10 Mountain Hut Trips - Anyone Done Them Before

[Batteriesnare]

My wife and I are looking to schedule a winter hut/yurt trip this year. We enjoy backpacking in the summer and wanted to dip our toes in winter backpacking and thought a yurt trip would be a good start. I've been looking at the 10th Mountain Division huts but wanted to see if anyone here has any experience, tips, or suggestions on what might make for a successful first trip. Thanks!

[Delfuego]

I have, we take backcountry ski/snowboard trips to huts in different areas. It is pretty freakin' cool, but you need to know it is not hiking at all. Winter travel is so much more difficult and dangerous than summer travel. A few miles on dirt trails is fun, a few miles in the backcountry in winter could kill you. Travel is slow and painful. Be prepared to suffer. Weather can move in and stop you in your tracks. Going off course can result in getting lost and needing rescue or dying. I'm not even going to get into the intricacies and skills needed to travel through avalanche terrain.

Are you planning on snowshoes or skis? Snowshoeing is slow and brutal in certain conditions. Do you have the proper gear? Radios? Beacons, shovels & probes? Functional underwear/outerwear? You can go from sweating your balls off to freezing in about 5 minutes. Do you have anyone more experienced to go with? There are classes (some free) that can give you some skills and knowledge. There are also clubs like CMC that have trips you could join. If you're serious, start planning now.

The 10th mountain huts fill up pretty fast, especially for the spring dates. If you are serious, book soon. There are a few huts that have a mellow approach, some are a death march in winter. Some have limited exposure and flatter approaches and these are more accessible and book faster than more remote ones.

Remember, once you leave any populated area; you are on your own. No one is coming to help you. You will need to self-rescue. This also means your wife could need to rescue you. I am not trying to discourage you, only prepare you. Shoot me a PM if I can help in any way.

[BladesNBarrels]

When I was a teen-ager, the great summer job was to be a "hut boy" in New Hampshire.
It was easier to get into Harvard then to be hired there.
That system is the way to enjoy the White Mountains.

https://www.outdoors.org/lodging-camping/huts

[Mtneer]

Delfuego gave a good summary. I'd add that skiing/snowshoeing in Dec and Jan generally sucks: windy, cold, short days, long nights, dangerous conditions, bad snow. Feb is marginally better. March, April is prime time and hence the hardest to get reservations. Also avalanche classes with CMC and other organizations fill up very fast. Might want to start out with day trips before doing an overnight. Even using huts, you have to haul a LOT of gear.

[Batteriesnare]

I have, we take backcountry ski/snowboard trips to huts in different areas. It is pretty freakin' cool, but you need to know it is not hiking at all. Winter travel is so much more difficult and dangerous than summer travel. A few miles on dirt trails is fun, a few miles in the backcountry in winter could kill you. Travel is slow and painful. Be prepared to suffer. Weather can move in and stop you in your tracks. Going off course can result in getting lost and needing rescue or dying. I'm not even going to get into the intricacies and skills needed to travel through avalanche terrain.

Are you planning on snowshoes or skis? Snowshoeing is slow and brutal in certain conditions. Do you have the proper gear? Radios? Beacons, shovels & probes? Functional underwear/outerwear? You can go from sweating your balls off to freezing in about 5 minutes. Do you have anyone more experienced to go with? There are classes (some free) that can give you some skills and knowledge. There are also clubs like CMC that have trips you could join. If you're serious, start planning now.

The 10th mountain huts fill up pretty fast, especially for the spring dates. If you are serious, book soon. There are a few huts that have a mellow approach, some are a death march in winter. Some have limited exposure and flatter approaches and these are more accessible and book faster than more remote ones.

Remember, once you leave any populated area; you are on your own. No one is coming to help you. You will need to self-rescue. This also means your wife could need to rescue you. I am not trying to discourage you, only prepare you. Shoot me a PM if I can help in any way.

Good info, thank you. We're looking at some of the less remote areas to begin with, and have some friends that we'll get to tag along. Appreciate the input!

[meatman]

They're a lot of fun and I started out by going with friends who had booked the whole hut 15 years ago. I met my wife who had been doing them with her group of friends and we've been doing 3-4 hut trips per year for over 10 years. We do all of our trips by booking the whole hut in the lottery. We volunteer for the 10th Mountain Division Hut Assoc. in the summer which get you hut credits, a membership, and a lottery form for the next winter's hut lottery.

An expensive option to explore would be to go with something like the Paragon Guides. It's fully catered and you don't have to carry as much stuff up there. But like I said, it's expensive.

If you don't have any winter backcountry experience, a good place to start is to attend the free avalanche awareness seminars and on the snow training by the Friends of Berthoud Pass. http://www.berthoudpass.org/