Colorado’s Snow Soldiers

By Nancy K. Williams

January 2015

Just a few miles from Interstate 70 near Vail, Colorado, is the wide, broad valley of the East Fork of the Eagle River. It’s dotted with weathered concrete foundations and crisscrossed neatly by a grid of roads. This was Camp Hale, training center for the 10th Mountain Division, the Army’s elite winter warfare unit of World War II. Camp Hale was the only place in U.S. military history developed specifically to train soldiers for combat in freezing weather.

Events in the early days of World War II convinced Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole, founder of the National Ski Patrol, that there was a need for special U.S. troops trained in cold-weather mountain warfare. In 1939 Finnish soldiers who wore white camouflage and traveled on skis had soundly defeated two Soviet tank divisions. In 1941 the Greeks had driven invading Italian troops into the Alps, where thousands of the soldiers froze to death. Dole spent months lobbying the War Department for a winter warfare unit, but his arguments were met with derision until Gen. George C. Marshall, the Army chief of staff, saw its importance.

In late 1941, the 87th Mountain Regiment was created, and soon it was enlarged to become the 10th Mountain Division. By the end of 1942, newly built Camp Hale was home to the soldiers.

The National Ski Patrol assumed the task of recruiting many of the division soldiers; it was the first time troops for a special military division were recruited primarily by a civilian organization. “Minnie” knew where to find men who already were skilled at skiing. Dubbed “Minnie’s Ski Troops,” the recruits learned a lot more: mountain climbing, rock climbing, rappelling down sheer cliffs, Alpine and Nordic skiing, mountaineering, cold-weather survival skills, and winter combat techniques.

Lessons were rigorous and difficult. First, each recruit had to learn to walk on skis on a flat, snowy surface. Then he tackled the steep slopes, trying to keep his balance while carrying a rifle and a 90-pound pack. The heavily burdened soldiers would struggle up a slope at Cooper Hill, ski down, turn around, and head back up again to repeat the ordeal. After 18 hours on the slopes, the soldiers progressed to the tendon-stretching snowplow turns, causing many Southern GIs to call their heavy skis “planks” or “mah torture boards!”

The strenuous training kept the young recruits at altitudes above 10,000 feet for many days, fighting drifts as deep as 18 feet. Frigid nights, with temperatures that could drop to 40 degrees below zero, often found them sleeping in the snow. They built igloos with blocks of frozen snow to withstand fierce blizzards, and the ordeal landed some soldiers in sick bay with frostbite and hypothermia.

In March and April 1944, the troops underwent maneuvers described as “the grueling culmination of all their winter training.” During one of Colorado’s longest and coldest blizzards, 12,000 men climbed the steep mountains to 13,000 feet above sea level, living outdoors for days. One soldier recalled the brutal weather, saying, “It was 30 below zero, and we started out below timberline. It was a wet, heavy snow, and the wind was howling and blowing. It was probably one of the most rugged training exercises of any unit in the U.S. Army.” Camp Hale became known as “Camp Hell,” yet some soldiers said, “Anyone who transfers to combat from the mountain troops is yellow!”

Thanks to this arduous training, the troops who marched out of Camp Hale were the United States’ toughest, most competent soldiers of winter warfare. They were deployed to Italy, where in January 1945 their task was to break the German hold on the northern Italian Alps, the Apennine Mountains. Enemy artillery was entrenched on the high peaks and ridges, preventing the Allied advance into Germany. The first obstacle to the men of the 10th was Riva Ridge, a jagged, precipitous, 5-mile-long escarpment, which the Germans considered impossible to climb. On a dark February night, the men of the 10th, using pitons and ropes, stealthily rose 2,000 feet up the sheer face of this formidable cliff. Reaching the top, they swarmed over the German battalions in a devastating surprise attack.

Next, they set their sights on routing the Germans from Mount Belvedere. This peak, one of the highest in Italy, guarded entry into the Po River Valley. The Allies had tried to take this mountain three times before, but the Germans had always driven them back. Now it was up to the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division. They began their daring advance under cover of darkness, moving silently up the mountain’s steep, snowy slopes, reaching the top with the first light of dawn. They surprised the Germans on top, but resistance was quick and fierce. After a terrible battle in which nearly 1,000 U.S. soldiers died, the 10th captured Mount Belvedere, but later had to withstand several German counterattacks. Still, they held this vital peak, capturing more than 1,000 Germans before advancing farther into the Alps.

