Getting Started
Planning an excellent hut trip can be complicated. Trip leaders are organizing 6 to 16 people with various skills across technical terrain. We’ve been coordinating hut trips for years, and these are a few tips to make it easier.
Be Flexiable with Trip Dates
Communicate with the group early about potential dates and locations. There are a few ways that Huts and Yurts are managed, including a lottery system and open bookings. Hut systems like the 10th Mountain Division use a lottery system. You need everyone to participate for the best results. In comparison, many private huts have open bookings, like the Tundra Hut, that start accepting bookings in the summer. Popular dates book within minutes of availability posted online. Share a list of potential dates with your group so people aren’t surprised.
Plan Fantastic Meals
I assign a provisioning officer to identify teams to plan group meals for breakfast and dinner. People bring their own food for lunch and snacks. I also encourage people to be fancy (and light). There isn’t anything better than a mouthwatering hot meal after a long day of adventuring. It is also really important to remember things take longer to cook (and clean) at altitude. As a result, we often precook many ingredients such as bacon and use items with lower cook time, like angel hair pasta.
Coordinate the Approach and Trailhead
There are a few key details to organize for the first day of the trip. For instance, ensure communication about the trailhead (we have a detailed map on our main page), trailhead arrival times, route plans, radio channels (if used), and ETA to the hut. Often being the trip leader is the responsibility of the group organizer. Still, it can also be helpful to assign a different trip leader to manage this part of the adventure. If the group size is six or more, it can also be beneficial to be in two groups to simplify backcountry travel. Typically we have an early group (“First Chair”) and a late group, so everyone can travel with a partner.
Bring Critical Gear and Know Who is Carrying It
Make sure you know who is carrying what type of supplies in addition to basic requirements like a beacon, shovel, and probe for winter travel. Critical items to consider are a medkit, satellite communicator like a spot, inReach, or PLB, anticipated cell phone service zones, space blanket, and relevant training like CPR and Wilderness First Responder. We hope these are never needed, but it is best to be prepared and make sure the group you are traveling with has the fundamental essentials.
Leave Tasty Snacks in the Car
Leave some refreshments in the car like water, sports drinks, hop sodas, and tasty snacks. There is nothing worse than getting back to the car and being hangry! Some of our favorites include Gatorade and salt and vinegar chips. Don’t forget to put the beverages in a location where they can freeze (although that would be sad).
Have a Great Time!
Hut trips are a fantastic adventure for everyone involved. Congratulations on thinking about organizing one for a lucky group of people. If you are reading this because you are participating in an upcoming trip, remember to go easy on the organizer, they probably have a lot of details to manage, so offer to take a load off and help them out!