Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division recently pushed through the snowy Rockies, skiing across miles of winter terrain in Colorado for the 80th anniversary of the division’s surprise attack that took a crucial alpine route in World War II.
The ski trek commemorated the Feb. 18, 1945 kickoff of Operation Encore. The Allies had fully pushed into Italy, capturing Rome and turning their sights north to an advance into Germany. However the German and Italian Gothic Line, a mass of fortifications and defensive positions built into mountainous passes, stood in their way. As winter in Italy continued, American troops as well as soldiers from the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, looked for ways to take the position at Mount Belvedere. In order to take the mountain, they had to take a nearby mountain range, known as Riva Ridge. Germans occupied the ridge, allowing them to locate and call in accurate artillery on American and Brazilian troops. Any shot at invading Germany from the south depended on taking that ridge.
Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division had been preparing for such a mission. To prepare for fighting in the European mountains, soldiers trained in the Rocky Mountains stateside. Camp Hale, set up for the units that evolved into the division, was their home, with soldiers training in rock climbing, alpine skiing and winter warfare. So come February 1945, American soldiers had carefully scouted climbing routes up those mountains, with small teams setting up gear in advance of a formal charge.
Operation Encore kicked off during the night of Feb. 18. 700 American soldiers scaled a more than 1,700-foot-high sheer cliff wall, making their way to the top. Beyond the danger of the climb itself, the soldiers were incredibly exposed. Any detection by German forces meant heavy casualties. However the Nazis did not expect such an assault by climbing and were quickly caught off guard. The Americans took the ridge, fending off several counter attacks over fight days that killed 17 GIs while the larger force of American and Brazilian troops attacked Mount Belvedere the next day. The victory gave the Allies a route through the Apennine Mountains and the Gothic Line.
80 years later soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division are based out of Fort Drum in New York, but went to Colorado to do the Hale to Vail Traverse. As the name suggests, they ski cross country from the former Camp Hale site to Vail Mountain. This year’s event was meant to be a 26-mile-long trek, similar to past years. However recent weather conditions and the risk of avalanches resulted in soldiers taking a shorter nine-mile route. Soldiers along with members of the National Ski Patrol slowly ascended up the mountain, going 2,000 feet before skiing down the slopes.
The Hale to Vail trek was one of several commemorations of the Battle of Riva Ridge the 10th Mountain Division put on. In Italy, soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division climbed up the paths of Mount Belvedere, to a monument to the Allied victory 80 years ago.
“Walking in their footsteps, it strikes me that on that night 80 years ago, the Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division faced three enemies: Germans, the ridge, and an internal battle between mission focus and self-preservation,” Col. Anthony Gore, leader of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, said.
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