"The Boys of Winter"

I just finished the book "The Boys of Winter" by Charles J. Sanders. My wife gave it to me for my birthday. It is about members, friends, and family of the 10th Mtn. Division in WW II, and also during the years before the war, with a quick survey of their accomplishments after the war. Such accomplishments include founding many ski areas, outdoor organizations and notable outdoor pursuits. It is about people who love skiing, climbing and the mountains and who formed an organization of mountain troops after the war dedicated to world peace and with with the motto, "if everyone skied there would be no war."<br><br>The 87th Regiment took over Paradise Lodge in 1942 to train, test prototype mechanized equipment, and learn winter techniques. The 87th later joined with other Regiments to become the 10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale CO.<br><br>"The Boys of Winter" focuses on three individuals- one from Seattle, one from Wisconsin, one from Massachusetts. It also enlarges on their friends and families, and of course the interactions, training and combat in Italy of the 10th. In the 1930s the main characters of the book usually earned their turns using skins before getting a downhill run.<br><br>Members of the 10th are well known to many of us. In the book many famous outdoorsman and skiers are mentioned including Ralph Bromighan from Seattle and one of the original Ptarmigans, Fred Beckey, Paul Petzoldt; David Brower, Founder of the Sierra Club; Freidl Pfeifer, Percy Rideout, John Litchfield who developed Vail along with others; Duke Watson and Ed Link of Crystal Mountain, Nelson Bennett of White Pass and many others of notable accomplishment. 10th Mtn. trooper Torger Tokle, the World Champion ski jumper from Norway, jumped here in Leavenworth in the 1930s.<br><br>My old log cutter acquaintance here in Leavenworth joined the 10th at Camp Hale and survived the campaign. He tut-tuts all of the glory of war described in the books. He said that he went through the entire Italian Campaign with the 10th and never fired his rifle. He said that there would be shooting up or down the line, but never where he was. But he said there was the ever present threat of incoming artillery.<br><br>Reading WW II history is one of my main hobbies. I found "The Boys of Winter" to be very enjoyable in large part because of the inclusion of details of families and friends outside of the 10th and because of the focus on the absolute passion for skiing and the mountains held by many of the 10th soldiers.<br><br>Sempre Avanti.

Good review! Charlie Sanders did a great job on his book. I highly recommend it. I gave him some leads and information during his research, and he dug deeper into the history of the mountain troops than I ever have. His is one of the best books available on the 10th Mountain Division. For notes about "The Boys of Winter" click here .<br><br>I have lots of notes about the World War II mountain troops here . See "Personal communications" for interviews with 10th Mountain veterans, including Duke Watson and John Woodward. I'm working on a profile of Duke to be published later this year.

Thanks Lowell. I enjoy reading what you have compiled.<br><br>Last week I again watched the movie "Fire on the Mountain" about the same topic. It is wonderfully done and has great footage of skiing etc. It is also very inspiring.

Randonee, where did you get your copy of Fire on the Mountain?  It's been on my movie list for years.

Quote: Randonee, where did you get your copy of Fire on the Mountain?<br><br>Probably from Amazon.com, and most likely from one of the other vendors that come up for used stuff on Amazon. I also got "Heroes of Telemark" there and several books about WWII skiing in Norway and Greenland. Conquistadors of the Useless by Thierry has a chapter about French military skiing around Chamonix in WWII.<br><br>I really enjoy that old skiing footage and photos, and the WWII history.

Randonee, where did you get your copy of Fire on the Mountain?  It's been on my movie list for years.

<br><br>Try the New England Ski Museum. They're a great organization!<br><br>www.skimuseum.org/

I'm a member and I try to support them by buying historic ski stuff from them. Be aware that they have lots more stuff than their on-line catalog indicates. They are also sometimes willing to chase down obscure materials for you. (They're digging up an out-of-print book for me as we speak.) Give them a call at 1-800-639-4181.

My father was in the 10th starting with their Camp Hale Colorado days and through their tour in Italy. He's told me a few stories so here's an attempt to type one out for internet posterity, as best as I can remember it: <br><br>So they're in Italy and the fighting has been fairly heavy the past few days. The weather has also been cold and rainy, overall pretty grim. The grunts get fed about once a day if they're lucky and the scene is a chow line not too far from the front line. All these GI's are standing patiently in line as some slop or gruel is dished out. It's raining so hard you can't see that well and everyone is wearing a poncho. Now the ponchos the Americans wore were just these plain green ones, while the German ponchos had this motled green camaflogue pattern. So while they're standing in line people gradually notice someone is wearing one of these motled ponchos. They take a closer look; the helmet, the little bit of uniform showing - yep it's a real German. The German guy is just standing in line waiting to be fed like nothing's going on. Gradually more and more of the people standing in line are noticing, smirking and telling jokes, but nobody is doing anything about it. Some discussion is had but nobody's taking the initiative. <br><br>Finally this gung ho captain takes charge, and in what my father described as one ofthe most senseless acts of violence of the war tackles the German, who offers absolutely no resistance, and pins him to the sole effect that now both the captain and the German are completely covered in mud. After the commotion has died down they ask my father, who is originally German as a child and frequently the translator in these situations, to "talk to that Kraut and find out what the hell he was doing in our chow line!" So by now the German is sitting with his head in his hands looking pretty dazed and confused. My father figures the guy is pretty shell shocked and makes small talk. The German says he was lost in the woods and hadn't eaten for a few days. My father tries to calm him and tell him how the war is over. The conversation leads him to believe the German is only just beginning to realize he is on the wrong side of the line and had stumbled into an American camp.

Cool post Randonee -- you may remember the couple you met in snowmobile country a few weeks ago. Gave us a ride part way up the hill. Thats me, Scott. So, just wanted to say that I dated Cliff Taylor's daughter in CO when I lived out there in '00. Cliff is credited with introducing the graduated length method of teaching skiing. And he was a 10th Mtn division man -- was inducted into the Ski Hall of Fame a short time later. He saw some action in Italy as well. He talked about artillery duals with the Germans. Apparently much of his time was spent being a forward observer high in the Alps. Hats off to Cliff, dont know how he's doing these days, but none of the 10th mtn guys are getting any younger.<br><br>

Hey, Scott. PM me when you are in the area again. Not far from where we skied there was a natural point-release avalanche yesterday from several hundred feet above the road that put about 3 ft. of debris on the road.<br><br>Interesting to hear about Cliff.<br><br>It is great to hear about gregm's dad in the 10th. What a story! You must appreciate your dad, as I appreciate my dad who was a WWII Guadalcanal Marine.

I was privileged to have lunch with two "boys of winter" yesterday at the Seattle Golf Club. Duke Watson (left) and John Woodward (right) were important sources for Charles Sanders' book. (The amazon.com page for "The Boys of Winter" can be found here .)



John wrote the Foreword for the book and took the dust jacket photo. Duke was a good friend of Ralph Bromaghin. I profiled Duke in the latest Northwest Mountaineering Journal:

www.mountaineers.org/NWMJ/06/061_Watson1.html

I believe that John is now 91 and Duke's 91st birthday is next month. Sadly, I saw in the paper that Harriet Clough Waldron, a good friend of Ralph Bromaghin before the war, passed away on August 28 at age 87. She was one of the original Ptarmigan Climbing Club members, the sister of Ray and Ralph Clough.

Here's to the Greatest Generation!

Seattle Public Library has a copy of "The Boys of Winter".  As above, a good read.