Mountain huts, as special, stand-alone, micro-grid systems, are not connected to a power grid and represent a burden on the environment. The micro-grid has to be flexible to cover daily and seasonal ...fluctuations. Heat and electricity are usually generated with fossil fuels due to the simple on-off operation. By introducing renewable energy sources (RESs), the generation of energy could be more sustainable, but the generation and consumption must be balanced. The paper describes the integration of a hydrogen-storage system (HSS) and a battery-storage system (BattS) in a mountain hut. The HSS involves a proton-exchange-membrane water electrolyser (PEMWE), a hydrogen storage tank (H2 tank), a PEM fuel cell (PEMFC) and a BattS consisting of lead-acid batteries. Eight micro-grid configurations were modelled using HOMER and evaluated from the technical, environmental and economic points of view. A life-cycle assessment analysis was made from the cradle to the gate. The micro-grid configurations with the HSS achieve, on average, a more than 70% decrease in the environmental impacts in comparison to the state of play at the beginning, but require a larger investment. Comparing the HSS with the BattS as a seasonal energy storage, the hydrogen-based technology had advantages for all of the assessed criteria.
•Eight configurations of mountain-hut stand-alone energy system are studied.•A novel approach using technical, economic and environmental criteria is introduced.•Hydrogen-storage combined with renewable energy sources is the optimal solution.•For seasonal energy storage, hydrogen is more favourable than a battery-storage.
Mountain sports (skiing, mountaineering, hiking, etc.) play an important role in the restructuring and diversification of tourism in the Alps. However, the transformation of these practices is ...subject to a significant lack of information, especially concerning how many people visit the “less-developed” mountains, outside the urban centres that make up the resorts. For mountain areas, there is specific data for mountain huts (term used in Switzerland), or refuges (term used in France). This data shows the location and the number of visitors of “less-developed” mountain areas, allowing to study the transformation of outdoor sports in these sectors. However, this data is not always easily accessible, especially over a long period of time, and it presents several biases. In this paper, we discuss the interest and the limits of the data on visitor numbers in mountain huts in Switzerland and in France for the study of the change of visitor numbers in the “less-developed” mountains and more particularly of the sporting practices which take place there. An example of analyses, based on statistical processing of the number of overnight stays, as well as semi-structured interviews with hut keepers and owners, will be presented for a sample of huts in the Valais Alps (Switzerland). This analysis allowed us to confirm (i) the general decline in the number of mountaineers visiting the high mountains in summer, with an 11% drop in the number of overnight stays between 1995–1998 and 2016–2019 in the 8 huts studied; (ii) the concentration of mountaineers on technically easy and/or emblematic and/or quickly accessible routes; and (iii) the development of ski touring, with a 6% increase in the number of overnight stays in spring between 1995–1998 and 2016–2019.
The article is about mountain huts in the Slovenian highlands. These buildings are specific according to: origin, purpose, time of use, etc. In these area of highlands there were practically no new ...project in the last few decades. There were only some small interventions in the field of energy efficiency and ecology. In most cases, these buildings are old. They need to be renovated or even replacement. It is interesting that some quality solutions for new bivouacs in the Slovenian mountains have been made. Considering the developments in the neighbouring Alpine countries, where they replaced some old huts with new ones, which they have both technological and architectural surpluses, we want to determine the condition of our huts. With the help of various categories such as elevation, year of construction and renovation, size, accessibility and design of buildings, we tried to extract some of the important features that are presented below.
