Chelenalphütte
| Chelenalphütte SAC hut |
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 Chelenalphütte |
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| location | in the Göschen valley; Uri , Switzerland ; Valley location: Göscheneralp | |
| Mountain range | Uri Alps | |
| Geographical location: | 676 624 / 169 426 | |
| Altitude | 2350 m above sea level M. | |
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| owner | SAC - Aarau section | |
| Built | 1903, 1926 | |
| Construction type | hut | |
| Usual opening times | June to October and by appointment | |
| accommodation | 56 beds | |
| Winter room | 14 bearings | |
| Web link | Chelenalphütte | |
| Hut directory | SAC | |
The Chelenalphütte (actually Kehlenalphütte ) is a more than 100 year old mountain hut belonging to the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) in the Urner Alps .
Beginning of the development of the area
The first settlement of the 1700 m high Göscheneralp goes back to the 17th century. According to tradition, several houses were built in 1653 in the valley basin surrounded by high mountains. Later a church was built and this is how the Dörfli came into being, which was the highest permanent settlement in the canton of Uri for 300 years . Life in this seclusion was not easy, especially in winter. Apart from maize and grain, which were supplied, one was mainly dependent on self-sufficiency.
In 1870 there were six families, i. H. a total of 38 people on the Hinteralp , the valley floor of today's Göscheneralp reservoir , and 48 people lived in the Gwüest . The pioneering days of alpinism that began in the 19th century brought some variety and additional income . Well-known mountaineers and scientists found their way to the Göscheneralp. Various first ascents and crossings were carried out during this time. In 1841 the Bernese Gottlieb Samuel Studer was the first to stand on the Sustenhorn with his guides , in 1861 the first ascent of the Gwächtenhorn took place and in 1864 Dammastock , Egg and Rhonestock followed . At that time, the ascents were made from the Trift and Rhone glaciers , as the steep falls to the Göscheneralp still deterred everyone. Only in the later years were the climbs made accessible via the eastern walls of the Dammakette. The Mattli guesthouse on the Göscheneralp usually served as accommodation. In 1893, however, it received competition from the newly opened Hotel Dammagletscher , which soon became a meeting place for mountaineers and hikers and thus developed a modest type of summer tourism. But since the ascents from here were long and time-consuming, there was soon a call for higher accommodation. In 1891 the UTO section built the first SAC hut in the Göschenertal area, the Voralphütte located at 2126 m in the valley of the same name.
The Chelenalphütte
First built in 1903
As with other SAC sections, the Aarau section also strived to have its own club hut somewhere in the mountains. The club hut question was already discussed in the meetings of 1900 and a modest hut fund was even established. The question of space gave a lot to talk about. In 1902 the decision was made in favor of the Kehlenalp location after the upper Maggia valley was seriously discussed.
Construction began in August 1903 and the inauguration took place on September 6th. The costs amounted to Fr. 6,500.– of which Fr. 2,100.– fell solely on transport expenses. The hut offered space for 25 people. The beds were covered with mountain hay and warm woolen blankets complemented the equipment. A large oven was used for heating and cooking. The number of visitors ranged from 318 people in the first year to 600 in the following years.
New building in 1926
Despite the turmoil of the First World War , more SAC huts were built in the region, such as the Sustlihütte in 1914 , the Dammahütte in 1916 and the Albert-Heim-Hütte in 1918 . It was expected that the frequency would increase after the war. During this time, initial considerations were also made regarding an expansion of the Chelenalphütte, which led to the establishment of a hut construction commission in 1923. They decided on a completely new building, this time a massive stone building. Mainly through donations from a Dutch SAC member, the industrialist Dr. J. Moll von Charante from Voorschoten near Leiden, and further donations, the new building of the Chelenalphütte was financed, carried out in the summer of 1926 and inaugurated on October 3rd, 1926. The material was transported to the Chelenalptal by Göschenen on mules. For the last steep section to the building site, however, people had to grab hold of themselves and carry the loads up on their backs. A large part of the transports was taken over by the Säumer recruit school in Andermatt free of charge. The total construction costs for the hut and the interior work amounted to CHF 55,000, almost a quarter of which was accounted for by the transport costs.
After the construction of the new hut, the number of visitors increased sharply in the following years. From 1927 to 1945 22,487 tourists stayed in the mountain home, i. H. on average 1100 to 1300 per year, although there was no road to Göscheneralp and the walking time from Göschenen to the hut is five hours. The frequency remained constant during the war years from 1939 to 1945. For 90% of the visitors, the Sustenhorn was the coveted tour destination. The main users were the gymnastics association of the canton school and company outings. In 1936 a bronze plaque was attached to the retaining wall on the hut forecourt in memory of Dr. Albert Tschopp, Honorary President of the Section who died in 1942.
