Alpine Pasture Stories: Juifenalm in Lüsensertal Valley

As you approach the Juifenalmhut you can hear the cows mooing, the hens clucking and the pigs grunting even before you arrive! This wonderful place high above Gries im Sellrain is filled with happy family life and animals. Which isn’t surprising, as this alpine retreat is a working farm—and a true natural gem. And they serve a wonderful selection of homemade specialties. Yummy!

Everything they serve up here comes to the table with attention to detail. Foodies can indulge in "grey cheese", alpine cheese and a mouthwatering selection of dumplings, including spinach dumplings, cheese dumplings, bacon dumplings, beetroot dumplings and chanterelle dumplings. All of which are homemade, of course!

Located at an elevation of 2,022 meters above sea level, Juifenalm Alpine Pasture Hut is operated by Stern Family.

Since 2015 Sylvia and Gotthard Stern have been in charge of the Juifenalm hut perched at an elevation of 2,022 mertes above sea level. This is a busy place in summer as well as in winter—and cooking to impress a room full of hungry hikers or skiers is a challenge. That’s why they have a dedicated team around them, and the Stern children and granddaughter Tamia lend a helping hand on weekends.

The Alpine Pasture Hut has a wide variety of animals that need to be cared for: Granddaughter Tamia loves to cuddle and pet the animals.

A Wide Variety of Animals

Juifenalm is a popular and rewarding destination for families, as it is filled with animals such as cows, horses, goats, rabbits, pigs and chicken. Completing the friendly and devoted family is Dojan the dog.

Sometimes, even Dojan the dog needs a break.

But guests don't come here just for the animals. Many of them come here for the cheese! Juifenalm is renowned for its amazing cheese specialties. The milk produced by their nine dairy cows is turned into butter, "grey cheese" and mozzarella in the tiny on-site dairy.

Of course, animals welfare is paramount. Gotthard Stern and shepherd Marcel Haider from Gries take care of this together. Around a hundred cows spend the summer at the Juifenalm every year, together with six horses and six pigs. The sixty goats also have to be kept in sight at all times, because otherwise they go off on long walks and are often difficult to persuade back.

Looking for Friendly and Hard-Working Innkeepers

Juifenalm is in possession of a farmers’ cooperative and they use the Alpine pastures for Alpine transhumance (this is the seasonal droving of grazing livestock between the valleys in winter and the high mountain pastures in summer as practiced in many places throughout Tirol). The farmers’ cooperative always looks for innkeepers who are friendly and hard-working, who know how to prepare culinary delicacies and who maintain the sledding run in the winter, as Juifenalm is open in the summer and in the winter.

It is important that the innkeepers feel at home here, and that’s what the Stern family definitely does. “We can’t tell which season we like more up here, if it’s summer or winter,” say Gotthard and Sylvia. “Both seasons have exhausting and amazing sides to it.”

Stunning Views above the Treeline

Juifenalm sits above treeline and affords breathtaking views of the surrounding mountain scenery, particularly of the rugged Stubai Alps with its lofty peaks named Zischgeles, Lampsenspitze, Grießkogel and Freihut. Ski touring enthusiasts sitting here in the summer can’t wait for the first snow to fall. On sunny winter days, the outdoor deck is sometimes that packed that guests sit on their sleds and toboggans while eating. Whizzing down the five-kilometer long sledding run that drops down 640 vertical meters is a special wintertime delight.

Dumplings, Alpine pasture mozzarella and grey cheese are the homemade specialties served at Juifenalm Alpine Pasture Hut.

Photo Credits: Jörg Koopmann

Well, but now it’s summertime and the living is easy up here. Instead of sitting on sleds, we sit on benches under sunshades or in a deckchair, have a refreshing drink, enjoy the sun and have a good time. And every now and then, Dojan passes by to check if everything is okay.