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Colorado Vignette - Camp Hale

The vast valley north of Leadville has a silence and the overwhelming feeling of a special place in history, both for Colorado and the world. This is the site of Camp Hale, the 10th Mountain Division memorial. All that is left are the remnants of buildings and foundations. However, you may read the history on the kiosks and envision what this place was like in 1944 near the end of World War II. The 250,000 acres of land around the area are under the U.S. Forest Service and the Colorado Trail winds through the site.

The Army activated its first mountain unit in December 1941 at Fort Lewis Washington. These men were members of the newly formed National Ski Patrol along with military officers with more soldiering and less skiing experience from the 85th, 86th and 87th regiments. This was the only U.S. military unit especially trained in mountain warfare. The initial training took place on Mt. Rainer in Washington. Many of the predecessors to today‚s mountaineering equipment were produced for these maneuvers. The first rucksack, mountain stove, down-mummy sleeping bags, a motor toboggan (forerunner to the snowmobile), special boots for skiing and hiking were all produced at this time.

These 15,000 young 18 to 20 year olds were impressed by the magnificent Rocky Mountains. Soldiers were taught climbing techniques such as rappelling. This came in handy when soldiers on leave staying at Denver‚s prestigious Brown Palace Hotel, repelled from the balcony to the floor of the lobby. Other soldiers preferred leave 70 miles northeast in Aspen. The famous Jerome Hotel rented rooms to the soldiers for $1. per night. The only signs of a ski lift at that time was a boat tow on the mountain. Austrian ski racer Friedl Pfeifer fell in love with the mountain community and promised to return to help develop Aspen into the outstanding ski community it is today, if he survived the war. Before the 10th Division was shipped out to Europe, Pfeifer and hundreds of other European soldiers became American citizens at the Leadville courthouse. Pfiefer and many other 10th veterans kept their promise and returned to help develop and build the American Ski Industry.

Early in 1945 the 10th Mountain Division was sent to Italy to serve under the command of General Mark Clark. The division faced German positions along the Monte Belvedere-Monte della Torracci ridge. Other divisions had tried and failed to take the German position, they were ready for troops trying to ascend the near vertical slopes. The 10th scaled the Rivia Ridge cliff during the night and overtook the Germans. The 10th had many victories, but the losses were staggering. In 114 days of continuous active combat, the Division lost 992 men, plus over 4,000 wounded

10th Mountain veteran Pete Seibert returned to Colorado. While working as the manager of Loveland Ski Area he and Earl Eaton, a uranium prospector, found what would become Vail Mountain. The name Vail was chosen for highway engineer Charlie Vail. After much work and fund raising, Vail opened to the public on December 15, 1962.

As Merrill Hastings, the first publisher of Ski Magazine said, "The birth of the American ski industry began after the war and with the 10th Mountain Division."

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