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by Amy Maestas
Climb to Conquer: The Untold Story of World War II’s
10th Mountain Division Ski Troops; By Peter Shelton; Scribner;
275 pages.
Any backcountry user who has been fortunate enough to
venture into Colorado’s Rocky Mountains and stay
at one of the 29 huts that are part of the 10th Mountain
Division Hut System is going to enjoy journalist Peter
Shelton’s new book.
Then again, so will any outdoor enthusiast or history
buff. That’s because Shelton’s latest, Climb
to Conquer: The Untold Story of World War II’s 10th
Mountain Division Ski Troops, is an engaging tome that
takes readers from the high country of Colorado to the
rugged and dangerous peaks of war-laden Italy. It’s
a book worthy of reading not only for its seemingly accurate
contribution to battle history, but also for its intriguing
first-hand accounts from some of the Division’s
surviving members (a number that is quickly dwindling).
Shelton begins the book with the initial stages of creating
the Division. From there, he takes readers on through
the years, staying pretty much true to a timeline that
is parallel to World War II and even years beyond. That
said, Climb to Conquer does not bore. In spite of its
chronological layout, it lacks a reportorial approach
that would otherwise bog down the stirring events. Perhaps
because Shelton is a respected journalist who has long
contributed to Outside and Ski magazines, his writing
is more like a novel than academic text.
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The author accomplishes this by sharing interviews with
men from the Division, some of whom have published (self
or otherwise) their own memoirs, providing photos and
inserting passages from letters the men wrote to loved
ones. In doing this, Shelton doesn’t limit the story
only to the brutal training the troops went through in
order to fight a war on steep slopes and craggy terrain.
He gives a fuller, rounder story that contributes levity
to a dark subject.
The forming of the 10th is a unique story. The idea for
it began when, in 1940, a group of skiers lounging in
a Vermont lodge discussed the Finnish Army’s dogged
attempt to fight against the Russian Army the previous
winter. In the battles between the two countries, the
Finns displayed impressive battle skills on skis while
the Russians took a beating for such. Even though the
Russians defeated the Finns, they were severely hampered
due to the Finns’ familiarity with mountain conditions.
The United States had not yet entered the war. But the
skiers, among them Charles Minot Dole, the recent organizer
of the National Ski Patrol System, wondered how the United
States would be able to protect this country’s northern
mountainous border from a potential German enemy. Dole
began a dedicated effort to convince the Army and the
War Department to train troops in winter skills. Initially,
the government resisted Dole’s ideas. But after
persistence, the government signed on with Dole, helping
to recruit some of the country’s elite (and novice)
skiers to be part of the 10th Division.
From there, Shelton presses on with the Division’s
tales of extensive mountain and ski training at Camp Hale
in Colorado (as well as other places) and includes a gripping
account of the 10th’s 114 days in combat, where
they only skied once (during an assault on Riva Ridge)
and never even put their climbing skills to use. They
did rout five German divisions and helped cause the collapse
of the German 14th Army. In the end, the 10th was the
last division to enter the war in Europe, yet it was the
one that suffered the most casualties – an average
of 1,209 a month. Still, it retains its status as an elite
troop of college boys, skiing pioneers and avid outdoorsman.
Perhaps this prompts Shelton to subtitle his book with
the statement that it’s an untold story. Rather,
the 10th is one of the Army’s most written-about
stories. Not only does the hut system include places bearing
troopers’ monikers, there have been at least a half
dozen other published books. In comparison, Shelton’s
work is the one that deals most extensively with the fact
that several members of the 10th Division contributed
outstandingly to the ski, outdoor recreation and environmental
movement. The author reiterates (as other authors have)
that its veterans are known almost as much for their peacetime
efforts as they are for wartime exploits. These people
include: David Brower, the intrepid leader of the Sierra
Club; the founders of Vail and Aspen ski resorts (among
others); Paul Petzoldt, founder of the National Outdoor
Leadership School; and Bill Bowerman, who jumpstarted
the athletic gear craze by the Nike waffle sole.
Ultimately, this addition to Shelton’s story provides
the proverbial cherry on top of an already sweet story
that told 40 years later has as much appeal to skiers
as it does to history buffs.
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