Hut Culture – The Living Hut

Riccardo Beltramo
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Evidence-based stories on mountain huts as socio-ecological systems, created collaboratively in the Tourism Eco-management course (University of Turin).

Episodes

  1. Aug 10

    Exploring Sustainability in Alpine Hospitality: Cabana Bâlea Lac

    What does it mean to run a mountain hut at over 2,000 metres, beside a glacial lake, in one of Romania’s most spectacular alpine landscapes? In this episode of Hut Culture | Rifugio Vivo, we travel to Cabana Bâlea Lac, located near Bâlea Lake in the Făgăraș Mountains, a high-altitude environment shaped by glaciers, steep ridges, sudden weather changes and strong seasonal contrasts. The episode was developed from the work of Cristian Padure, student of the Tourism Eco-Management course, and explores the hut as a living system where hospitality, logistics, environmental management and cultural heritage constantly interact. Cabana Bâlea Lac is more than a place to sleep. It is a gateway to the Romanian Carpathians, a base for hikers and winter visitors, and a concrete example of how sustainability becomes a daily operational practice. Access changes with the seasons: in summer, the Transfăgărășan Road opens the way to the lake area, while in winter the cable car often becomes the main connection due to snow and avalanche risk. Through water, energy, waste, food traditions, visitor responsibility and climate-related challenges, this episode shows how mountain huts reveal the delicate balance between tourism, nature and management. A journey into Romanian mountain culture, and into the practical meaning of sustainability at altitude.

    Exploring Sustainability in Alpine Hospitality: Cabana Bâlea Lac

  2. Aug 3

    Exploring Sustainability in Alpine Hospitality: Refuge de Plaisance

    In this Hut Culture episode, Marwa Bennour, Sarah Pariente, Agnieszka Wolosiuk and Ioana-Maria Dina take us to Refuge de Plaisance, in the Vanoise area of Savoie, France: a summer mountain hut set within the Vanoise National Park, at around 2,170 metres, reached by hiking trails and shaped by the daily realities of high-altitude hospitality. Starting from the answers collected through the Hut Culture questionnaire, the episode looks beyond the postcard image of the refuge. Refuge de Plaisance becomes a small but revealing system: spring water, filtered for use; photovoltaic panels and batteries; supplies carried by porters and helicopter; reduced single-use packaging; and careful management of a limited number of beds and dining places. The hut also reports increased visitor demand and overcrowding peaks, especially from mid-July to mid-August, making reservation, awareness and respect for limits part of the mountain experience. The episode also connects the refuge to the climate signals observed by hut managers: heat waves, stronger storms and trail instability or landslides. Adaptation is described through concrete measures, including water saving and energy upgrades. At the same time, the local dimension remains essential: some food and drink supplies come from the valley or nearby areas, including beverages, cheese, butter and pasta “crozel”, with organic and PDO/PGI references appearing among the hut’s quality links.  Through this French case study, Hut Culture invites listeners to see a mountain refuge not only as a place to sleep or eat, but as an observatory of contemporary mountain life: hospitality, logistics, climate adaptation, protected-area management and cultural responsibility all meeting in one fragile, welcoming place.

    Exploring Sustainability in Alpine Hospitality: Refuge de Plaisance

  3. Jul 27

    Exploring Sustainability in Alpine Hospitality: Refuge du Goûter

    In this Hut Culture episode, Shao Chia CHEN, Leonie HEMMER, Maryo GALI, Yuki Sekiya and Jade PETITOT LONCQ explore the iconic Refuge du Goûter, one of the symbolic high-altitude shelters on the normal route to Mont Blanc. Perched at 3,815 metres in the Pays du Mont-Blanc, the Goûter hut is described by FFCAM as the last stop before the “roof of Western Europe”. It welcomes mountaineers before the final stage of the ascent and concentrates, in one exceptional place, the essential ingredients of a summit attempt: a meal, a few hours of sleep, the waiting atmosphere of rope teams, and the discipline required by a fragile and exposed alpine environment. The episode presents the refuge not only as an architectural landmark, but as a system of rules, limits and responsibility. Reservations are required; the Mont Blanc normal route huts operate under specific booking regulations; camping and bivouacking are prohibited in the classified Mont-Blanc site. These rules are part of the hut’s cultural meaning: they connect safety, environmental protection, visitor management and respect for the mountain. Refuge du Goûter is also a powerful case for discussing contemporary hut design. Its ovoid architecture was conceived for extreme conditions; official tourism information describes an environment where winds may reach 300 km/h. The same source lists sustainable features such as dry toilets, waste management and photovoltaic equipment. In the Hut Culture perspective, this makes the refuge a living threshold between ascent and shelter, technology and sobriety, ambition and prudence. Through this episode, Hut Culture invites listeners to look at the Mont Blanc normal route from inside the refuge: not as a simple stopover, but as a high-altitude observatory of mountain culture, shared rules, architectural adaptation and responsible hospitality.

    Exploring Sustainability in Alpine Hospitality: Refuge du Goûter

  4. Jul 20

    Exploring Sustainability in Alpine Hospitality: Rifugio Quintino Sella al Lago Grande del Viso

    Simone Valenti and Alessandro Nanu take us to the "Rifugio Quintino Sella al Lago Grande del Viso." It is the ideal starting point for the ascent of Monviso, an iconic peak that stands out against the skyline of the Piedmontese Alps. Let’s hear how this refuge addresses the issue of sustainability. Post-production by Ciro Iavarone, SAA Podcast Unit.

