Welcome to Sperry Chalet

Beth Dunagan, a third-generation Montanan, grew up at Sperry Chalet, high in the back country of Glacier National Park. In this memoir, she tells her own story intertwined with that of her extended family, the Ludings. They began their stewardship of this unique landmark in 1954, when Beth was nine years old. With only brief intermissions, they has hardly ever left it. Her education at Sperry included learning to rappel down cliffs, collect insects in the crevasses of Sperry Glacier, shoe-ski down snow fields, slide down bear grass meadows, and free-climb to supposedly inaccessible heights. She and her cousins became experts on the geology, flora, and fauna of the Park before she entered high school. Loving all animals, she developed a special affinity for the mountain goats, especially a billy she and a friend named “Handsome.” Since 1954, each generation has passed their love for Sperry to their children and grandchildren. Beth tells a heartwarming story of how she shares her eight-year-old grandson’s joy at seeing a kid goat up close. Designed by an internationally known architect and constructed of locally quarried stone in 1914, the Chalet twice came close to abandonment and probable destruction. Twice the family saved it. To this day, they carefully guard its reputation for hospitality and spiritual peace. Sperry Chalet celebrates its 100th anniversary in the summer of 2014. Welcome to Sperry Chalet!