Tag Archive for: Camp Hale

mikemaginn

Mystery Glimpse: Dancing, Where?

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It Was A Famous Apres Ski Hangout Back In The Day.

Hint: Think Colorado. What place? What year? Thanks to the Colorado Snowsports Museum for this blast from the past.

Last Week: Bang, Bang

As we said last week, it’s not what you think. It sure looks like the 10th Mountain in training at Camp Hale, as several readers have guessed.

Here’s the story of the photo, taken from the library archives of the Alf Engen Museum, Park City, as explained by Jon Green, the museum’s operations manager.

Taken around 1942, this image shows paratroopers from Fort Benning, GA, who were sent to Alta to learn how to ski and fight in the snow.

From the book, Dick Durrance: The Man On The Medal, The Life And Times Of America’s First Great Ski Racer, as told by the inimitable John Jerome:

“In the fall of 1941, a few months before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, [the 17-time national championship ski racer] Dick Durrance got a call from a Jack Tappan, an army colonel, who asked if he was interested in training paratroopers for ski warfare. Washington had determined that the U.S. would probably soon be involved in a war in Europe, and part of it might be fought in the Alps in the winter.” At the end of that winter, Dick and his fellow instructors determined that “maybe a third of the troopers would become pretty good skiers, the middle third could get by, but the other third had better stay in the paratroopers and forget it.”

Just after Pearl Harbor, early elements of what became the 10th Mountain were activated. The planners decided to recruit active skiers and outdoorsmen who actually knew mountain sports, rather than convert standing regiments of troops, even highly trained paratroopers. Perhaps the lessons learned by Dick Durrance at Alta led to that wise decision.

seniorsskiing

Mystery Glimpse: Flying Racer

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Who Is The Airborne Skier? What’s His Story? Do You Know His Hometown?

This week, we made the Mystery Glimpse a little more challenging.  Name this high flyer.  Tell us about him and (hint) how he met his unfortunate and untimely end.

Okay that’s hard. Here’s another one of this celebrated personage.

These photos come from the collection of the Tread Of Pioneers Museum, Steamboat Springs, CO. The museum is a not-for-profit historical institution that promotes an understanding and appreciation of the history of the Steamboat Springs area by collecting, preserving, exhibiting, interpreting, and sharing that history and heritage with audiences of all ages and interests. Check out its collection of historic skiing photos.

Last Week

German POWs making shingles at Camp Hale, CO, circa 1943-46. Credit: Colorado SnowSports

We had at least one correct comment on who these soldiers were, as well as some very close guesses.

Those hard-working chaps were German POWs held at Camp Hale, CO. Did you know that from 1943 through 1946, Colorado had 48 Prisoner of War Camps? Out of the many camps, the Army placed several hundred German prisoners of war at Camp Hale, the 10th Mountain Division training facility. Though communication between prisoners and soldiers was officially forbidden, the German prisoners regularly talked with the German sympathizers in the 620th Engineer General Service Company, which arrived at the camp on December 5, 1943. The 200 soldiers who made up this unit were not actually engineers. Like several other army units, the 620th was made up of suspected Nazi sympathizers (mostly Germans) and other opponents of the war.  They got along quite well with the POWs, exchanging greetings and illegal gifts. The images show POWs making shingles and stacking lumber at Camp Hale.

Thanks again to the Colorado Snowsports Museum, Vail, CO, for contributing the photograph from its archives.  You can virtually visit the museum by clicking here.