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10th
Mountain Division
The Baltimore Ski Club was honored to have Mr. Hassell Vass,
who served with the legendary WWII alpine fighting force, the 10th
Mountain Division, and Ms. Abbie Kealy, a 10th Mountain descendent
and the Writer, Producer and Director of the “The Last Ridge”,
an inspirational documentary for PBS who spoke at our January 2nd
General meeting.
Members and guests were moved while listening to Hassell recount
his experiences of serving with the 10th Mountain Division from
his training at Camp Hale in Colorado to how he was evacuated from
the mountains via the tramway system when he was injured during
the battle at Riva Ridge. Hassell said “we used to say combat
was easier than training”. He told us how they lived outdoors
for weeks at a time, in sub-zero weather, at very high altitudes.
There were no tanks, trucks or jeeps—just the men, their skis
and whatever they could carry. They knew winter and mountains and
the invincible German Army were a deadly combination.
To help us better understand how the 10th turned the tide for the
Allies in Italy and revolutionized winter mountain warfare abroad,
we watched the first 20 minutes of “The Last Ridge”,
which was filmed in Colorado, Italy, Afghanistan and Slovenia, with
insights from over one hundred 10th Mountain veterans [including
Hassell Vass] and soldiers on patrol in Afghanistan.
During World War II, the 10th Mountain Division gave new meaning
to the phrase “uphill battle”. With the Germans entrenched
in Italy’s heavily fortified mountaintops, the Allied advance
towards Germany was blocked. Other Allied divisions had tried and
failed to capture this critical high ground, losing 15,000 soldiers
in the process. Finally, Army brass called up the 10th and the rest
is history.
After the war, many of the veterans of the 10th Mountain Division
came home to leave their mark of influence on the ski industry.
There is not a ski resort in American that wasn’t touched
in some way by the 10th. Many of the prominent ski areas in the
United States were started or managed by 10th vets, including Vail,
Aspen, and Ski Cooper. One vet founded NIKE, another vet was Senator
Bob Dole who ran for president. A dozen made the Olympic ski team
and another coached that team.
Today Hassell and many other 10th vets and Abbie go every month
to visit the current 10th Mountain Division soldiers recuperating
at Walter Reed Army Hospital.
For more information about The Last Ridge, visit www.lastridge.com
or contact Abbie
Kealy, (443) 570-9482 AbbieKealy@comcast.net
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