The 10th pushed on, forcing the Germans from their mountain strongholds and spearheading the Fifth Army’s drive into the Po River Valley. The German army in Italy surrendered on May 2, 1945. These victories came with heavy casualties for the 10th Mountain soldiers, one of the most decorated military divisions of World War II.

It was a great day for the nation when its soldiers came home from war.  Many men of the 10th returned to the high mountains of Colorado to live, where they helped expand skiing into a major sport and vacation industry. They became involved in every aspect of operations: designing ski hills and ski lifts, and developing ski resorts. They opened ski schools, coached Olympic medalist skiers, published skiing magazines, and designed and improved mountaineering and ski equipment.

Interestingly, Camp Hale was used from 1959 to 1965 by the CIA to secretly train Tibetan soldiers. The terrain’s similarity to the Himalayan Plateau made it ideal for this. When the CIA left, Camp Hale was deactivated, the land was returned to the Forest Service, and the buildings were dismantled.

Today little is left of the once-bustling base of more than 1,000 structures. Neat rows of barracks, mess halls, infirmaries, a chapel, and a fire station are gone. This camp even had a movie theater that seated 2,600, plus warehouses, a ski shop, a 3,000-seat auditorium, parade grounds, weapons ranges, stables, a grain elevator, and hay sheds for pack animals. But the concrete walls of the 18,000-square-foot field house, where dances and special events were held, are still standing. As you make your way through the grounds on the self-guided tour, you will find 10 stops along the loop, each with an interpretive sign explaining its significance.

The area’s cliffs, where soldiers struggled to learn rock climbing, today challenge young and old to test their skills. The area ski resort, Ski Cooper, is also significant. The soldiers perfected their skiing skills at Cooper Hill on three runs that Army engineers constructed down its 12,000-foot-high slopes. At Ski Cooper’s entrance is a large granite memorial bearing the names of the troops who were killed in the Italian Alps. Every March, veterans of the 10th Mountain Division gather here for their annual Ski-In Reunion, with plenty of reminiscing, war stories, and memories of buddies now gone. Each May, a Memorial Day service is held at Ski Cooper as well.

In the nearby town of Vail, the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum has an entire room devoted to keeping the story of Camp Hale and the legacy of the 10th Mountain Division alive. On display is a simulated soldier campsite with artifacts, including items carried in the troops’ packs. Running all day is a new documentary film titled Climb To Glory: Legacy of the 10th Mountain Ski Troopers. Other exhibits highlight Colorado Olympians, the state’s history of skiing, its ski industry, and more. Admission is free (donations accepted), and the museum is open daily, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (The Alpine World Ski Championships will be held in Vail February 2-15, 2015, so those who wish to avoid crowds may choose to visit the museum on other dates.)

The legacy of the soldiers who trained at Camp Hale reaches us to this very day. Next time you travel along Interstate 70 in Colorado, perhaps on a sunny summer day, be sure to stop by the former camp location and picture it filled with soldiers — and snow.

Camp Hale National Historic Site is located in White River National Forest, off exit 171 from I-70 (Minturn and Leadville). Take U.S. 24 south approximately 17 miles to the entrance.

Camp Hale Memorial Campground is located within the historic site, east of the entrance on a well-marked road. It has no hookups and no water, and is open from approximately the end of May to October 1. The use fee is $18 per night. Visit www.recreation.gov or call (877) 444-6777 to reserve.

The Colorado Trail passes through nearby, and the gravel roads of Camp Hale make easy biking and walking paths. Anglers can fish for cutthroat, brown, and rainbow trout in the Eagle River and nearby streams and ponds. Four-wheel and off-road enthusiasts can explore several roads and trails that have spectacular views of the mountains. Please note that motor vehicles are permitted only on designated trails and roads.

Call the U.S. Forest Service for more information: (970) 319-2670, or visit www.fs.usda.gov.