A mountain hut with decades of family history

We welcome guests to the Juac Refuge in the middle of the Dolomites with a down-to-earth attitude and authentic hospitality.

Around the year 1800, the Juac alpine meadow was owned by the da Bernon family from Santa Cristina in Val Gardena. The meadow was then bought by my great-grandfather Matthias Comploi da Tublà (b. 1834) or possibly by my great-great-grandfather Sebastian Comploi da Tublà (b. 1795).

The alpine meadow is no longer called Juac and is now known as “Prà da Tieja”. My father Battista Comploi da Tieja (b. 1927), who inherited the meadow, built the first Juac Hut here in 1966. The family spent the summer at the hut for the first time in 1967 when my little brother was just 1 year old. We also kept cows on the alpine pasture for making milk, butter and cheese. My mother, Maria Grünstelder (b. 1930), sold milk and other drinks to tourists during the first summer and then gradually she started to offer food as well.
At that time, the hut was already made of stone. Around 1970, my father installed a water pipe by hand because our small private water source is in the forest, about 300 m away.
Then in 1971, he built a ski lift that ended right at the hut, and this was in operation until the winter of 1991 when the Juac Hut closed. We dismantled the ski lift in 2011.

On 6 October 1995, I inherited the hut and the 8-hectare meadow from my father through a deed of gift, and in 1996 and 1997, we spent the summer holidays here with the family. In 1998, a 685 m sewer line was built and the hut was partially renovated, and on 29 June that year, we had electricity in the hut for the first time.

On 1 July 1998, we started running the hut as a summer refuge. Four years later, in the summer of 2002, we started building work on the new hut, and in August 2003 we opened the new Juac Refuge. Initially, the hut was only open in summer, but in 2010/2011, we opened in winter for the first time and since then we have been open almost all year round.

For my wife Renate and I, and our children Liuba, Victoria, David and Matthias, the Juac Refuge is our home and our retreat in nature, far away from the hustle and bustle of the village. We are proud to be able to work here, surrounded by the Dolomites, the most beautiful mountains in the world, and we look forward to welcoming our guests every single day.

Franz Comploi