I went to visit my buddy who lives in Denver. He owns a Vail ski condo(s). He needed to go up there to get a lease signed by his new tenants. I went along for the ride. We left on Friday evening and stayed over night. On Saturday morning he let me use his car to drive around the area while he met with his tenants.

I had fun driving around the mountain area. I pulled off the road when I saw a nice place to hike into the hill. I saw a large sign up ahead while I was driving and decided to pull up. There was also a stone monument. It was dedicated to the tenth mountain division of the U. S. Army which was formed in the year’40.

This was the area that the mountain division trained for battle in Europe. It was formed to fight in mountain areas like in Finland and Norway. But it ended up fighting the Germans in Italy in World War two. At the time of its formation the U. S. Had no fighting capability for mountain warfare. So they formed this division. Many men joined simply because it seemed like a glamorous idea.

This was camp hale that I had stepped into. I do not know what its relationship was to the town of Vale. The troops that arrived at camp hale were amazed. They did not know that such mountains existed. And the ones who were used to skiing were impressed with the equipment they trained with. Some said these were the finest skis and bindings they had ever seen. The bindings could be dangerous though.

This training was more dangerous than recreational type skiing. They each carried a fifty pound pack. If they fell the wrong way they could break their leg because the bindings were bear trap that did not come off.

The men went through mountain survival training and worked in altitudes higher than- thousand feet at times. Some nights the temperature dropped to under twenty five degrees below zero. The older troops were more experienced and instructed the younger soldiers on how to survive like rubbing bacon grease on the face and fingers to help prevent frostbite.

In Germany the tenth division finally saw combat. It fought in the mountains of Italy the German army in’45. This was a key battle for the U. S. Because the German army had a high strategic position that was preventing the infantry from moving forward. The Germans were surprised by the mountain division because they believed their position was so high and unattainable that they were beyond attack. But the mountain division surprised them and was able to remove them from their strategic foothold.

The tenth mountain division suffered one of the highest casualty rate of any U. S. Division. It was a sobering experience to stand in part of the area where brave soldiers learned to survive and fight in the snowy mountaintops of world war two. I returned to meet my friend at his ski condo a little more appreciative of those brave world war two snow troops.

BC real estate offers ski condos that are perfect for a little family time. It includes everything such as kitchen appliances, and also offers great scenery as well. If you’re planning a vacation for this winter, remember to visit us.