The 10th Mountain Division Memorial - Stowe, VT
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Laval K-9
N 44° 29.449 W 072° 44.255
18T E 679886 N 4928878
A memorial to The Ski Trooper division 1941-1946 in Stowe, Vermont.
Waymark Code: WMQV59
Location: Vermont, United States
Date Posted: 03/29/2016
Views: 9
The 10th Mountain Division gathered fame - and gratitude - for its heroic role in World War II. The hand-selected troops of experienced mountaineers and skiers trained in the mountains of Colorado in the early 1940s. The original rationale was that fully trained and equipped mountain troops might be needed against the Nazis in Norway or the Alps or, heaven forbid, to forestall invasion of the U.S. through the Canadian north.
Their moment came in the opening days of 1945, when they were smuggled into the frigid heights of the Italian Appenines. Allied forces were stymied by heavily fortified German firepower on the mountain peaks. The Nazis controlled the passes and, consequently, all transportation routes.
In a swift and deadly assault, the 10th took Riva Ridge and, in one of the bloodiest sequences of the war, forced the Germans into retreat, pushing them relentlessly to the Austrian border.
Soldiers of the 10th also had a huge impact when they returned home. Veterans of the division went to work building ski lifts, offering ski lessons and sowing the seeds of the sport in the U.S.
They were what started the ski industry as we know it today.
The memorial was donated by Chuck and Jann Perkins and is placed on the front lawn of their property located at 3681 Mountain Road (route 108), so people driving by can enjoy both the memorial and the nice figurative public sculpture just besides it.
Date of Dedication: 11/01/2003
Property Permission: Private
Access instructions: Visitors are welcome but please visit during the day.
Access times: From: 9:00 AM To: 7:00 PM
Website for Waymark: [Web Link]
Location of waymark:
3681 Mountain Road
Stowe, VT USA
Commemoration: The Ski Patrol 1941-1946
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Visit Instructions:
Include a photo containing, at minimum, the monument and your GPSr. We'd prefer a photo containing YOU at the monument, but we understand that some people are camera-shy.
Also include a bit about your visit here.