Workers for the general contractor toil eight days straight, in 10-hour shifts, before hiking the 6-plus miles out for six days off.
They’re replaced during that time by another crew from Dick Anderson Construction of Great Falls.
That rotation means the ongoing work in Glacier National Park to rebuild the historic Sperry Chalet dormitory, perched high on a stone bluff on the edge of a glacier-carved cirque, proceeds seven days a week. The chalet was nearly destroyed in the 2017 Sprague Fire.
A crew from subcontractor Anderson Masonry of Kalispell works six 10-hour days each week at the site. The two companies are not affiliated.
The short construction season available at this subalpine elevation, where snow flies long after winter’s end and returns long before its start, mandates a full-steam-ahead schedule.
Supplies arrive by mule train or helicopter. Six wall tents house the workers.
Mountain goats and marmots seem to welcome the intrusion into their habitat.