{"id":24349,"date":"2019-05-27T09:54:45","date_gmt":"2019-05-27T15:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=366470"},"modified":"2019-05-27T09:54:45","modified_gmt":"2019-05-27T15:54:45","slug":"efforts-to-preserve-camp-hale-important-to-veterans-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/efforts-to-preserve-camp-hale-important-to-veterans-public\/","title":{"rendered":"Efforts to preserve Camp Hale \u2018important\u2019 to veterans, public"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.43125\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-366470-685\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/19630390005-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/19630390005-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy Poschman family | Sgt. Harry Poschman was an avid skier and early member of the 10th Mountain Division.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Sgt. Harry Poschman was an avid skier and early member of the 10th Mountain Division.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy Poschman family<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/19630390005-4.jpg\" alt=\"Sgt. Harry Poschman was an avid skier and early member of the 10th Mountain Division.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/19630390005-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/19630390005-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy Poschman family | Sgt. Harry Poschman was an avid skier and early member of the 10th Mountain Division.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Sgt. Harry Poschman was an avid skier and early member of the 10th Mountain Division.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy Poschman family<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/19630390005-2.jpg\" alt=\"Sgt. Harry Poschman was an avid skier and early member of the 10th Mountain Division.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/19630390005-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/19630390005.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Aspen Historical Society | Tenth Mountain Division soldiers at Camp Hale.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Tenth Mountain Division soldiers at Camp Hale.<\/strong><br \/>Aspen Historical Society<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/19630390005.jpg\" alt=\"Tenth Mountain Division soldiers at Camp Hale.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/efforts-to-preserve-camp-hale-important-to-veterans-public\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/efforts-to-preserve-camp-hale-important-to-veterans-public\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>When Garett Reppenhagen returned from Iraq, the need to process the trauma of war led him into Colorado\u2019s backcountry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy natural instinct was to get outdoors,\u201d he said Friday. \u201cThe outdoors became this massive healing thing for me. Without it, I don\u2019t think I would have survived.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the special healing places Reppenhagen discovered was Camp Hale, the garrison built in a large meadow between Leadville and Minturn for the burgeoning 10th Mountain Division in the early 1940s. The high alpine beauty \u2014 it\u2019s located below Tennessee Pass at an altitude of 9,200 feet \u2014 coupled with the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.pagesuite.com\/html5\/reader\/production\/default.aspx?pubname=&amp;edid=1f9a1354-69ef-4672-b126-171c18f6daad\">rich military history<\/a>&nbsp;makes it especially meaningful to veterans, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI ran all over that place,\u201d said Reppenhagen, a native of Green Mountain Falls near Colorado Springs. \u201cI (can) kind of sit in reflection and I see where (I am) in the lineage of warfare coming out of this country. More than any other place, Camp Hale has that connection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reppenhagen \u2014 who comes from a military family with connections to World War II and Vietnam \u2014 soon realized that other veterans could benefit from his outdoor experience. He began taking other vets to Camp Hale, the 10th Mountain Division Huts and other areas in Colorado, and was impressed with the results.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw challenges compel veterans to overcome mental health and physical injuries,\u201d he said. \u201cI saw some kind of healing. It was just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reppenhagen and others \u2014 including Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet and Pitkin County Commissioner Greg Poschman \u2014 want to ensure Camp Hale is protected in perpetuity through a new federal land designation called a National Historic Landscape. The Camp Hale Legacy Act, which includes the new designation, is part of Bennet\u2019s Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act \u2014 introduced with Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Boulder) \u2014 which includes protections for 400,000 total acres, including Camp Hale\u2019s approximately 28,000 acres.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to preserve (Camp Hale),\u201d said Reppenhagen, now the Rocky Mountain director for Vet Voice Foundation. \u201cI\u2019ve talked to a lot of 10th Mountain Division vets \u2026 and we\u2019re losing more every day. To have that ground protected \u2026 is important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The National Historic Landscape designation is less restrictive than a national wilderness. It would mean the mountain bike, snowmobile and other recreational activities could continue on Camp Hale lands, though the acreage would be protected from resource extraction and development.