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WWII is responsible for the development of skiing in the Leadville, Colorado
area. After the German army's elite mountain troops,
the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Gebirgsjaeger Corps, began to
destroy the Polish Army in 1939, two American ski
groups-the National Ski Association and the National Ski
Patrol-had grave concerns about the American military's
lack of preparation for mountain warfare. The German
"Jaeger" mountain battalions, with skilled ski troops,
went on to invade Norway and Denmark in 1940. The same
year, Minot Dole, one of the founders of the National Ski
Patrol approached Army Chief of Staff George Marshall and
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt with the idea of
forming special mountain fighting units.
Before America entered the Second World War, the
Climax-Fremont Pass area was recommended for its reliable
snow conditions. Although there was no tow in 1940,
cross-country and rugged alpine skiers of the day enjoyed
the vast variety of open slopes and timber runs.
By the winter of 1942 the War Department had authorized
the National Ski Patrol to recruit volunteers for the 87th
Mountain Infantry, men who would be specifically trained to
fight (and survive) on any terrain, in any weather.
In April of 1942, construction of Camp Hale at Pando,
near Leadville, Colorado, was in progress. On November
16, 1942, the U.S. Army's Mountain Training Center moved
from Camp Carson in Colorado Springs to Camp Hale. A
steady stream of new recruits were now arriving in camp to
train in mountain warfare and complete the formation of
the 10th Light Division (Pack, Alpine).
With temperatures dropping to 50 below, the men of "The
10th" trained with machineguns and artillery in the snow
laden mountains and rugged terrain surrounding Camp Hale.
More than 8,000 men had skiing instruction on the T-bar at
Cooper Hill (now Ski Cooper) and the four rope tows near
camp.
Even though the training was physically demanding and at
times, difficult, "The 10th" was almost entirely an all
volunteer force. Thanks in part to the efforts of John
Jay, a ski film producer and Army Public Relations Officer,
men were waiting in line to enlist in "The 10th" after viewing
Jay's Ski Patrol recruiting movie and reading articles
about "America's ski troops" in publications throughout
the country.
After serving gallantly in the Aleutian Islands and Italy,
the 10th Mountain Division was deactivated on November 30,
1945, but was reactivated on February 13, 1985 at Fort
Drum, New York. In the past 50 years, more than 34 books
have been written about "The 10th." For a list of published
and unpublished manuscripts contact: The 10th Mountain
Division Resource Center, Denver Public Library, 10 West
14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, CO 80204.
In 1949, "The Where to Ski" guidebook had this to say
about Cooper Hill: "This is the Camp Hale T-bar lift of
10th Mountain Division fame, serves expert trail 1¾ mile
long, also seven intermediate and novice trails 6000 to
8000-ft long; open slopes are two miles long. Lift rates:
$1.25. Group lessons in the Arlberg technique are
free."
Nearby was the Climax ski area with a state of the art
Constam T-bar serving three trails. For two nights each
week, the slopes were lit for night skiing. Ski school
students at Climax learned the Norwegian ski technique
rather than the Arlberg.
The hot spots to stay in 1949 were the Hotel Vendome
($3.50 per night), Hotel Delaware, Liberty Hotel and the
Quincy Hotel at $1 per night.
Today, Ski Cooper is a commercial ski area with 26 trails
spread across 385 skiable acres. The base elevation is
10,500-ft and the summit another 1,200 feet higher, so
excellent natural snow conditions are all but guaranteed.
In addition to two surface lifts, one double and one triple
chair, Ski Cooper also offers Snocat skiing on Chicago Ridge.
For ski history buffs, Ski Cooper is a historically
significant site to visit, and of course, to make turns on
some of the same trails the men of the 10th Mountain
Division did during their World War II combat training.
*Written by: Paul McMorris - a contributing editor for Skiing Magazine.
