This was our first of many hut trips to the Alps. In 1980, we thought we would plan a hut hopping trip in Austria. The notion at that time was more of a hiking trip, based on William Reifsnyder's Hut Hopping in the Austrian Alps. In 1983, we took the CMC Basic Mountaineering School in preparation for the trip and it changed everything. BMS opened up the possibilities of glacier travel and roped snow climbs. We read Barb Wegner's (now Barb Werren) article in the CMC Trail and Timberline (March 1984, No 782) Alpen Wanderer 1983 about the Berchtesgaden area. The 1983 trip was lead by Gudy Gaskill. We talked with Gudy and she loaned us maps and gave us advice.
We took three weeks. The first week took us from Saalfelden, Austria through the Steinernes Meer to Berchtesgaden, Germany. The second week took us from Bielerhöhe, Austria through the Silvrettagruppe to Scuol, Switzerland. The third week was in the Berner Oberland in Switzerland. It was an adventure that started a whole new series of travels.