From Vail to Aspen, the legendary WWII battle squad forever changed the face of American winter sports.
Sun glance off a mantle of bass , bloodless snowin the White River Forest nearVail , Colorado , the kind of glint that could scorch your retina if you ’re not careful . Luckily , I have goggles on — and a simple machine capable of wrick that burning reflection into a casual blur . The surrounding fairy bluebird - hued sky , dense corridors of birch rod trees , and powder - packed ridges climbing thousands of feet are no friction match for mySki - Doo . Examine its underbody and you ’ll see two glossy carbides pouch from the running board — all the better for steering through miles of trails . And though there ’s wildlife lurk behind the scenes — bull elk that bugle at dusk , rivers right with trout , and elk , bear , lynx , and migratory songster weaving their way in the wilderness — the day is tranquil .
But as we plough a corner , an anomaly catches my center . Brown , concrete , and delineate with steady orthogonal room access , thestructurein front of us feels especially dystopian among all this nature . I ’m go bad to get it on whatthatis , but it ’s hard to cry questions at your guide when you ’re helmeted and competing with the audio of yawl engines . And besides , whipping through the snow is much more fun anyway . After a half - day of snowmobiling Colorado , I almost forgot about the odd slice of institutional architecture in the middle of the backcountry . Almost .
Back at the cozy log cabinthat snowmobile renting and tour companyNova Guidesuses as infrastructure , one rustic wooden wall serves as a improvised photo gallery . In one effigy , a skier poses next to a billboard frolic a impersonation of Hitler next to a sloganthat reads“We’ve got a date with this sononfabitch . LET ’S BE ON TIME ! ” In another , dustup of barracks form a sloshed grid from above . It looks familiar .
Ghosts? No, just former members of the 10th Mountain Division putting on a ski demonstration in 1987.|Duane Howell/ The Denver Post/ Getty Images
It change state out we had been snowmobiling around the former ground of Camp Hale , squirrel away away in the 55,000 acres ofWhite River National Forestland alone permitted to Nova Guides . For thousands of years , the Ute mass used the same qualifying as a migration itinerary to visitsacred raging springs in nearby Glenwood Springs , as well as for hunt biz and collect medicative plant . Once precious mineral were found there , of course , they were forced off their land , though the area remain culturally significant to its former Indigenous resident .
In 1942 , the US military built Camp Hale as a training ground . It was active until 1965 , at which point it was deactivated and given back to the National Forest . In 2022 , the former United States Army facility was designate by President Biden asCamp Hale - Continental Divide National Monument .
In its heyday , Camp Hale was dwelling house to mess halls , a ski shop class , administrative offices , a movie theater of operations , stalls , an infirmary , and its own individual ski slope . Over the years , 19,000 soldiers lived in its neatly arranged barracks . Now all that ’s will are a few abandoned bodily structure , like the ammo building . ( It ’s not uncommon to stumble upon monolithic old bullets on summer hiking . ) The position run an integral role in United States military account in the first place due to its natural setting : a large , unconditional river valley bottom out at 9,200 fundament and ring by steep cliffs with thin mountain air . Those conditions made it suited for training in mountaineering , skiing , and inhuman weather condition selection skills .
Ski-Dooing and skedaddling at Camp Hale in the White River Forest.|Photo by Daniel Milchev
But why would we need military breeding cause high up in the mountains in the first position ? That would be thanks to the Fort Drum , New York - base crew that compile to assist stop that " sonofabitch . ” come in the legendary 10th Mountain Division .
It ’s 1936 , and Yale graduate , indemnity executive director , and outdoor enthusiastCharles Minot “ Minnie ” Dole , is skiing down Mount Mansfield in Vermont when he diminish and founder his ankle . assistance was scarce on the incline back then , so Minnie ’s companion made a makeshift sleigh out of corrugated roofing and drop behind him down the mountain . Over two hr afterwards , his injured pegleg was finally run to by a Doctor of the Church . This incident , compounded by the dying of a prominent member of the skiing residential district , caused downhill enthusiasts to reevaluate the winter sport ’s guard measures . Minnie was inquire to attend into what it would take to make a stateside ski patrol model after the Parsenn Ski Patrol inDavos . And in 1938 , theNational Ski Patrolsystem was establish , with Minnie at its head .
But ol’ Minnie was n’t done . A year into World War II , he became a self - appointed military strategist after see Finland ’s hit - and - run manoeuvre outwit the superscript Russian army . Staged in the mountains , 1939 ’s Invasion of Finland was oppose with piddling more than ski , snow shoes , and firearms . In September of the following class , Minnie approach Army chief of faculty George C. Marshall in with a proposal for prepare the American force in how to utilise mountainous winter condition to their vantage .
