meds, zinc oxide tape, compeed and painkillers etc
• Lightweight head torch
• Ski goggles
• Sun glasses – CE rated 3 or 4 with side protection
• Sun and lip cream – factor 30+
• Wallet, passport, Alpine Club/BMC card (hut discount) and insurance docs

Hut Overnight Items

• Small wash kit
• Spare lightweight t-shirt/socks/pants
• Silk sheet liner
• Ear plugs
• (Hut slippers for indoor use, blankets/duvets and pillows are provided by the huts)

Technical Equipment

• Rucsac 35/45l – try and avoid ones covered in too many features, just ski and ice axe attachments required
• Ski mountaineering boots
• Skis with touring bindings – lightweight pin binding setup required. Heavy freeride setups not suitable. Older style bar/rail bindings (Fritschi Freeride, Marker Duke etc) not allowed – please update your kit!
• Ski strap – to keep skis together on your rucksack if we need to carry them
• Ski poles – with good size 5cm+ baskets (telescopic poles are not needed)
• Climbing skins – they come with the skis if you hire your kit
• Harscheisen (ski crampons) – they come with the skis if you hire your kit
• Metal snow shovel – must be a full metal shovel (plastic blades don’t work in real avalanche debris!)
• Avalanche probe
• Avalanche transceiver – must be a modern digital model (older analogue models are now obsolete)
• Harness, with 120cm sling and locking karabiner
• Crampons – lightweight model
• Ice Axe – lightweight model
• Ski Helmet – lightweight ski touring or backcountry model preferred.  Wearing a helmet is compulsory on descents and may be needed on other parts of the route depending on conditions

Your guide will have all other safety kit, first aid and survival equipment.

Recommendations and Advice
Visit the Knowledge Base section of our website, where we publish an annual review of the years best new skis, boots and touring equipment, plus a range of other interesting tips and recommendations. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please get in touch!

Purchasing Equipment
Backcountry UK in Otley offer an excellent ski touring boot fitting service, one of the best ranges of ski mountaineering equipment in the UK and top notch advice.

Hiring Equipment
Please visit our Equipment Hire page for recommended hire shops in your resort, and Alpine Guides hire equipment price list (safety equipment is provided free of charge on certain courses – please consult price inclusions).

For this trip you must have specialist travel insurance providing medical, emergency search/rescue and repatriation cover for off piste skiing and ski touring, as outlined in the trip itinerary. We also strongly recommend that you purchase cancellation cover, in case you’re unable to attend your trip due to personal circumstances or injury. Please arrange your insurance as soon as your trip is confirmed to run.

Further details can be found on our insurance info page.