On Mt. Fuji, especially from the late Edo era, great numbers of pilgrims who belonged to Fuji-ko societies made worship ascents from the Yoshida Trail. Wooden huts, serving as teahouses, provided ...pilgrims with water from Sengen shrine at the foot of Mt. Fuji to the 5th station. Above the 5th station, stone huts managed lodgings. However, in Showa 39 (1964), the teahouses were closed upon the opening of the Fuji Subaru Line, a scenic toll road to the 5th station. As we have already confirmed the transition and construction method of stone huts from the Edo era to the Showa 30s, here, we investigate the teahouses by examining historical materials and conducting field surveys on their remains on the Yoshida Trail. Mt. Fuji climbing tourism continued to evolve. At the end of the Taisho era (–1926), the locations and numbers of teahouses that had been established during the end of the Edo era changed. In particular, new construction occurred around the 5.5th station. The teahouse floor plans inherited from the Edo era consisted of a room with an earthen floor, a living room, and a fireplace. We found three other types of floor plans for the main hut based on documents drawn in the Showa 30s. The first divided the room and included a kitchen instead of a fireplace, the second expanded the lean-to roof and added rooms underneath, and the third, which was based on the former two, extended guestrooms along the trail. Furthermore, more than half of the teahouses had attached huts. These plans show how the teahouses changed and added rooms from the Edo era to the Showa era. The teahouse construction method was simple, involving local resources, stones and wood, and opened to the trail. Many wooden members were not lumbers but logs and some parts seemed to be nonprofessionally finished. The narrow rectangular floor plans along the trail were hirairi (enter from the parallel side of the edge of roof) and had gable or hipped roof. The interior consisted of an earthen floor at the entrance and a wooden floor in the living room with a fireplace or a kitchen. The roof structure had no ceiling. The expanded guestrooms were covered with tatami mats and had a tokonoma (alcove) and saobuchi tenjyo (decorative ceiling). The roof was covered with shingles and initially held in place with stones, followed by zinc-coated steel. The outer walls and the inner partitions were composed of wooden boards. The outer walls were initially boarded with nuki (joinery) between the columns, and later covered again with weatherboards. The teahouses seemed to have been constructed using nearly the same method, independent of location. In addition, more than half of the teahouses had a resting place, and two types of construction methods depending on the location were confirmed. Below the 1st station, the width of the trail was wide, and teahouses lined both sides of the trail. Resting places were found under the lean-to roofs facing the trail. Above the 3rd station, where the trail was narrow, rest huts were found opposite the main hut. These attached rest huts, which appeared to be of temporary construction, were located on the valley side of the trail and provided a magnificent view. These resting places were also constructed of logs.
This report traces the history of mountain huts throughout Japan during and after World War II, using the “Yama Nikki” which contains information on mountain huts throughout Japan. In this way, we ...were able to create a database that allows us to reference the names, locations, construction and renovation dates, and elevations of mountain huts throughout Japan, while maintaining continuity with the prewar editions. The database also revealed that the construction of mountain huts was concentrated in the 1950s and early 1960s, and that the increase or decrease in the number of huts differed in each mountain range.
We conducted field surveys about Daikokuya at Sandogoya onsen that had supported worship ascents on Mt. Nasu since the Edo era. It is told that Daikokuya was burned down in the Boshin War, 1868, ...reconstructed in 1869, and extended in 1872. We found that the extension was built separately from the reconstructed building and they were covered with one roof by around the end of Meiji. Then, the open-air space between buildings was modified into interior in postwar Showa. Daikokuya resembles the style of a yuyado in Edo era hosting pilgrims for Mt. Nasu and guests visiting for toji.
Les pratiques sportives de montagne (ski, alpinisme, randonnée pédestre, etc.) jouent un rôle important dans la restructuration et la diversification du tourisme dans les Alpes. Toutefois, ...l’évolution de ces pratiques fait l’objet d’un déficit de connaissance majeur, notamment sur la fréquentation de la montagne « peu aménagée », en dehors des pôles urbains que constituent les stations.Pour les espaces de montagnes, il existe une donnée spécifique qui est la fréquentation des cabanes (terme utilisé en Suisse) — ou refuges (terme utilisé en France) — de montagne. C’est une donnée qui permet de localiser et de quantifier la fréquentation en montagne « peu aménagée » et ainsi d’étudier l’évolution des pratiques sportives de plein air dans ces secteurs. Toutefois, c’est une donnée qui n’est pas toujours facilement accessible, notamment sur le temps long et qui présente plusieurs biais.Dans cette communication, nous proposons de discuter de l’intérêt et des limites des données de fréquentation des cabanes de montagne en Suisse et en France pour l’étude de l’évolution de la fréquentation de la montagne « peu aménagée » et plus particulièrement des pratiques sportives qui s’y déroulent. Un exemple d’analyse, basée sur un traitement statistique du nombre de nuitées et des entretiens semi-directifs avec des gardiens et les propriétaires des cabanes, sera présenté pour un échantillon de cabanes dans les Alpes valaisannes (Suisse). Cette analyse nous a permis de confirmer (i) la diminution généralisée de la fréquentation de la haute montagne par les alpinistes l’été, avec une baisse de 11 % du nombre de nuitées entre 1995-1998 et 2016-2019 dans les 8 cabanes étudiées, (ii) la concentration des pratiquants sur les courses faciles techniquement et/ou emblématique et/ou rapidement accessibles et (iii) le développement du ski de randonnée, avec une hausse de 6 % du nombre de nuitées au printemps entre 1995-1998 et 2016-2019.
This report is a database of the history of mountain huts throughout Japan in the prewar period. The source is “Yama Nikki” published by the Japan Alpine Club. This report aims to compile a list of ...mountain hut names, construction/renovation years, elevation, and other information to serve as a basic resource for research on the history of mountain architecture. As a result, we were able to create a database that can be referenced by region and by year, and to clarify the historical value of the “Yama Nikki” and draw out its potential.
