A rubbish bag that campers had mixed in with our household waste contained a gas cartridge! When the gas cartridge exploded in the waste incinerator, enormous heat was generated, whereupon the sleeves on the pipe connections started to burn; sparks also escaped from the system, and the stored waste caught fire as a result.
It is frightening how thoughtlessly many people go through life these days.
In the same vein are the daily complaints about the price of hot water for tea. Nobody thinks about how much work and cost are involved before a litre of hot water can be served. Apart from the enormous price increases recently, the 15,000 litres of heating oil have to be transported to the hut in 200-litre drums, and the same goes for the gas. We take the rubbish down to the valley with a lot of unpleasant work and at considerable cost. Buying crockery and cleaning it is not free for us either – our excellent staff are also entitled to appropriate pay, and the state takes a good share of our turnover. We have no intention of complaining; we like doing our work and mostly do it with pleasure! We do have one request, however: before criticising, first try to think about everything that is involved in keeping a hut running, not to mention the financial burden the hut-owning sections have to bear in order to provide one of the most important pieces of infrastructure ( huts and trails ) for local summer tourism – especially since the whole thing is handled by a large number of volunteer officials.
So, dear grumblers, just think about it – thank you.
Yours, Horst Fankhauser Former hut warden