Camp Hale was a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

training facility in the

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, constructed in 1942 for what became the

10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division (military), division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in ...

. Located in central

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

between Red Cliff and

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in the Eagle River Valley at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of , it was named for General

Irving Hale Irving Hale (August 28, 1861 – July 26, 1930) was a brigadier general of the United States of America who served in the Philippines during the Spanish–American War and the early stages of the Philippine–American War. Biography Born in Ne ...

. Onslow S. Rolfe, who had developed mountain warfare techniques as commander of the 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, was selected to command Camp Hale. Soldiers were trained in

mountain climbing Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

and

Nordic Nordic most commonly refers to: * Nordic countries, the northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their North Atlantic territories * Scandinavia, a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

, cold-weather survival, and various weapons and ordnance. When it was in full operation, approximately 15,000 soldiers were housed there. The creation of an elite ski corps was a national effort, with assistance from the National Association of Ski Patrol, local ski clubs, and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. Enough men were recruited to create three army regiments, which were deployed after training. Camp Hale was decommissioned in November 1945. On 12 October 2022,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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designated Camp Hale and a noncontiguous nearby part of the

Tenmile Range The Tenmile Range is a mountain range in U.S. state of Colorado. The range is an extension of the Mosquito Range which is part of the Rocky Mountains. The two ranges are effectively the same range. They are split only by the Continental Divide ...

as Camp Hale—Continental Divide National Monument. It comprises , which will be managed by the

White River National Forest White River National Forest is a National Forest in northwest Colorado. It is named after the White River that passes through its northern section. It is the most visited National Forest in the United States, primarily from users of the twel ...

unit of the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

. Conversion of the site to a monument will not affect any permits held by the neighboring ski resorts and the monument will continue to support a wide range of motorized and non-motorized recreation opportunities.

World War II

Construction

The armed ski corps in the U.S. was based on the

ski warfare Ski warfare is the use of skiing, ski-equipped troops in war. History Early Ski warfare is first recorded by the Denmark, Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus in the 13th century. During the Battle of Oslo (1161), Battle of Oslo in 1161, Norwegia ...

tactics of the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( , ) is the army, land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, Combat engineering, engineer ...

during the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

(1939–1940). Early in the effort, 8,000 skiers and outdoorsmen were recruited.Pennington, Bill
"The Legacy of Soldiers on Skis"
''The New York Times'', 10 March 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2010. The camp was built to accommodate the effort at a cost of $30 million. The

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet ...

chose the location at because the

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fr ...

stopped at Pando rail station and historically the snowfall in the Tennessee Pass area was plentiful. Construction of the camp began in the spring of 1942 and finished seven months later; during that period Highway 24 was moved, a sewage system installed to prevent pollution in the nearby town of Red Cliff, and the meadow drained. Additionally, the nearby town of

to the south, the only source of recreation for the trainees, was persuaded to change its moral character, perceived "to be on a rather low plane." The camp included mess halls, infirmaries, a ski shop, administrative offices, a movie theater, and stables for livestock."Camp Hale History"
. Metropolitan State College of Denver, 2004. Retrieved 30 January 2010. White painted barracks for 15,000 soldiers were built straight lines on the mountain meadow, but when the first trainees of the 87th Regiment of the 10th Light Division, quickly renamed the

, arrived in the winter of 1942 only a small portion of barracks were filled. The War Department needed to train more skiers in the elite fighting ski corps and asked the American Ski Patrol Association to contact ski racing clubs, ski schools, and local patrol units, nationwide—each applicant had to supply three letters of recommendation.Shelton, 45–46

Recruitment

After 1942 problems in communication caused by the war slowed the recruitment effort. However, that year,

Darryl Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (; September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. Best known as a co-founder of 20th Century Fox, he played a ...

released ''

Sun Valley Serenade ''Sun Valley Serenade'' is a 1941 American musical film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle, and Lynn Bari. It features the Glenn Miller Orchestra as well as dancing by the Nichol ...

'', starring

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian figure skating, figure skater and film star. She was a three-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic champion (Figure skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, ...

and featuring the

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band that was formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most pop ...

, and filmed on location in Sun Valley. The movie was a hit and the Hollywood effort helped to interest trainees in the ski corps. Two more wartime movies were made, each filmed at Camp Hale, featuring the white-clad elite troops—''Mountain Fighters'' in 1943 and ''I Love a Soldier'' in 1944. The ski corps was featured on national magazine covers and popular radio shows. Although the effort brought in recruits to add the 86th and 85th Regiments for a full division, recruiters realized not enough skiers existed to fill the new regiments; thereafter, efforts were made to bring in rugged outdoorsmen of all types with the slogan that the 10th Mountain Division was made up of "college boys to cowboys".Shelton, 54–55 In addition, 200 women from the

Women's Army Corps The Women's Army Corps (WAC; ) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), on 15 May 1942, and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United S ...

were brought in for administrative support.

