10th Soldiers were media stars of the 1940s -- and deserved it -- though let's not forget the thousands of others who sacrificed in WWII.
Memorial Day today. Yeah, we could write about stuff we or our friends have fun with, but that’s the wrong spotlight. Instead, let’s pause and consider the time our soldiers went and helped save Europe. WWII. More than 400,000 American fighters lost their lives in that war, among them about a thousand from the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army, our skiing soldiers.
To honor those guys, I’ve got two links here at WildSnow.com.
First, an article I wrote some time ago that’s a brief synopsis of 10th Mountain Division history written in a more realistic and less worshipful fashion than other histories you’ll find out there.
Also, our re-creation of the Trooper Traverse route the soldiers skied over the high peaks from Leadville, Colorado to Aspen in the early 1940s before they went to war.
Again, from us here at WildSnow.com, thanks WWII 10th Mountain soldiers — as well as those who came after.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
