“I am a people person. I suppose you have to be to do my job. My staff often try and stop me from sitting down and chatting to the guests, but I suppose I am the face of the hut – every ski tourer in and around Innsbruck knows me. I also like working with my hands. Up here at the hut there is always something to make or repair: a sauna, a seminar room or new bedrooms.

Years ago I fought hard to keep the ski lift open. Back then there were a few ski tourers who would come up here, but we didn’t know if they would keep coming back. Of course, hindsight is always 20:20 – but to be honest nobody could have predicted that ski touring would take off like it has. On some days we have more guests here than when the ski lift was still running.

Lots of my craziest ideas are driven by fear. Like everyone else we have overheads and bills to pay. You have to come up with something new to keep the people coming back. Thanks to our events we manage to stay open almost all year round. I think that is one of the reasons why tourism is often so strong in the most remote valleys: we are forced to be innovative and creative.”

Luis Nagele, Owner of the Sattelbergalm hut in the Wipptal Valley

In 2006, after 43 years, the ski lift on the Sattelberg mountain was closed due to a lack of visitors. That decision threw the future of the Sattelbergalm hut at 1,637 metres above sea level into jeopardy. However, owner Luis Nagele has since benefitted from the huge boom in ski touring which followed. The young entrepreneur has also succeeded in attracting guests to the hut all year round with events such as an annual ski touring ball, alpine golf, mountain football and a seminar room where companies can hold meetings.