The Alps are particularly affected by the effects of climate change. The average temperature increase is twice as high as that observed at the global level (Beniston, 2012). Climate change is having ...a profound impact on tourism, sports and, more broadly, recreational activities in mountain regions. First of all, this concerns the rise in the rain-snow limit and the increasing scarcity of snow (Gonseth, 2013), leading ski lift companies to invest heavily in the production of artificial snow in order to sustain the activities of skiing and snowboarding (Abegg, 2011; Clivaz et al., 2015). However, climate change also has important repercussions for other sports and recreational pursuits in these regions, especially in summer (hiking, climbing, mountaineering, etc.). Observing the effects of climate change on recreational activities in less-developed mountain regions proves complex. In this context, an exploratory participatory research-action project, presented in this paper, was carried out in 2019 with the objective of both taking stock of existing data on the use of less-developed mountain regions and studying the feasibility of an approach involving field actors in the observation of the evolution of this use. This contribution is an opportunity to look back at this project and to show the challenges and difficulties linked to this deliberately collaborative approach, in particular by putting it into perspective with the French observation program “Refuges Sentinelles” (RS) (Sentinel Hut Program) from which it was inspired. More generally, it is also a question of examining the knowledge issues, for both research and field actors (hut keepers, mountain guides and leaders), linked to a collaborative research approach. The results in terms of data collected or issues identified (changes in visitor flows, the role of hut keepers, types of clientele, etc.) are not part of the subject of this contribution, even if they are mentioned from time to time in order to illustrate the topic.Our methodology is based on the final report of the participatory research-action project we conducted (Obin et al., 2020), on a student thesis on the feasibility of the Sentinel Hut program and of the approach to be implemented (Berthet, 2014), as well as on the minutes of various sessions and events related to this program. We supplemented these sources with a semi-structured interview conducted online in January 2021 with the scientific leader of this program, focusing specifically on the theme of the collaborative methodology utilised.
Les Alpes sont particulièrement concernées par les effets des changements climatiques. La hausse moyenne de la température y est deux fois supérieure à celle constatée au niveau mondial (Beniston, ...2012). Les changements climatiques impactent en profondeur les pratiques touristiques, sportives et plus largement récréatives en montagne. On pense en premier lieu à l’élévation de la limite pluie-neige et à la raréfaction de la ressource que représente la neige (Gonseth, 2013) qui amènent les sociétés de remontées mécaniques à investir de manière importante dans la production de neige de culture afin de pérenniser la pratique du ski et du snowboard (Abegg, 2011 ; Clivaz et al., 2015). Mais les changements climatiques ont aussi des répercussions importantes pour les autres pratiques sportives et récréatives en montagne, notamment en été (randonnée, escalade, alpinisme, etc.). Observer les effets des changements climatiques sur les pratiques récréatives de la montagne peu aménagée s’avère complexe. Dans ce cadre, un projet de recherche-action participative exploratoire, présenté dans cette contribution, a été mené en 2019 avec pour objectif à la fois de faire un bilan sur les données existantes en matière de fréquentation de la montagne peu aménagée et d’étudier la faisabilité d’une démarche associant les acteurs de terrain dans l’observation de l’évolution de cette fréquentation. Cette contribution est l’occasion de revenir sur ce projet et de montrer les défis et les difficultés liés à cette démarche volontairement collaborative, notamment en la mettant en perspective avec le programme d’observation français Refuges Sentinelles (RS) dont elle s’est inspirée. Plus généralement, il s’agit aussi de s’interroger sur les enjeux de connaissance, tant pour les acteurs de la recherche que pour les acteurs de terrain (gardiens de refuge, guides et accompagnateurs en montagne), liés à une démarche de recherche collaborative. Les résultats en termes de données collectées ou d’enjeux identifiés (évolution de la fréquentation, du rôle des gardiens, des types de clientèle, etc.) ne font pas partie de l’objet de cette contribution, même s’ils pourront être évoqués ponctuellement afin d’exemplariser le propos.D’un point de vue méthodologique, nous nous baserons en grande partie sur le rapport final du projet de recherche-action participative que nous avons mené (Obin et al., 2020), sur un mémoire d’étudiant portant sur la faisabilité du programme Refuges Sentinelles et de la démarche à mettre en place (Berthet, 2014) ainsi que sur les comptes rendus des différentes séances et manifestations liées à ce programme. Nous avons complété ces sources par un entretien semi-directif réalisé en ligne, en janvier 2021, avec le responsable scientifique de ce dernier, entretien qui portait spécifiquement sur le thème de la méthodologie collaborative déployée.
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