I started skiing in the Army in 1977. Even before I was released from active duty I was working part-time as a ski instructor at Monarch in ’78. I had never skied before in my life having grown up in Connecticut where the snow is icy and, in my opinion back then, dangerous. Soon after I entered the service and transfered to Fort Carson, Colorado, I volunteered for special duty to be a member of the Moutain Skills and Survival Training Committee. We taught summer and winter mountain survival skills, which of course included rock climbing in the summer and skiing in the winter. It was a wonderful time, it changed my life dramatically, and I’d love to tell you more about it sometime. The main reason for this post is that the MSSTC was actually a decendent of the 10th Mountain Division. The 10th was inactive at that time. There is an interesting series on NPR all about the 10th Mountain Division. See/hear it here http://media.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14594652 . The men from the 10th had a huge part of establishing the ski industry. From my own personal experience, it is easy for me to understand why these men would do what ever they could to continue skiing after their release from the military. Some of them are still skiing today in their 80’s and 90’s. That means some of them have been skiing for over 70 years!