A bird’s eye view of Camp Hale’s gridlike barracks at their peak.|Colorado Snowsports Museum
That spur - of - the - moment approximation presently became the 10th Mountain Division , established in 1941 . volunteer were enter based on outdoorsy interests : mountain climbers , ski patroller , and the like . The thought process was it was easy to learn those already accustomed to mountain activity to expend a rifle than throw regular soldiers on a twosome of skis . They trained at Camp Hale , and in 1945 , the tenth see its first combat in Italy , eventually enamor Riva Ridge and Mount Belvedere . The part ’s only live engagement was both triumphant and excruciating — despite the victory , they lost almost 1,000 military man in just 114 days .
Perhaps it was experience World War II — or the fact that they were n’t really soldiers in the first place — but when many of the mountaineering soldiers make out back to the US , they parted ways with military biography and return to the ski towns they get it on . But this time , they came back with unexampled estimation . In Europe , they sawluxe mountain utopiasand count on , hey , that just might put to work stateside as well .
Celebrated 10th Mountain Division ski instructorFriedl Pfeiffergrew up in St. Anton , Austria , and dream of replicating the village back home in the plenty of Colorado . While grooming at Camp Hale , he hike up through toAspen , and his vision ran godforsaken as he visualized places where ski trails could be cut . After Hitler ’s surrender in 1945 , Pfeiffer returned to the US and openedAspen Ski Mountainwith fellow old stager Percy Rideout and John Litchfield .
When standing at attention on a mountain, make sure you don’t tip over.|Courtesy of Vail Mountain
Elsewhere , 10th Mountain veteranLarry Jumpreturned from war to create theArapahoe Basin Ski & Snowboard Area . Along the way , he help develop the standard design for bunny hills and founded the Willy Schaeffler Ski School , Colorado ’s first ski pedagogy program catering to amputee .
DesignerFritz Benedict , another WWII 10th Mountain soldier , envisioned building a system of connected huts similar to those he witnessed while fighting in the Alps . In 1982 , he formed the aptly titled10th Mountain Division Hut Association , essentially connecting the Vail area to Aspen with 13ski in - ski out hutsopen to visitor . Five of the hutch can be accessed within Camp Hale National Monument .
Fellow Tenth Mountain Division veterans went on to launch head outdoor gear trade name likeGore - TexandOutdoor Research , and explicate innovations like zip lines , the Vibram boot sole , andnylon mounting Mexican valium . And while working atLoveland Ski Area Resortin 1957 , veteranPete Seibertwent out on a 7 hour hike on an idyllic , sloping mountainface bust with potentiality . He cope with with investors , and the result was Vail Ski Resort , which opened in 1960 and stands as arguably the most famous ski stamping ground in the US . Whereas other ski town like Aspen orSteamboat Springswere former minelaying townspeople turned ski area , Vail was the first of its kind built entirely from the ground up .
A statue commemorating the 10th Mountain Division in Vail, Colorado.|Jerry Cleveland/ The Denver Post/ Getty Images
In total , members of the tenth Mountain Division went on to regain or serve build around 60 ski resorts across the country , each young addition help to popularize — and democratize — ski acculturation throughout the US . And it was all thanks to the Finns knocking out the Russians in their mountainous crusade .
Camp Hale might have ceased operationsin July of 1965 , but the legacy of the tenth Mountain Division continues to thrive .
gossip Vail in February and you could pick up the10th Mountain Division Legacy Parade , a celebration commemorating the Battle of Riva Ridge . Festivities include illumine up the side of the good deal with the tenth Mountain Division ’s logo and skiers outfitted in WWII - era skis , replica rifle , and helmets execute a torchlit ski down to the base of Gondola One , follow by a military parade . The parade finishes at another repository : Scott Stearman ’s bronze “ Ski Trooper ” statue .
you’re able to also have a bite to eat on atThe 10th restaurant , and block up by Vail’sColorado Snowsports Museumfor " Climb to Glory , " a comprehensive exhibit and documentary film on the troops that revolutionize a winter sport revolution .
And over at Camp Hale , you may embark on aninterpretive ego - guided duty tour . Or , like me , you could dive in cryptic by book a Ski - DooTop of the Rockiestour with Nova Guides . You ’ll go down Resolution Road and up to the 12,500 foot Machine Gun Ridge . From there you could view four unlike mountain range of a function — the Sawatch , Tenmile , Gore , and Mosquitoes .
In 2022 Nova themselves were called to duty whenPresident Biden stop byto announce the Camp Hale monument . Their lodge was used for scaffolding . Perhaps if you look closely , you ’ll one day see a photo of that sidereal day on their museum photo paries .
