Kickin' It Old School

[randoskier]

@TallGrass ""You sound like a flat-lander." ... "Don't tell me about hiking." What's with the hostility/defensiveness? I don't see how that's conducive to a group, be it people/troops hiking mountains or conversing on a forum. Athleticism is not tied to ZIP/postal codes."

^Sorry I meant "snowbird", that is what Estes locals call Mid-western "experts" about Longs Peak- btw you described the descent route (Keyhole) in your rant. That is if one is not rapping off.

BTW- " Per his own posting, GS ceased being active back in January" <Good riddance, a bit of Google-scientist/engineer with no sense of humor or humility. Dr. Google I presume?

[wooley12]

I was prime red meat for Nam as a 18 yo old but never served because my WWII Ranger dad who saw hell serving kept finding schools that would take my dumb ass until I won the draft lottery. Lots of confusion here about WWII Allied ski troops. Bottom line relative to this Forum, no one ever used skis on a mission. 10th may have used skis to scout terrain in Italy to attack Mt Belvedere. And My father ran 12 mile with a 50lb pack in under 4 hours in Ranger training. I know this because I never saw him run even one step for the rest of his life.

[TallGrass]

Hard as nails will be canadian soldiers when they have completed their training at Petawawa camp
Date 3/1/1941
...
Source: https://digitalarchive.tpl.ca/objects/3 ... have-compl

That was what 1950s or 50s?

Our house in Allenspark, Colorado was at over 9,000ft. RMNP was literally our backyard ...

Longs Peak https://caltopo.com/m/V9L4

btw you described the descent route (Keyhole) in your rant. That is if one is not rapping off.

[TallGrass]

my WWII Ranger dad ... Lots of confusion here about WWII Allied ski troops. Bottom line relative to this Forum, no one ever used skis on a mission. 10th may have used skis to scout terrain in Italy to attack Mt Belvedere. And My father ran 12 mile with a 50lb pack in under 4 hours in Ranger training. I know this because I never saw him run even one step for the rest of his life.

It would be interesting to know what his or the 10th's day-by-day training program was like, as 12mile w 50# <4hr isn't the starting point, though I'm sure some stuff is lost to history, and some garbled together like doing X one time, Y another, Z yet another gets reported as doing XYZ in one go (not unlike the game of telephone). Skis are great for getting to and from, and being able to share a track (in line) to move more efficiently as a group. Like any tool ...

Anyhow, I'm looking to swap the worn nubs of baskets to a ring type for powder. While small is nice for packing and storage, it's also nice for it not to sink down 4+ feet into the snow!

[wooley12]

I've not seen a log of day to day training schedules in all of my research. I do know that it was physically intense and constant. But it wasn't all shooting and running and hand to hand practice. Pop brought this photo back from the war. On the back it says "Short arm inspection Sicily 1945.

[phoenix]

"Climb to Conquer: The Untold Story of World War II's 10th Mountain Division Ski Troops
by Peter Shelton"

The 10th were heroes to me since I first heard about them as a child. The book "jumped out at me" while browsing the bookstore in Telluride. I found it an excellent read for those interested.Wooley, that is truly awesome to know your dad was there.

And so, with all true appreciation for the subject and the original post, may I suggest someone starting a new 10th Mtn. thread, and letting this one pick up where it left off?

[wooley12]

A thread on the 10th would be cool. A thread on modern military ski gear would also fit here IMO.

10th Factoid. Col Darby founded and led the Rangers. After 2 whole battalions of Rangers were wiped out at Cisterna, Darby was later put in command of the 10th on 4/24/45. He led the 10th until on May 5th when he came out of a house after battle planning meeting not wearing his helmet and shrapnel from a mortar shell killed him. Germany surrendered on May 7th.

In keeping with the OP's first video, I'd like to see a mountain TR with someone wearing 1942 gear doing stem christi and kick turns on the steeps.

[randoskier]

A thread on the 10th would be cool. A thread on modern military ski gear would also fit here IMO.

10th Factoid. Col Darby founded and led the Rangers. After 2 whole battalions of Rangers were wiped out at Cisterna, Darby was later put in command of the 10th on 4/24/45. He led the 10th until on May 5th when he came out of a house after battle planning meeting not wearing his helmet and shrapnel from a mortar shell killed him. Germany surrendered on May 7th.

In keeping with the OP's first video, I'd like to see a mountain TR with someone wearing 1942 gear doing stem christi and kick turns on the steeps.

Then you might be interested in the Norwegian TV program- "In the Footsteps of Jan Balsrud". Polar explorer and former Norwegian Naval Special Forces Commando Rune Gjeldnes (The only person to ski across the North Pole, the South Pole and Greenland without resupply) retraces the incredible journey of Jan Balsrud fleeing his nazi pursuers after a commando operation on an island off of the Norwegian mainland went bad, leaving him as the sole survivor. He crossed the sea, the hyper-dangerous Lyngen Alps where he was hit by an avalanche, amputated his own toes due to frostbite, skied/bluffed his way right through a German checkpoint, spent two weeks under a big boulder with very little water and almost no food, while heading for "neutral" Sweden. (see the Book- We Die Alone- David Howarth and the recent Norwegian Movie The 12th Man). There are four other episodes in this series where Gjeldnes follows routes of ww2 commando operations. BTW Gjeldness is the explorer from Hell...he resides in Hell, Norway.
https://gjeldnes.com/in-the-footstep-of-jan-baalsrud/

[randoskier]

The 12th Man

[TallGrass]

And so, with all true appreciation for the subject and the original post, may I suggest someone starting a new 10th Mtn. thread, and letting this one pick up where it left off?

Done.
https://telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5816

@phoenix @wooley12 @lowangle al @Chisana Feel free to edit and move respective posts, with links as you like.

Neither olive drab nor gun powder is a requisite for "Kickin' It Old School."