{"id":19694,"date":"2017-10-09T09:11:04","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T15:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=19694"},"modified":"2017-10-10T07:58:30","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T13:58:30","slug":"workers-rush-to-save-glacier-chalet-before-winter-comes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2017\/10\/workers-rush-to-save-glacier-chalet-before-winter-comes\/","title":{"rendered":"Workers rush to save Glacier chalet before winter comes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sound\"<\/a>

Glacier.org<\/p>

A structural analysis found the remaining stone walls of Sperry Chalet to be sound.<\/p><\/div>\n

In a race against winter they\u2019re determined not to lose, 10 workers are camped in Glacier National Park\u2019s backcountry, rushing to stabilize the burned-out shell of Sperry Chalet before it is buried beneath the snow.<\/p>\n

The work is privately funded through donations to the Glacier National Park Conservancy\u2019s Sperry Action Fund<\/a>, created the day after a wildfire overran the 103-year-old chalet on Aug. 31.<\/p>\n

The National Park Service asked the nonprofit conservancy to raise $106,200 for a structural assessment of the chalet\u2019s remaining stone walls, the creation of a stabilization plan, purchase of the needed building materials and transportation to the site, and the stabilization work.<\/p>\n

As of Sunday night, the Sperry Action Fund had collected $107,900 in donations.<\/p>\n

More donations eventually will be needed, once the Park Service works through a public process to determine the backcountry dormitory\u2019s future. Superintendent Jeff Mow expects those discussions to begin this winter.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cWe had firefighters up there, and they were able to save four of the five structures in the Sperry complex,\u201d said Mow, Glacier\u2019s superintendent for the past four years. \u201cBut the Sperry Chalet burned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mow said the structural analysis conducted by DCI + BCE Engineers (which also consulted on repairs to the chalet after it was damaged by an avalanche in 2011) found the remaining stone structure to be sound.<\/p>\n

The walls, Mow said, are 2 feet thick and retained their structural integrity despite the intensity of the fire.<\/p>\n

\"CapreAir_Variable\"<\/a><\/div><\/div>\u201cThat known, our goal was before winter sets in to provide stabilization of those walls,\u201d he said. \u201cThat gives us the opportunity to think about what does the Sperry Chalet for the next 100 years look like. There will be a lot of discussion about that piece over the winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stabilization materials and workers arrived at the chalet on Thursday, again financed by the Glacier Conservancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stabilization would not have been possible without the conservancy stepping up to the plate and helping hire the structural engineers, purchase the stabilization materials and underwrite the expenses related to the labor,\u201d Mow said. \u201cIf we had to go through the government contracting process, and rehire our summer employees, we could not have gotten the work done before winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Doug Mitchell, executive director of the conservancy, \u201cTo be able to respond quickly is one of the tools the nonprofit partners can provide to our national parks. The conservancy had the resources to allow us to respond quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the Sperry Chalet\u2019s future is determined, the conservancy has pledged to continue raising money for the necessary work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll keep going, piece by piece,\u201d said Nikki Eisinger, the nonprofit group\u2019s development director.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the Glacier Conservancy wrapped up a weeklong fundraising campaign for its 2018 programs and projects in the park, called \u201cGive Back to Glacier.\u201d<\/p>\n

All donations up to $50,000 were matched by the Thomas O. Brown Foundation. The conservancy\u2019s goal for the week was $150,000.<\/p>\n

The fundraising week took on added significance because of the unexpected costs associated with the Sperry Chalet fire, said Mitchell, who just completed his 10th week at the conservancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis week\u2019s campaign will help us fund the other 50 projects we need to fund for Glacier Park,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Those initiatives include the reconstruction of the last mile of the Hidden Lake trail, bus transportation for schoolchildren to visit Glacier Park in the off season, trail maintenance and construction, work to prevent the invasion of mussels in Glacier\u2019s pristine waters, and trail clearing and reconstruction necessitated by the Sprague fire.<\/p>\n

An estimated 1,200 trees are down and lying across the six-mile trail from the trailhead near Lake McDonald Lodge to Sperry Chalet. Many other trails within the fire\u2019s perimeter have a like number of downed trees, or more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fire did occur in some of the more popular areas of the park,\u201d Mow said. \u201cHow do we make them accessible again? That has to come first before we can even get to the longer-term effort of determining how we can bring back the Sperry experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next summer, Mitchell said, there will obviously be a \u201chiatus\u201d at Sperry. \u201cBut we\u2019ve had hiatuses before,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just have to be a little patient and see what the next steps will bring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSperry Chalet, and Granite Park too, are all about the people,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cThis is not a five-star hotel. The passion that people have expressed all across the country after the fire comes from the shared experience with other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Winter\"<\/a>

Glacier.org<\/p>

The Glacier National Park Conservancy raised more than $100,000 in private donations so Sperry Chalet could be stabilized before winter.<\/p><\/div>\n

Warrington\u2019s family \u2013 the Ludings \u2013 have operated the two backcountry chalets since 1954, when the Great Northern Railway sold them to Glacier National Park for $1.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandparents, Kay and Ross Luding, answered a newspaper ad in the Hungry Horse News,\u201d he said. \u201cThe park didn\u2019t quite know what to do with the chalets, and they needed a concessionaire. My grandfather had been working on the Hungry Horse Dam and was unemployed. Kay saw the ad and said, \u2018Let\u2019s do this.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

The summer of 1954, the Ludings took their children to the park, ran the chalets \u201cand after the summer was over realized they didn\u2019t lose anything,\u201d Warrington said. \u201cThat made it worth doing again and again. It became a legacy almost by accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a very eventful year for Sperry Chalet,\u201d Warrington said. \u201cWe saw that fire spark and had to evacuate our guests and suffered through so many weeks of uncertainty. Then the chalet burned, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

But throughout all those weeks and the months since, Warrington said the community has surrounded his family and employees and guests with their love and support.<\/p>\n

\u201cSperry couldn\u2019t be here without the rest of Glacier Park,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sperry Chalet isn\u2019t going to change, Aasheim said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want it to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to become better stewards all the time,\u201d she said. \u201cI always want us to be the shining light in the park system.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to explain, Aasheim said. \u201cI am privileged and honored to be part of an organization that serves people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sperry \u201cis not my chalet,\u201d Warrington said. \u201cBut it\u2019s my chalet to share. That\u2019s one of the big motivators.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is hope,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is hope for the old girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sherry Devlin is a longtime Missoula journalist who writes\u00a0occasional stories for\u00a0Missoula Current<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a race against winter they\u2019re determined not to lose, 10 workers are camped in Glacier National Park\u2019s backcountry, rushing to stabilize the burned-out shell of Sperry Chalet before it is buried beneath the snow. The work is privately funded through donations to the Glacier National Park Conservancy\u2019s Sperry Action Fund, created the day after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":19695,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[799,286,6219],"class_list":["post-19694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montana","category-news","tag-glacier-national-park","tag-national-park-service","tag-sperry-chalet","prominence-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19694"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19698,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19694\/revisions\/19698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}