The Real Mountain Men

This winter millions of Americans will hit the ski slopes around the country, and according to data from the Ski & Snowboard Resorts Industry, annual revenue is now about $4.3 billion. Even as many hit the powder, few likely realize that the American winter sports industry really only came about because of a few daring World War II veterans who simply loved skiing.

Prior to the war, there were few actual “ski resorts” in the United States, and just a handful of instructors who were Austrian, German and Swiss immigrants – and some of the former two were veterans of the Alpine units that fought in the First World War. Yet, in the early 20th century, skiing was rising in popularity among those who didn’t find winter weather so frightful.

Peckett’s-on-Sugar-Hill in New Hampshire and Sun Valley, Idaho were among the first slopes in the country to cater to what was slowly becoming a winter pastime for those winter adventure-seekers. Those slopes produced the first true homegrown
American skiers.

Skiing actually saw growth during the Great Depression when other leisure sports were on a steady decline, likely because it was an affordable alternative for those living in the northern part of the country who had previously stayed indoors or ventured south for the winter.

The sport evolved quickly. Originally, cross-country and downhill skiing were largely one and the same — a slow and often tedious climb to the top of a hill for a brief trip down again. That changed when the first slopes began to install tow lines and later lifts to bring skiers up to the top. In fact, American ingenuity was already hard at work as Sun Valley has the distinction of installing the first chairlift system in the world in the 1930s.

It appeared that the sport would continue to gain in popularity, but then came World War II, which put such seemingly frivolous activities on hold.

Some pastimes didn’t recover, but skiing actually benefited from the conflict. Not only did more Americans have greater access to cars after the war, but there was a boom in ski areas around the country as veterans of the 10th Mountain Division, the United States Army’s first specialized mountain unit, went on to start at least 62 ski areas and opened ski schools at such now famous locations as Vail, Aspen, Sugarbush, Whiteface Mountain and others.

Veterans of the unit also launched the first U.S. ski magazines, while others started sporting goods companies that manufactured products for the masses.

Originally designated as a mountain warfare unit in 1943, the 10th Light Division (Alpine) was redesignated the 10th Mountain Division in 1944. There is no arguing it lived up to the motto, “Climb to Glory.”

However, the idea for America’s first and only Army mountain division fittingly began at a one-time roadhouse ski lodge near Manchester Vermont some four years earlier. Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole, the president of the then-newly formed National Ski Patrol, discussed the idea of a specialized unit of military skiers with Robert Livermore, a Harvard University graduate who completed on the U.S. Olympic team in the 1936 Winter Games at Garmisch-Partenkrchen, Germany.

Along with Roger Langley of the National Ski Association, the discussion was focused on how Finnish soldiers on skis had hampered Soviet attacks in the Winter War of 1939-40. The men saw potential for a similar U.S. unit that could be modeled on the Alpine and elite mountain units employed by the armies of Europe.

From that initial conversation, Dole began to lobby the War Department, and in September 1940 was given a chance to present his case to Gen. George C. Marshall, Army chief of staff. Marshall saw merit to the idea, and the Army soon authorized the formation of a platoon-sized Army Ski Patrol, which was expanded to the 87th Mountain Infantry Battalion, the nation’s first dedicated mountain unit. It spent its first couple of years training on Washington’s Mount Rainer.

Soon after, the U.S. military saw the potential for specialized mountain warfare troops; and at one point even envisioned as many as 10 mountain divisions, which was later scaled back to three. Eventually, only the 10th Mountain Division was brought to active duty – becoming the first mountain warfare unit in U.S. military history.

The National Ski Patrol also played a key role in recruiting for the unit, in turn becoming the only civilian recruiting agency in military history. The idea made sense to military planners. Instead of trying to train standing soldiers for mountain warfare, the National Ski Patrol would recruit experienced skiers and others who favored the cold winter months. Soldiers were specifically recruited from across the northern states, especially from the Rocky Mountains and areas near the Canadian border.

According to 10th Mountain Division veteran Richard Calvert of Wolfeboro, N.H., who was still hitting the slopes in 2010 at age 91, all of the members of the unit had one thing in common.

“We loved the mountains,” he told Snow Magazine in an interview. “We were hunters, we were fishermen, we were climbers and of course we were skiers.”

The 10th Mountain Division was sent to Italy and members of the division took part in fierce fighting in the Northern Apennines. The initial attack saw soldiers make a 1,700- to 2,000-foot climb up Riva Ridge, and the unit succeeded in taking control of the Mount Belvedere ridgeline – truly becoming mountain warriors.

The division’s successes in Italy from Feb. 18 to 25, 1945 set the stage for the unit’s future operations in Italy that took place until May – controlling the Po Valley, capturing additional ridgelines and making advancements for the Allied forces. Of the nearly 20,000 10th Mountain Division soldiers who served in Italy, nearly 1,000 were killed and nearly 3,900 were wounded during their six months in country.

After the war, those men returned to civilian life again as hunters, fishermen, climbers and, of course, skiers!

The veterans of the 10th Mountain Division didn’t create the American ski industry, rather they revolutionized it. By creating ski schools and new resorts, they made the sport more accessible to middle-class Americans.

One of Colorado’s earliest ski areas, Arapahoe Basin, was founded by 10th Mountain veteran Lawrence Jump in 1946, and assisted by several other veterans including Earl Clark, Wilfred Davis, and Merrill Hastings. Even the now world famous Vail was founded by Tenth Mountain Division veteran Pete Seibert in 1962.

It wasn’t just the slopes that these early ski pioneers established. The new products those veterans helped design in turn provided affordable gear that more Americans could afford. Among the contributors were the veterans who worked with Howard Head to create the first skis that shortened the learning curve for beginners.

During the 1980s Fritz Benedict, a Tenth Mountain Division veteran, and other skiers from Aspen formed the Tenth Mountain Division Hut Association, a nonprofit organization that honored the division by building a series of recreational mountain huts in its name.

The legacy of the 10th Mountain Division’s original veterans is still very much alive on the slopes across the country. 

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