    Exploring Sustainability in Alpine Hospitality: Rifugio Quintino Sella al Lago Grande del Viso

  5. Jul 13

    Exploring Sustainability in Alpine Hospitality: Franz-Fischer Hütte

    High in the Austrian Alps, the Franz-Fischer Hütte is more than a mountain hut: it is a meeting point between landscape, hospitality, local culture and responsible tourism. In this episode, a team of Tourism Eco-management students takes listeners on an engaging journey into the life of an alpine refuge, exploring what it means to welcome hikers while caring for fragile mountain environments.  Through narration, field-based storytelling and an extensive interview with the hut manager, the episode opens a window onto the practical and human side of sustainable mountain hospitality. Listeners will discover how a refuge functions far from urban infrastructures, how daily decisions shape environmental impact, and why mountain huts can become living laboratories for a more conscious way of travelling.  The conversation moves across themes that are central to contemporary eco-management: energy and resource use, waste, logistics, food, visitor behaviour, safety, seasonality, and the delicate balance between access, comfort and conservation. At the same time, the episode captures the atmosphere of the hut itself: the effort of reaching it, the sense of community created around a shared table, and the role of the hut keeper as host, mediator, storyteller and guardian of place.  Produced in English by Laura-Elisabeth Baumgart, Klára Hukalová, Francesco Marchiaro, Ina Martha Wans and Tomáš Zajíc, this episode invites students, hikers and mountain lovers to look beyond the postcard image of the Alps. It asks what responsible tourism really means when every supply, every service and every visitor choice must be considered in relation to altitude, weather, remoteness and ecological sensitivity.  Special thanks go to the manager of the Franz-Fischer Hütte, Tom Burger, whose generous collaboration and wide-ranging interview made it possible to understand the refuge from the inside and to give voice to the experience, challenges and values behind its everyday management.  If you are curious about sustainable tourism, alpine hospitality, mountain culture or the hidden work that keeps a high-altitude refuge alive, this episode offers an authentic and thought-provoking story from one of the most fascinating settings in the Alps.  Post production by Ciro Iavarone, SAA Podcast Unit.

    Exploring Sustainability in Alpine Hospitality: Franz-Fischer Hütte

  6. Jun 10

    Exploring Sustainability in Mountain Hospitality: "La Renclusa", Pyrenees, Spain

    In this episode of Hut Culture – The Living Hut, La Renclusa is presented not simply as a mountain refuge in the Pyrenees, but as a living socio-ecological system where hospitality, environmental management, logistics, safety, and mountain culture are closely intertwined. Set at 2,140 metres in the Benasque Valley and widely recognised as a key base for ascents in the Aneto and Maladeta area, the refuge becomes a compelling case through which to explore how life at altitude is shaped by both natural constraints and human organisation. The structure and progression of the episode are fully consistent with the themes addressed in the Tourism Ecomanagement course at the University of Turin. Rather than treating the refuge merely as a destination, the episode examines it as an operational and cultural system: a place where water, energy, waste, mobility, risk management, visitor expectations, and the relationship with the surrounding territory all become part of a broader reflection on sustainability and governance in mountain environments. Without revealing all the insights developed in the episode, the narrative invites listeners to look beyond the familiar image of the alpine hut as a simple shelter. La Renclusa emerges instead as a threshold between accessibility and exposure, tradition and adaptation, memory and contemporary management. Its history, its role in high-mountain mobility, and its present-day transformation all contribute to making it an especially meaningful story for anyone interested in the future of mountain hospitality and protected landscapes. Most of the images accompanying this episode were created with Artificial Intelligence, with the aim of building a coherent visual narrative capable of evoking the atmosphere, functions, and human dimension of the refuge. I am deeply grateful to Alberto Iglesias for kindly granting me an interview whose contents were invaluable in the writing of this episode. His testimony offered first-hand insight into the present life of La Renclusa, the practical challenges of refuge management, and the cultural spirit that continues to give meaning to this remarkable mountain place.

  7. May 19

    Why a Mountain Hut Is Alive

    The School of Management (SAA) launches Hut Culture, a teaching and public‑engagement initiative developed within the Tourism Eco‑Management course (University of Turin, Prof. Riccardo Beltramo). Hut Culture is the English‑language Spotify channel, designed for an international audience; it is complemented by Rifugio vivo, an Italian‑language channel focused primarily on Italian huts (but not only).   Student teams will produce evidence‑based podcast episodes exploring mountain huts as socio‑ecological systems, where environmental management, hospitality, logistics, safety, cultural heritage and climate pressures meet in one concrete place.   The initiative is framed within UNITA – Universitas Montium, the European University Alliance rooted in rural, mountain and cross‑border territories, promoting innovation in education and mobility and advancing research across priority areas such as green energy, cultural heritage, circular economy, digital transition and inclusive societies.   In line with UNITA’s commitment to sustainability and to empowering students to act as European and global citizens connected to the UN SDGs and the European Green Deal, this project places sustainability analysis and evidence quality at its core. In this episode, Riccardo Beltramo and Anna Lavatelli introduce the channel. Credits SAA International Office Cristina RAGIONIERI SAA Communication Office Cecilia MARIANI Anna LAVATELLI Ciro IAVARONE Students Laura-Elisabeth BAUMGART, Klára HUKALOVÁ, Francesco MARCHIARO, Ina Martha WANS, Tomáš ZAJÍC Alessandro NANU Simone VALENTI Ava LEINÖ Marwa BENNOUR Sarah PARIENTE Agnieszka WOLOSIUK Ioana-Maria DINA Shao Chia CHEN Leonie HEMMER Maryo GALI Yuki SEKIYA Jade PETITOT LONCQ

  • 7 Episodes

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Evidence-based stories on mountain huts as socio-ecological systems, created collaboratively in the Tourism Eco-management course (University of Turin).

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