Carinthia, Salzburg, Tyrol and Großglockner Hochalpenstrassen AG support construction projects on the Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte
Salzburg – Grossglockner / Hohe Tauern National Park: The Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAK) based in Vienna owns the highest mountain hut in Austria, the Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte on the Adlersruhe. It is located at 3,454 m on the ascent to the Großglockner (3,798 m) on the normal route and is not only a welcome overnight stay for mountaineers, but also a necessary base for mountain rescue.
Project and construction measures: The up to 5,000 Großglockner alpinists at the Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte are supplied with supplies via a 4.2 km long material ropeway, this is the umbilical cord, so to speak, since drinking water has to be transported to the hut in addition to the usual supplies. In recent years, 650,000 euros have already been invested in the construction of six new supports for the material cableway to the Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte. For the Heurige and next year, the renewal of the mountain station and the conversion of the valley station with a total investment of 330,000 euros are still pending. The aim is to make the cable car fit for factory traffic, as it is becoming increasingly urgent to transport staff to and from the hut quickly and safely. While in the past the staff stayed at the hut for three months straight, it is now common for the hut staff to work part-time or only a few days a week. With company transport, the landlord Toni Riepler should be able to find suitable employees and to offer thousands of mountaineers of the Großglockner the corresponding “highest” care as well as sufficient security and protection.
supporter: The states of Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol as well as the Großglockner Hochalpenstrassen AG (GROHAG), as the main partners of the Großglockner region and the Hohe Tauern National Park, each provide EUR 25,000 for the provisionally last necessary construction measures, a total of EUR 100,000. – Euro ready. The remaining financing is mainly covered by the ÖAK’s own funds.
Yesterday, on the sidelines of the state governors’ conference in Bregenz, the state governors of the three federal states of the transnational Hohe Tauern National Park – by the way, one of the largest in Europe at almost 2,000 km² – and the GROHAG Board of Directors were able to hand over a symbolic check with a support amount of €100,000 handed over to the President of the ÖAK, Christian Zinkl.
quotes:
“With this significant special support from the provincial governors, the great importance of the Großglockner in general and the Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte in particular for the three federal states of the Hohe Tauern National Park, the Großglockner High Alpine Road and for the whole of Austria is impressively underlined‘ said John HörlSole director of Großglockner Hochalpenstrassen AG (GROHAG).
“The management of a hut in such an exposed location in the high mountains requires a lot of effort. The Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte was built in 1880, it has been repeatedly expanded and renovated and, with its exposed location, is our pride and problem child in equal parts: at most a space station is even more difficult to maintain. The Austrian Alpine Club accepts this support with great gratitude,” so Christian ZincPresident of the Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAK).
Further information:
to die Archduke Johann Hut on the Adlersruhe of the Großglockner is the highest alpine accommodation in Austria at 3,454 m and, after the Rifugio Marco e Rosa (3,609 m, Bernina) and the Rifugio Vioz-Mantova (3,535 m, Ortler area), the third highest in the Eastern Alps. Already in the summer of 1799, when the Großglockner was first climbed, the first protective structures, called the Hohenwarte, were built in the Adlersruhe area.
Of the Austrian Alpine Club was founded in Vienna in 1878 and is closely linked to Austria’s highest mountain: as the “owner” of the summit cross and of 114 m² of Glockner summit area on the Tyrolean side as well as through its Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte, the only hut of the ÖAK. Transnational like the club, the border between Tyrol and Carinthia runs diagonally through the hut. It is popular as an optimal base for the normal ascent, since the ascent to the summit only takes about 1.5 to 2 hours. Mountaineers experience the sunset at 3,500 m with a magnificent panoramic view from the Dachstein to the Dolomites. www.erzherzog-johann-huette.at
Questions & contact:
Mag. Dietmar Schöndorfer, Grossglockner High Alpine Roads Ltd
Rainerstrasse 2, 5020 Salzburg, M: 0664/155 60 99
Schoendorfer@grossglockner.at www.grossglockner.at
President Dipl.-Ing. Christian Zinkl, Austrian Alpine Club
Getreidemarkt 3/12, 1060 Vienna, M: 0664/615 41 36
alpenklub.oeak@gmail.com www.alpenclub.info