A few people around the nation know a great deal about how hut systems operate. But in the U.S. there is very little written about how hut systems are designed, built, and operated. Almost nothing is known about the economics and demographics of hut systems. And, other than the Colorado Hut and Yurt Alliance, there are no formal mechanisms for information exchange among those who do know. This will need to change if we are to learn from each other, develop “best practices” and ensure that hut systems are operating optimally for their clients, for their owners, and for environmental protection.
h2h aims to stimulate activity in filling this gap in the nation’s knowledge base by publishing “operational profiles”. We are at the beginning of this process and have three so far:
10th Mountain Division Huts by Sam Demas with invaluable assistance from Ben Dodge and Hawk Greenaway
Appalachian Mountain Club Huts by Sam Demas with invaluable assistance from Jim Wrigley and Paul Cunha
DNT – Rondvassbu Hut by Mackenzie Murphy, a Dartmouth College student and office of the estimable Dartmouth Outing Club, who spent a summer working in the Rondvassbu Hut and meticulously documented operations.
We are working on profiles for Maine Huts and Trails and for Green Mountain Club Long Trail Shelter System.
The long range purpose of these hut profiles is to systematically gather operational information and lessons learned from existing hut systems worldwide. The intended audience is people designing, building and operating hut systems.
Our hope is that Operational Profiles will become a community-built resource (i.e. a kind of Wikipedia) maintained and populated by those who actually operate hut systems. These profiles will naturally include some material already available on the web site of each hut system. But the intent is to supplement the hut system’s local web site with background information on:
- how and why the particular hut system came to be,
- how it operates today,
- how it reflects local conditions and culture,
- how, by whom, and how much it is used,
- what it has learned through experience, and
- the challenges and opportunities it faces
The aim is to develop a pattern language of hut experience and operations revealing:
- interesting ideas, unique circumstances and characteristics, and operational details of individual hut systems; and
- differences, patterns and best practices that might emerge in looking across hut systems (this will only be possible when we have a critical mass of profiles).
Help wanted: f you are interested in writing or collaborating on an Operational Profile for your hut system, contact us.
Sam Demas, Editor, h2h