Hut reciprocity agreement explained

Membership

here are almost 1,200 mountain huts offering accommodation for a total of 66,000 people in the entire alpine region – from Slovenia to France, including the Pyrenees. Those eligible to benefit from reciprocity are offered the same overnight rates as members of the hut-owning associations; in some huts, these special conditions are up to 50 per cent of the regular rate.

In the last 10 years, the hut-owning associations have invested almost €170 million in the modernisation and maintenance of this alpine infrastructure.

The UIAA is making the agreement available here on its website, but it is important to remember that the UIAA is no longer involved in the management of the agreement.

RECIPROCITY AGREEMENT

1. Mission of the organization
The agreement aims at the improvement of mountaineering through the promotion of the use of huts in the Alps and Pyrenees ranges.
The agreement is based on the application to all members of the associations of the same discounted rates for use of the huts, according to each national rule.
2. Member associations
Members associations are divided into two categories:
– founding associations: DAV (Germany), OeAV (Austria), FFCAM (France), CAI (Italy), FEDME (Spain), CAS (Switzerland);
– partner associations, who own mountain huts with a capacity of more than more than 500 “beds”: AVS (Italy), PZS (Slovenia), LAV (Liechtenstein), Academic Alpine Clubs in Switzerland (Basel, Bern, Zurich, Geneva);
– agreed associations without huts but willing to share the benefits
3. Fees
The membership fees in the organization are calculated in the following way:
– founding associations and partner associations: a fixed fee of €1,300 per year and a yearly cost of € 0.20 per member;
– agreed associations have two options:
a. a fee of € 9.50 per member with a maximum of € 400,000, for all members of the association at the age of more than 18 years. At the moment: CAB (Belgium), GAL (Luxemburg), KBF (Belgium) and NKBV (Netherlands);
b. a fee of € 40 for each member who decides to benefit from the reciprocity programme; stamps have to be bought through the national associations. At the moment: BMC (Great Britain), AAC (USA), CAM (Monaco), Dansk Bjergclub (Denmark), FAM (Andorra), MCI (Ireland), FFME (France), NZAC (New Zealand).

Currently the president of the Reciprocity Agreement is Thomas Urban, director of DAV, while the Secretariat is managed by the Swiss Alpine Club.

Individual mountaineers who are interested in the benefits of the agreement should contact their national federation.

SHARE ON