Training

By 1943, Camp Hale had as many as 14,000 men in training. Conditions in the camp were harsh: the altitude required acclimation and the shallow valley created polluted inversion layers, as the primary energy source was

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

. Recreation (outside of skiing) was non-existent because of the camp's high mountain isolation, which prevented even the

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

from visiting, and many of the non-skiing trainees hated skiing. Trainees were taught to ski at Cooper Hill by ski instructors, brought from the ski-areas such as Sun Valley and Waterville Valley. Located three miles (5 km) south of the camp, Cooper Hill had on-site barracks for the instructors and a newly built

T-bar lift A surface lift is a type of cable transport for mountain sports in which skiers, snowboarders, or mountain bikers remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher ...

for the trainees. Military use of Camp Hale included the 10th Mountain Division, commanded by Lloyd E. Jones, the 38th Regimental Combat Team, the Norwegian-American 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate), and soldiers from

Fort Carson Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, El Paso, Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo, Fremont County, Colorado, Fremont, and Huerfano County, Colorado, Huerfano counties, Color ...

conducting mountain and winter warfare training exercises. Trainees were taught skiing, mountain climbing, snow survival skills (such as building

snow cave A snow cave is a Shelter (building), shelter constructed from snow by certain animals in the wild, human mountaineering, mountain climbers, winter recreational enthusiasts, and winter survivalists. It has thermal properties similar to an igloo a ...

s), and winter combat. Also present at Camp Hale was the 620th Engineer General Service Company, a unit composed of suspected unreliable German-Americans or soldiers with suspected pro-National Socialist beliefs. Camp Hale was active for just three years; it was deactivated in November 1945 and the 10th Mountain Division moved to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Prisoner of war camp

Camp Hale held "about 400 of the most incorrigible members of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Corps". On 15 February 1944, guard Private Dale Maple of the 620th Engineer General Service Unit drove away with German Sergeants Heinrich Kikillus and Erhard Schwichtenberg. They made it to Mexico before being arrested and turned over to U.S. authorities. In an unrelated scandal, in March 1944, five WACs were charged with exchanging notes with the prisoners. Three received sentences of four to six months of confinement. The army used POWs to dismantle most of the structures in 1945.

Late 20th century

Many Tibetan resistance fighters were secretly trained at Camp Hale by the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. "By February 1963, four groups totaling 135 Tibetans (ten more than originally planned) had arrived at Hale." This was "... the first wave of Tibetans." The site was chosen because of the similarities of the terrain and elevation with the

Himalayan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of Himalayas and the Indian s ...

, being heavily mountainous and over 10,000 feet above sea level. The fighters were trained in the use of mortars, explosive, and rifles and instructed in the art of guerilla warfare and subterfuge. The

Tibetans Tibetans () are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 7.7 million. In addition to the majority living in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live in t ...

nicknamed the camp "Dhumra", meaning "The Garden", due to their enriched hatred of the Chinese occupation of their country. To cover up their newly heightened activity within the camp, the CIA circulated a story in the local press that Camp Hale was to be the site of

atomic tests Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to signal strength. Bec ...

and would be a high security zone going forward. Until the camp was closed in 1964, the entire area was cordoned off and its perimeter patrolled by

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

to keep any unwanted eyes away. In all, around 259 Tibetans were trained at Camp Hale, and after it was dismantled, no Tibetans remained in Colorado having all be redeployed into their homeland to fight against the Chinese. From 1958 to 1960, Anthony Poshepny trained various special missions teams, including Tibetan

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...

bas and Hui Muslims, for operations in China against the communist government. In 1965, Camp Hale was dismantled and the land was deeded to the

. Since 1974, the area has become a youth development training center. An Eagle County non-profit organization, SOS Outreach, has used the site to expose disadvantaged youth to many of the same outdoor challenges experienced by the 10th Mountain Division. In 1962,

Pete Seibert Peter Werner Seibert (August 7, 1924 – July 15, 2002) was an American skier and the founder of Vail Ski Resort in Colorado. He was inducted into the Colorado Ski (and Snowboard) Hall of Fame in 1980. A Massachusetts native, Seibert gra ...

, who was among the soldiers who trained at Camp Hale and then returned to the area after the war, founded the

Vail Ski Resort Vail Ski Resort is a ski resort in the Western United States, western United States, located near the town of Vail, Colorado, Vail in Eagle County, Colorado, Eagle County, Colorado. At , it is the third-largest single-mountain ski resort in the U ...

nearby. In July and August 1985 the valley was the site of the North American Pathfinder camporee with 16,129 attending.

