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Locate the warden to announce your arrival and to book whatever meals are required.

Once a room has been allocated (some wardens specify a particular bunk to use), make your bed using the sleeping bag liner carried for the purpose, and keep a torch handy as the room may not be lit when you need to go there in the dark.

It is customary to pay for services (overnight fee and meals) before going to bed. Cash payments are normal, although at a number of huts it is possible to pay with a credit card (check first).

Lights out and silence in dormitories is usually expected from 10.00pm.

Maps and Guidebooks

Maps

Swiss cartography is world class, with national survey maps published by the Federal Office of Topography (www.swisstopo.ch) covering the whole country with sheets of several different scales: 1:25,000, 1:50,000, 1:100,000 and 1:200,000.

The Monte Moro Pass (2868m) at the head of the Saas valley with its gilded Madonna (Chapter 2:11)

The 1:50,000 series, which is perfectly adequate for the majority of walkers, mountaineers and ski tourers, includes a set of maps with major walking routes marked. These Wanderkarten are distinguished by the letter T given after the individual sheet number, while sheets marked with ski touring routes (Skitourenkarten) are distinguished by the letter S. National survey maps detailed at the end of each chapter in this book are listed with the prefix LS (Landeskarten der Schweiz).