Ninety-Pound Rucksack

Author: Christian Beckwith

Ninety-Pound Rucksack is a podcast about the US Army's legendary 10th Mountain Division, a gritty unit of World War II climbers and skiers who trained for more than two years in the Colorado Rockies (often wearing ninety-pound "rucksacks," or backpacks) to fight the Axis powers in extreme cold and mountainous terrain. Not only did the Division's insertion into the war help end Germany's occupation of Italy; post-war, its veterans founded and developed ski areas across America, started companies like NOLS and Nike and launched the fields of avalanche science and wilderness rescue. Equal parts real-time research, intimate conversation and revelatory journalism, Ninety-Pound Rucksack explores not only the stories that made the unit famous, but also the transformative power of the mountains to forge a collective identity among the mountain troopsand to ignite a passion for the outdoors that reshaped American society in the process.
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Language: en

Genres: Documentary, History, Society & Culture

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Camp Hale, Part 4: Episode 14
Episode 14
Monday, 3 November, 2025

Featuring all-original research, this revelatory episode reveals how David Brower helped revolutionize American climbing from within the ranks of the 10th Mountain Division. The story also examines the extraordinary new recruits who made up the 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment and the parallel development of the 10th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop and the Mountain Training Group. Highlights include: • David Brower's Rock Climbing chapter and its influence on military and civilian climbing • The influx of the remarkable new soldiers of the 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment • The evolution of the 10th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop and Mountain Training Group • How the Camp Hale experiment helped shape postwar American outdoor culture Resources & Bonus Content: christianbeckwith.com Sponsors: CiloGear: Premium alpine backpacks – cilogear.com (Code: rucksack) DPS Skis: Designing the world's most advanced skis - dpsskis.com Snake River Brewing: Wyoming's oldest and America's most award-winning small craft brewery – snakeriverbrewing.com Support Ninety-Pound Rucksack on Patreon for early access, bonus interviews, and illustrated transcripts. Special thanks to our newest patrons: Jerry Laverty, Kenneth Brooks, Carter Hatton, Mark Wharton, Eric Corbett, Nairb Lenz, Sydney Palmer, Dan Burgette, Dave Rhodes, Andrew Wilhelm, Neil Gallensky, Paul Kuenn, Chad Horne and Justin Colquhoun.