Vail Veterans Honor 10th Mountain Division Legacy Before Ski Season Opens

Aspen —The snow hasn’t quite settled on the peaks above Vail, but the cold is biting. It’s the kind of crisp, high-altitude air that makes your lungs feel like they’re being scrubbed clean. Down below, in the quiet streets of the valley, the hum of the ski season’s approach is already audible. But before the lifts spin up and the crowds flood in, there is a different kind of noise. It’s the sound of boots on pavement. The rustle of flags. The low, steady thump of a drumline.

This is the part everyone skips past. We talk about the Epic Military Pass, yes. We note that Vail Mountain opens Friday, with crews working around the clock against warm, dry weather. But the real story isn’t the discount. It’s the blood in the soil.

Stand there long enough and you see it. The 10th Mountain Division didn’t just train here; they bled here. Starting in 1943, ski troopers drilled at Camp Hale, just up the road. They went on to fight the Nazis in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. And they came back. They came back to found the very ski areas we now patronize.

Peter Seibert, co-founder of Vail, was wounded in combat during that Italian campaign. His name is etched into the mountain’s identity, but his scars are the ones that matter. The runs we carve down — Riva Ridge, for instance — are named after famous Alpine battles from that same war. Every turn you take is a memorial.

The Vail Daily reported on the upcoming ceremonies, highlighting the depth of this connection. At Freedom Park in Edwards, the Veterans Memorial Flag Plaza will host a 4 p.m. gathering on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Coby Cosper, Deputy Chief of the Avon Police Department and a retired U.S. Navy veteran, will speak. The Battle Mountain High School drumline and choir, under Maddy Hanson’s direction, will provide the soundtrack.

But the most poignant moment belongs to the Roach family. Cathy and Kevin Roach will present a flag flown in Operation Epic Fury. It belonged to their son, Lt. Col. Taylor Roach, a Battle Mountain High School Class of 2004 graduate. He carried the weight of the nation’s defense. Now, his parents carry the weight of the memory.

And that matters because it anchors us. Veterans Day began as Armistice Day in 1919, marking the hour of surrender that ended the Great War. It evolved into a global tribute as fascism rose and fell, twice over. Here, on the Western Slope, that evolution is physical. It’s the terrain itself.

Local veterans have been visiting schools recently, explaining why democracy requires defense. The VFW post notes this effort to bridge generations. It’s a simple act: a soldier talks to a student. A history becomes a present.

As the week draws to a close, the mountain stands ready. The snow is coming. The lifts are checked. The flags are folded. In the parking lot at Vail, a veteran adjusts her coat, checking the time. She doesn’t look at the price of the pass. She looks at the peak. The wind picks up, snapping the flagpole taut. For a second, the whole valley holds its breath. Then, the first lift spins.