Current status

In 2003, the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

began a cleanup effort to remove some of the

unexploded ordnance Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shell (projectile), shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other Ammunition, munitions) that did not e ...

at the site in conjunction with several other government agencies. This effort is still ongoing. Most of the remnants of Camp Hale are located in the

. There are camping grounds where overnight camping is permitted on this former army base. Several informational plaques are located throughout the area. These plaques contain historical information about camp construction, the 99th Infantry Battalion, ski training, rock climbing/alpine training, the motor pool area, CIA training, and camp entertainment.

National Monument

In 2019, the Camp Hale site was proposed to be the first National Historic Landscape, under the Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act, which would designate 28,728 acres for preservation. Congressman

Joe Neguse Joseph D. Neguse ( ; born May 13, 1984) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Colorado's 2nd congressional district since 2019. The district is based in Boulder and includes many of Denver's northwestern subu ...

hosted Agriculture Secretary

Tom Vilsack Thomas James Vilsack (; born December 13, 1950) is an American politician. He served as the 30th and 32nd United States secretary of agriculture from 2009 to 2017, during the Obama administration, and again from 2021 to 2025 during the Biden admi ...

, Colorado Governor

Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis ( ; ; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as the Unite ...

, and U.S. Senators

Michael Bennet Michael Farrand Bennet (born November 28, 1964) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Colorado, a seat he has held sinc ...

and

John Hickenlooper John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. ( ; born February 7, 1952) is an American politician, geologist, and businessman serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Colorado since 2021. A mem ...

at Camp Hale on 22 August 2022, in support of the bill. With the bill stalled in Congress, on 12 October 2022, President Biden visited the site with the same five leaders and used the

Antiquities Act The Antiquities Act of 1906 (, , ) is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the president of the United States the authority to, by presidential proclam ...

to declare the site a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

, the 53,804-acre Camp Hale – Continental Divide National Monument. While the designation had support of area mayors and county commissioners and "drew a flurry of praise from political, social and conservation groups", various conservative politicians spoke out in opposition to the new national monument. A survey had found 86% of Coloradans supported national monument protections for Colorado recreation and conservation areas. The monument includes approximately 28,684 acres in the Camp Hale area and 25,210 acres in the Tenmile area. The Tenmile area was originally proposed in the CORE Act to be recreation management area and

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural) are Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally ...

. The

Continental Divide Trail The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (in short Continental Divide Trail, CDT) is a United States National Scenic Trail with a length measured by the Continental Divide Trail Coalition of between the U.S. border with Chihuahua (state), Chi ...

passes through both sections for approximately 20 miles.

References

Sources

"Veterans Closer than Brothers"
''The Denver Post''. 29 July 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2010. * Cowan, Jay
Big Pete's Last Drive
''The Aspen Times''. 17 February 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2010. *Govan, Thomas B., Captain

The Army Ground Forces Study, No. 28. 1946. Retrieved 1 January 2011. *Govan, Thomas B., Captain

The Army Ground Forces Study, No. 23. 1946. Retrieved 1 January 2011. * Shelton, Peter. ''Climb to Conquer: The Untold Story of WWII's 10th Mountain Division''. Scribner, 2003. .

External links

Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument
*
Establishment proclamation
*

Rocky Mountain PBS Rocky Mountain PBS is a network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Colorado. Headquartered in Denver, it is operated by Rocky Mountain Public Media, Inc., a non-profit organization which holds the licenses for most of th ...

Colorado Experience TV program (fall 2020): Camp Hale (YouTube video; closed captioning available)
*

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is the principal department of the Colorado state government responsible for public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and pr ...

- background, studies
risk assessment/management of leftover WWII munitions
*

History Colorado History Colorado is a historical society that was established in 1879 as the State Historical Society of Colorado, also known as the Colorado Historical Society. History Colorado is a 501(c)(3) organization and an agency of the State of Colorado ...

-
online collection of 10th Mountain Division / Camp Hale artifacts

Metropolitan State College of Denver
– website about Camp Hale

– CIA's involvement in the Tibetan resistance {{Authority control 1942 establishments in Colorado 1945 disestablishments in Colorado 2022 establishments in Colorado Buildings and structures in Eagle County, Colorado Former training facilities of the United States Army Former populated places in Eagle County, Colorado Geography of Eagle County, Colorado Ghost towns in Colorado History of Colorado Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado Military history of Colorado Mountain warfare training installations National monuments in Colorado National Register of Historic Places in Eagle County, Colorado Protected areas of Eagle County, Colorado United States Forest Service national monuments