Winter hangs on in Glacier: One chalet opens, one damaged

Sperry Chalet, however, may not open until late July because heavy snow caused more damage than initially suspected.
Sperry Chalet was slammed by an avalanche over the winter, causing damage to windows and doors and, with snow entering the building, some interior walls and fixtures also were damaged.
The heavy snow load on top of the chalet and its dormitory building caused additional damage that will require repairs, chalet coordinator Kevin Warrington said in a notice posted Thursday on the chalet’s website.
“With the known avalanche damage and repair work as the impetus to give Sperry Chalet a closer inspection, we have learned that there was more wintertime damage to the chalet buildings than we expected or were able to casually observe,” the notice states. “The roofs and rafters of both the kitchen and dormitory buildings were damaged by the past winter’s extraordinary snow load and both buildings are in need of repair.”
Warrington said the repair work will impact the chalet’s operating season significantly because workers will need complete access to the chalet for much of July as well as late in August and in September. Sperry Chalet had been scheduled for a July 8 opening, but all reservations are being canceled through July 19. All reservations in September have been canceled and some from the last week of August also may be canceled.
Sperry Chalet was built in 1913 and 1914 and Granite Park Chalet was built in 1914 and 1915 by the Great Northern Railway.
On a brighter note, the Granite Park Chalet is scheduled to open Saturday, despite snow cover as deep as 12 feet around the chalet. A group of chalet staffers and volunteers shoveled snow for a total of 250 hours over the last 10 days to provide access to the chalet and its adjacent guest building.
The work also involved carving snowsteps on the trail leading uphill to the chalet.
Before that could happen, park personnel removed more than 70 trees along with avalanche debris between the chalet and the Loop Trail access. The last 4.4 miles of the trail leading to the chalet still are snow-covered.
The trailhead will be accessible starting Saturday because the park’s free shuttle service will begin providing access from a vehicle closure at Avalanche up to the Loop, with shuttles departing Avalanche every 10 to 15 minutes and the last shuttle leaving Avalanche at 4 p.m. daily.
A notice on the Granite Park Chalet website reads:
“Once we open, you should be prepared to hike through snow to access the chalet during these first few weeks. You should also be aware that hiking beyond the chalet may not be possible. Unusually deep snow remains in alpine areas throughout the park. Trails normally accessible in June still have snow depths over 15 to 20 feet in many locations, creating hazardous conditions where snowbridges span streams, cliffs and emerging trees are buried, crevasses and bergschrunds (voids where the snow is melting away from the rock face or cliff under the snow) abound.”