As one of the benefits of UIAA membership, member associations of the UIAA are entitled to use over a thousand mountain huts offering accommodation for 66,000 people across the entire alpine region – from Slovenia to Spain, including Picos de Europa, Sierra Nevada and the Apennine Mountains. 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.
Member associations are informed that individual stamps for the 2020 season are now available to purchase. The stamps – costing 50 euros each (2020) – are valid for one year. All UIAA-affiliated member associations are entitled to obtain individual stamps for their members from the Reciprocal Agreement Secretariat. For more information about the International Reciprocity Agreement on Mountain Huts, and to order your stamps, please email the Swiss Alpine Club: huetten@sac-cas.ch
Other mountaineering associations who are not UIAA members can submit an application to purchase individual stamps for their members to the meeting of the participating associations. The meeting decides after a response has been obtained from the national UIAA association. Individual mountaineers who are interested in the benefits of the agreement should contact their national federation.
The Reciprocal Agreement Secretariat, currently managed by the Swiss Alpine Club, has the sole right to print and issue individual stamps. The stamps will be delivered to the associations upon receipt of payment. Unused stamps may be exchanged for stamps valid the following year.
Further Background
Use of the huts is government by the International Reciprocity Agreement on Mountain Huts (also available in French, German, Italian and Spanish) which has its goal, 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.
Please note that the Alpine Club of Canada run a similar scheme across North America. Full details here.
