COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. — As the morning sun crested the Tenmile Range, turning the freshly groomed slope of the Stifel Copper World Cup a brilliant white, a familiar, powerful legacy was set in motion.
From Nov. 27-30, soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) returned to the slopes of Colorado, the unit’s birthplace, strengthening a high-altitude partnership with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team. The mission, a modern echo of the divisional motto: "Climb to Glory."
The connection between the Army’s famed mountain warriors and elite ski racing is not new; it is the very foundation of the division. Formed in 1943 at Camp Hale, Colorado, the 10th Mountain Division (LI) was the first of its kind — a unit specifically trained to fight in the world’s most demanding mountain and winter conditions. Its ranks were filled with skilled mountaineers, climbers and, most famously, the era’s top skiers.
These citizen-Soldiers, recruited from ski patrols and winter sports clubs across America, would go on to fight decisive, high-altitude campaigns, most notably scaling the sheer cliffs of Riva Ridge and breaking the German Gothic Line in Italy during World War II.
Now, more than eighty years later, the division's commitment to snow mobility and mountain mastery was on display. Soldiers from the Mountain Training Group, MTG, were indispensable to the staging of the World Cup, performing the critical, high-speed task of course slipping.
Each morning before the world's best alpine racers pushed out of the start gate, 10th Mountain MTG Soldiers, experienced skiers all, executed "course slipping." This essential technique involves skiing the race line at speed to smooth out the large ridges and terrain features, creating the safest, fastest surface possible. It’s a job requiring skill, speed and precision. Their presence ensured the world-class athletes could perform at peak velocity, a quiet, professional service echoing the division’s history of enabling success in extreme conditions.
“We’ve been talking to the athletes about the shared aspects of our professions, how we are both training to be the best in our fields, the adversities we deal with and how we overcome them,” said Staff Sgt. James Lane of the Mountain Training Group.
The partnership extended beyond the racecourse and into the heart of the event. At the vendor village, 10th Mountain set up a bustling educational booth that drew hundreds of visitors daily. This was a critical opportunity for the modern division to connect with the very community that reveres its history.
The MTG showcased the core of the division’s specialized training, displaying essential snow mobility equipment such as modern Army skis and snowshoes, along with climbing gear, avalanche safety equipment, cold weather meals and specialized uniforms.
But the modern mountain warrior is also a high-tech warrior. Soldiers from the 3rd Mobile Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), provided a striking look at the division's ongoing modernization. They displayed newly fielded, cutting-edge reconnaissance and situational awareness tools, including the Ghost-X drone and the Skydio quadcopter drone. The combination of traditional mountain craft and advanced technology underscored that the 10th Mountain Division is not a relic of history but a constantly evolving, lethal force.
The response from the public was enthusiastic and revelatory. Many visitors expressed deep familiarity with the division’s WWII history — the ski troops, Camp Hale, Riva Ridge — and were proud of the division’s pioneering status. However, a consistent theme emerged: many people who knew the history did not know that 10th Mountain still actively trains Soldiers for mountain and winter operations.
The four days at Copper Mountain proved to be a powerful, visual corrective. By course slipping alongside Olympic-caliber athletes and showcasing the gear and skills required for modern mountain warfare, the division emphatically demonstrated that the legacy of the original ski troops is very much alive.
“I love engaging with the local community. Colorado has a very deep history with the 10th Mountain, and it really shows in the public and how excited they are about us being here and this partnership,” said Sgt. Rylan Kerr, one of the event participants also assigned to the Mountain Training Group.
“Climb to Glory” is not just a slogan on a patch; it is the enduring, specialized mission of the 10th Mountain Division (LI). Returning to the slopes of Colorado, where their story began, the division proved that from the snowy peaks of Italy to the high-speed course of a World Cup race, the Army’s mountain troops are still mastering the high ground, ready to answer the call of any extreme environment.
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