As the first stage of hydropower plant construction in Göschenertal, the construction of an 11 kilometer long road from Göschenen to Göscheneralp began in 1952 . At the request of the Alpine Corporation, the path was laid out 150 m above the lake on the left side of the mountain and not along the lake. The dam was built from 1955 to 1960, then the Göscheneralpsee was dammed. The residents of the Hinteralp were resettled in the Gwüest. What was left of the former Göscheneralp sank in the floods forever.
Various expansion and renovation works were carried out in 1966 and 1967. For the first time, the material was flown to the hut by helicopter. The total costs for both construction phases amounted to CHF 50,000, i.e. H. almost as much as the new building cost in 1926.
In 1972 there was a further expansion. Furthermore, an 800 m long path was laid from the hut westwards to the Chelen glacier , which made access to the Gwächtenhorn west and south ridge much easier. In 1982 the electrical age began in the Chelenhütte with the installation of a solar system and a radio system to improve the mountain rescue facilities.
Comprehensive renovation in 1990
In the spring of 1988 an avalanche of dust damaged the hut and provided the occasion for a comprehensive renovation and renovation in June 1990. Among other things, new sanitary facilities were built underground, a storage cellar, a storage and backpack room, as well as a winter room with cooking facilities, the bedrooms were redistributed and newly paneled, a new staircase to the 1st floor was built, the kitchen was modernized, a telephone station and a sewage treatment plant were added. As a supplement, it was later decided to install a turbine with the corresponding water intake. The total construction costs amounted to CHF 696,000. At the end of the 1990s, the turbine system for power supply was reinforced and the water supply was renovated a few years later.
Tour possibilities
Accesses
- from Göscheneralp via Vorder and Hinter Röti, walking time: approx. 3 hours
Transitions to neighboring huts
- Tierberglihütte via Sustenlimi ( 3129 m )
- Trifthütte via Sustenlimi and Tierberglilücke
- Albert-Heim-Hütte ( 2543 m ) over Göscheneralpsee and Älpergenlücke
- Bergseehütte ( 2370 m ) via Sustenlimi, walking time: 4 hours
- Dammahütte ( 2430 m ) via Hinter Röti, walking time: 4 hours
- Voralphütte ( 2126 m ) via Flachensteinfirn
summit
- Sustenhorn ( 3503 m ), via Sustenlimi, glacier tour
- Gwächtenhorn ( 3420 m ), via Sustenlimi, glacier tour
- Tierberge (Mittler Tierberg 3418 m , Hinter Tierberg 3443 m ) via Chelen Glacier and Chelenlücke (Tierberglimi)
- Chelenalphorn ( 3202 m ), ridge climbing
- Eggstock
Climbing garden
Near the hut there is a climbing garden with over 20 climbing routes in the third to sixth degree of difficulty . The gneiss is used for climbing .
Hut bosses
- Fritz Kamber
- from 1971 to the end of 1994 Richard Maurer from Schlossrued
- from 1995 Silvan Schenk
- then Peter Siegrist
- 2002 to 2005 Uli Römmelt
- 2006 to 2015 Christoph Liebetrau
- 2016 to 2017 Verena Wettstein
- since 2018 Lutz Freiwald
Hut attendant
- from 1903 Peter Gamma, mountain guide and alpine governor from Gwüest
- 1925/1926 interim by Julius Mattli, father of the later hut warden Paul Mattli
- from 1927 to 1931 Albin Gamma vom Gwüest
- from 1931 to 1952 his brother Balz Gamma
- from 1953 to the end of 1962 Julius Mattli again
- from 1963 to 1994 his son Paul (for 31 years)
- then Christian Hofmann from Köniz
- then Peter Planzer from Schattdorf
- 2002 to 2003 Brigitta Camenzind
- 2004 to 2006 Urs Arnold from Schattdorf
- 2006 to 2016 to Rusina Hilfiker from Sedrun
- since 2017 Petra and Remo Gisler
Web links
- Aarau section in the SAC
- Kehlenalphütte on vs-wallis.ch
Individual evidence
- ^ Georg Kaufmann: Hinteralp and Gwüest: Settlement history of the Göscheneralp . Gisler, Altdorf 1998, ISBN 978-3-9521208-5-9 .