<\/p>\n<p>The Camp Hale land to be protected is already designated national forest, said Will Roush, executive director of the Carbondale-based Wilderness Workshop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNowhere is private land or state land being converted,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s basically Congress saying, \u2018This is special and manage it this way.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other parts of the CORE Act would create 73,000 new acres of national wilderness in Summit and Eagle counties and in the San Juans, as well as protect 200,000 acres of the Thompson Divide from mineral extraction, Roush said.<\/p>\n<p>The CORE Act has a broad range of supporters, while opposition has come from groups opposed to some of the Act\u2019s constraints including the Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition, the Colorado Snowmobile Association and the Trail Preservation Alliance. Garfield County commissioners have come out against the CORE Act because of the mineral extraction limits in the Thompson Divide, though they have&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/commissioners-explain-what-it-would-take-to-support-core-act\/\">waffled a bit lately<\/a>&nbsp;on the issue.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/colorado-outdoor-recreation-economy-core-act-gets-day-in-congress-supporters-and-opponents-testify-about-acts-merits\/\">held the first hearing<\/a>on the CORE Act in early April, when Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Cortez) was asked to preside over the hearing despite not being a member of the committee. Tipton acknowledged hearing a lot of support for the act among his constituents, though he said opposition voices need to be heard, as well.<\/p>\n<p>Roush said he feels good about the bill\u2019s chances for passing because of the broad coalition of support it has.<\/p>\n<p>Poschman, chair of the Pitkin Board of County Commissioners and an Aspen native, is a big supporter of the CORE Act, and, in particular, the Camp Hale portion of it. His father, Sgt. Harry Poschman, was an avid skier and early member of the 10th Mountain Division, who arrived at Camp Hale soon after it was established in 1942.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis job was to teach the generals on down to privates how to ski,\u201d Poschman said. \u201cHe loved it. It was like a ski club. They got to live in separate barracks. They got to go to Denver on weekends. It was a plum job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019d also come over to Aspen on occasion, stay at the Hotel Jerome and ski Aspen Mountain, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Sgt. Poschman shipped out in 1943 and participated in \u201chorrendous, epic and terrifying\u201d battles in Italy, particularly the 1945 fight for Mount Belvedere in the Apennine Mountains, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said, \u2018If I survive this, then I just want to ski,\u2019\u201d Poschman said.<\/p>\n<p>As it turned out \u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u2014 like other members of the 10th Mountain Division \u2014 he did, and he did.<\/p>\n<p>Harry Poschman came to Aspen in 1947, signed on as a laborer and helped build the original Lift 1A and clear ski trails on Aspen Mountain\u2019s west side, his son said.<\/p>\n<p>He later met his wife \u2014 another ski bum \u2014 in Alta, Utah, and together they moved to Aspen in 1950, where he lived for most of the rest of his life.<\/p>\n<p>In participating in the growing outdoor recreation business, Harry Poschman took his modest place in a 10th Mountain Division legacy that includes the first executive director of the Sierra Club, the founder of the National Outdoor Leadership School and men who started several American ski areas including Arapahoe Basin and Vail. Famed Aspen architect Fritz Benedict, also a 10th Mountain veteran, was instrumental in founding the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association.<\/p>\n<p>Harry Poschman, who died 12 years ago, didn\u2019t start talking about his wartime experiences until the mid-1980s, Greg Poschman said, but clearly retained a soft spot for Camp Hale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis best ski buddies were the mountain training guys he trained with at Camp Hale,\u201d Poschman said. \u201cI think he\u2019d be all over (the effort to preserve it).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reppenhagen said Harry Poschman was like many 10th Mountain veterans, who returned home and, consciously or not, processed the trauma of war through the great outdoors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s no surprise that veterans wanted to be outdoors,\u201d he said, \u201cespecially winter recreation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So not only would the preservation of Camp Hale \u00ad\u2014 which housed as many as 14,000 men during its heyday \u2014 help veterans heal and connect with the past, it also would endow it as a public memorial, Reppenhagen said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt allows others to understand the sacrifice military veterans have made for this country,\u201d he said. \u201cWe should provide other spaces for veterans to get outside and heal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"mailto:jauslander@aspentimes.com\">jauslander@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/efforts-to-preserve-camp-hale-important-to-veterans-public\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sgt. Harry Poschman was an avid skier and early member of the 10th Mountain Division.Courtesy Poschman family Sgt. Harry Poschman was an avid skier and early member of the 10th Mountain Division.Courtesy Poschman family Tenth Mountain Division soldiers at Camp Hale.Aspen Historical Society Show CaptionsHide Captions When Garett Reppenhagen returned from Iraq, the need to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24349","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 06:33:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24349\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}