At 0400 on February 18, 2025, soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade will begin their ascent of Riva Ridge in Italy, retracing the exact footsteps of the 10th Mountain Division’s legendary 1945 assault—on the same date, at the same location, 80 years later. In the dead of night on February 18, 1945, five columns of highly trained mountain troops climbed what had been reported as the “unclimbable” face of Riva Ridge. Surprising the German troops that held the summit, the US mountain troops captured the summit.
This action allowed the next attack by the 10th Mountain Division of the adjacent Mount Belvedere 24 hours later to also succeed in driving the long-held positions of the Germans off these key summit defensive positions. Moving faster than the Army logistic experts had predicted possible, the 10th Mountain Division not only pushed the Germans off the important defensive positions on Riva Ridge and Mount Belvedere but kept the German forces moving north, through the Po Valley.
Moving swiftly in front of thirty other allied divisions, the 10th drove the Germans north and ultimately across the Po River, ending the German control of Italy’s agricultural region and signaling the beginning of the end of German military dominance in World War II.
Why does the National Ski Patrol commemorate this act of extreme heroism by the 10th Mountain Division eighty years ago? The NSP founder, Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole recognized in the early 1940s that the US had no military troops trained in mountain warfare. His persistence finally convinced the War Department that soldiers trained to fight in cold and mountainous terrain were needed.
The result of his persistence was the creation of the 10th Mountain Division. Made up of world-class skiers, alpinists, and outdoorsmen. The 10th Mountain Division was very selective when it came to accepting recruits. The National Ski Patrol became the filter for this process and was and is the only civilian organization to ever recruit for the US military. Every applicant to the 10th required an approval letter from the National Ski Patrol.
The story of the 10th Mountain Division does not end with success in Europe and the end of World War II. Upon their return to the US, members of the mountain troops were responsible for, or key participants in, the creation of over 60 ski resorts in the United States. Along with the growth of ski resorts, the number of skiers also grew rapidly after the war.
Founded in 1938, the National Ski Patrol also grew to meet the needs of growing ranks of recreational skiers. Re-activated, the 10th Mountain Division calls Fort Drum, New York home, and continues to deploy throughout the world, proudly flying their “Climb to Glory” guidon. The National Ski Patrol has grown to approximately 30,000 members and remains committed to providing “Service and Safety” for the skiing public. The modern link between our two organizations grows stronger every year.
