Stories from an Austrian refuge cabin
 When the weather in the Austrian Alps changes, the refuge cabin gets full of mountain hikers seeking shelter. We have already met some of them at several campsites in Austria . As the storm rages outside everyone starts to tell stories.
We’re just in time. As the first raindrops start to fall, we reach the small refuge mountain hut for shelter. It was quite good weather when we left our Austrian campsite but now a thunderstorm is approaching fast and we kept looking at the dark grey clouds on the way to the cabin. All mountain hikers know when its time to seek shelter. Mountain hiking along Austrian campsites is not without danger as weather conditions can change rapidly, much quicker than that in other areas. Vertical air pockets around the mountains are the main cause. Due to this, many inexperienced hikers have come into trouble. Plenty of experienced hikers have too but they would never admit to this!
 Welcome
When we enter the cabin we notice that we are not alone. Five other hikers from the campsite in Austria had the same idea. They are very
friendly, which is common in the mountains. Hikers consider themselves an elite group, and acknowledge each other like motorcyclists do when
they pass another one on the motorway. After introductions you are looked up and down. From the brand of your footwear to the state of your
backpack. Never wear cheap hiking boots when hiking from a Austrian campsite inthe mountains. Unless you have the right label most mountain
hikers will not talk to you seriously. When other people enter the cabin after us, I am aware I'm doing the same thing as the others, checking
out their equipment. Strange people, these hikers. It’s a mixed group, one Polish, an American, four Germans and several Dutch who I met
when I left the Austrian campsite. There’s even an Argentinian! It is still thundering outside and the last hikers had arrived just in time.
 Fisherman’s yarns
Knowing that we will all be staying in the cabin until the thunderstorm cleared we start telling each other stories to pass the time. Soon
enough, everyone has made a contribution. We have all been hiking from the campsites in Austria . As the stories got longer the truth became
debatable. When the Argentinian told his story, I began to have serious doubts. His story was about an adventure he had at St Elm’s fire. I
had been told at the campsite in Austria that this natural phenomenon is regularly seen at sea, as an approaching thunderstorm lets a ship’s
metal masts shine up, due to a magnetic field. A flash of lightning then follows. The Argentinian claims that he had the same experience while
hiking on a mountain slope to his Austrian campsite under heavy and dark clouds. When his metal pickaxe began to glow brightly, he was going to
throw the axe away. He was just in time as lightning then struck the pickaxe. If he had still held it in his hand, he would not have been here to
tell the tale near the campsite in Austria. Our faces must have shown some look of disbelief as he opened his rucksack and snows us a folded piece
of paper. It was a newspaper article and the photo next to the write up was of the Argentinian, holding a twisted, burnt, black pickaxe in his hands…
Bang
As I read the newspaper article and looked at the remarkable photo, an enormous bang made the mountain hut shake. Lightning had stuck quite close
by. We resolved to be extra careful in the future when leaving Austrian campsites, and keep a watchful eye on the sky as we hiked through
mountains. In fact, that’s far more important than scoring points with a designer logo on your rucksack.
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