Ridge after ridge fading into blue haze above a deep valley
There is no
off-season at 1,847 m
Only four different reasons to cancel whatever you had planned below — and two stretches a year when the house is shut and the phone is not answered.
- 4
- seasons, four different houses
- 16:00
- winter transfer, daily
- 4 Nov – 12 Dec
- closed, annually
- 2 weeks
- closed in May for the roof
Fictional concept · 46.49° N — 11.33° E · 1,847 m
Winter
Dec – Mar
Powder to the door and the road closed below us. The 16:00 transfer becomes the only way up, and the house fills with people who like that fact.
Snowshoes from the hall
Twelve pairs, all sizes, no charge. The saddle loop is 90 minutes and you will meet nobody on it.
The hearth at 16:00
Lit every day from November to April. It is the only appointment anybody keeps up here.
Sauna, then the snow
Cedar, 06:30 to 22:00, ten people in. What you do straight after it is between you and the terrace.
Skins on the north flank
Ask at the desk before you go — we know what came down last night and you do not.
Road closed above 1,500 m from roughly mid-December. Transfer 16:00 daily, and 11:00 on Saturdays.
Spring
Apr – Jun
The meadow below the terrace goes from grey to loud in about eleven days. Best month for the long walks, worst for anyone hoping to sleep in.
The eleven days
Nobody can tell you which eleven. Late May, usually — and the terrace smells of it before you see it.
The north path to the lake
Forty minutes down, an hour and ten back up, and the water is still ice in June.
Bread at 05:40
The kitchen will let you in to watch if you ask the night before. Two guests a week do.
The road reopens
Usually early April. Drive up if you must, but the transfer is still better company.
Two weeks closed in May for the roof — the dates move with the weather, so ask when you book.
Summer
Jul – Aug
Light until 21:30, dinner moved outside, and the Open Deck finally makes sense. The only stretch when the top traverse is dry enough to enjoy.
The ridge traverse
Four hours, and take the packed lunch. Half board covers it; the desk writes your name in the book.
Dinner on the terrace
Same 19:30, same single sitting, moved outside from the first week of July.
Sleeping outdoors
The Open Deck runs June to September. Bring socks — it drops to 4 °C at two in the morning.
Stars, from the rail
No streetlight within 14 km. The Milky Way is not a metaphor here, it is a light source.
August closes four to five months ahead. The Open Deck is the first bed to go, and the first we cancel for rain.
Autumn
Sep – Oct
Larch gold, first frost on the rail, the quietest three weeks of the year. We close on 4 November and re-open on 12 December.
Larch gold
Three weeks, somewhere in October. The Larch room is named for the tree you can hear from its window.
The dairy, 6 km below
They cut wheels on Thursdays. We drive down at nine and you are welcome in the van.
Late September
The month people forget about, and arguably the best week in the calendar to be up here.
First frost on the rail
Then the terrace furniture comes in, and dinner moves back to the long table.
Closed 4 November to 12 December, annually. The house is empty, the road is not cleared, and the phone is not answered.
When the house
is open
Nine rooms and two full closures a year means we sell out early. February and August usually close four to five months out; late September and early June are the ones people forget about, and they are arguably the best.
12 Dec
The house re-opens
Winter rates, transfer daily at 16:00
mid-Dec – Mar
Road closed above 1,500 m
The transfer is the only way up
April
Road reopens, meadow still grey
Quietest fortnight of the spring
May
Two weeks closed for the roof
Dates move with the weather
Jun – Sep
The Open Deck is made up
Cancels free if it rains
Jul – Aug
Dinner moves to the terrace
Sells out four to five months ahead
October
Larch gold, three weeks
The weeks people forget to book
4 Nov
The house closes
Back on 12 December
Come in the wrong month.
Late September, early June, the first week of April. Everyone books February and August; the people who know book the weeks nobody talks about.