“Winter Warriors: The 10th Mountain Division in World War II” is the first exhibit set in History Colorado’s new marquee gallery, and it was designed with the assumption that World War II may seem like ancient history to those born after the baby boom generation.
New exhibit at History Colorado: The saga of the 10th Mountain Division "ski troops" who trained for mountain warfare at Camp Hale near Leadville during World War II, and their subsequent combat heroism in northern Italy, has been told many times through movies and books. The Colorado Snowsports Museum in Vail has helped keep their memories alive for five decades with artifacts, dioramas, photos and films, in part because 10th Mountain veterans helped found dozens of U.S. ski areas after the war including Arapahoe Basin, Aspen and Vail.
In late March 1949, Monty Atwater finally gained permission to conduct a groundbreaking experiment at Alta. The Forest Service supervisor, Felix C. Koziol, and the Utah National Guard approved Atwater s outlandish proposition to perform a test fire to shoot avalanches at Alta with a French 75-mm howitzer.