Gear Heads, Part 2: Episode 09
Ninety-Pound Rucksack
Illuminating a pivotal moment in both military and outdoor recreation history, this groundbreaking episode reveals the collaborative efforts of America’s leading mountaineers to equip the 10th Mountain Division for war. Featuring original research and exclusive interviews, the episode details the audacious climbs and expeditions used to test the mountain troops' gear—and that revolutionized the American outdoor recreation industry in the process. Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-episodes/gear-heads-part-2-episode-09/
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Gear Heads, Part 1: Episode 08
Ninety-Pound Rucksack
Episode 8: Gear Heads, Part 1 is the first segment of our two-part mini-series that examines the equipment, clothing and food developed, at great expense, for the 10th Mountain Division. Not only did this development make the soldiers’ ability to train for cold-weather and mountain offensives like Riva Ridge possible; post-war, it catalyzed the explosive growth of America’s nascent outdoor recreation industry as well. Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-episodes/gear-heads/
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Bonus Episode: The 10th, Then and Now
Ninety-Pound Rucksack
With this special bonus episode, the 10th Mountain Division’s commanding officer, Major General Greg Anderson, and its Command Sergeant Major Nema Mobar identify some of the lessons learned from the Division’s World War II inception and the relevance of those lessons to its efforts to rebuild its military mountaineering identity, culture and capacities. What has changed between the original division and its contemporary counterpart, and what remains the same? What has the current division learned from its own history and how is it using those lessons to guide its rebuilding process? And...
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Mountain Intelligence: Episode 07
Ninety-Pound Rucksack
Featuring original and previously unpublished research, Episode 7 reveals the untold story of H. Adams Carter, the Harvard Five, and their groundbreaking efforts to make the 10th Mountain Division the best-trained, best-fed, best-equipped mountain unit in the world. Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-episodes/mountain-intelligence-episode-07/ The Harvard Five—Carter, Bob Bates, Terry Moore, Charlie Houston and Bradford Washburn—were pioneers of American mountaineering during the 1930s. When World War II erupted, they harnessed their extensive...
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Ninety Pounds of Rucksack: Episode 06
Ninety-Pound Rucksack
Episode 6 follows the mountain troops to Mount Rainier National Park where, in the middle of February 1942, they began their ski training at one of the best places a soldier could ever learn to ski—a place called, appropriately enough, Paradise. Show notes and resources: the Unabridged version of Episode 6 features the following exclusive interviews: an interview with professional trainer and world-renowned alpinist on the training protocol put together for the mountain troops by The American Alpine Club an interview with, the first woman to ski the...
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Paradise: Episode 05
Ninety-Pound Rucksack
Episode 5 explores the pivotal period from late 1941 until early 1942 when the War Department activated the 87th Infantry Mountain Regiment, America’s very first test force for cold-weather and mountain warfare, and it prepared to train in Paradise Valley on the flanks of Mount Rainier. Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-episodes/ninety-pounds-of-rucksack-episode-05/ The episode includes interviews with McKay Jenkins, the author of , and Lance Blyth, the Command Historian of (NORAD) and (USNORTHCOM) and an Adjunct Professor of...
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The Ski Patrols: Episode 04
Ninety-Pound Rucksack
Episode 4 takes a deep dive into the US Army's experimental ski patrols of 1940-1941, as well as the events that led to the activation of the 1st Battalion (Reinforced), 87th Mountain Infantry at Ft. Lewis, Washington—the unit that would eventually become the 10th Mountain Division. The episode also explores John McCown's 1941 expedition to British Columbia's Coast Range, which he made before enlisting with the mountain troops, and features an interview with writer Will Holland, who has been working on a screenplay about McCown for over two decades. For show notes and additional...
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The Drumbeats of War: Episode 03
Ninety-Pound Rucksack
The Drumbeats of War: Episode 3 explores the 10th Mountain Division’s backstory in the lead-up to America’s entry into World War II. The episode includes abridged interviews with , the Anschutz Curator of Military History at History Colorado, on the history of Germany’s mountain troops, and , the former director of the , on the resistance the idea of an American mountain division faced from within the War Department. The episode also includes an overview of Minnie Dole’s Herculean efforts to establish a ski division, as well as the way world events—and America’s...
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The State of The Art Part 2: Episode 02 Part 2
Ninety-Pound Rucksack
Episode 2, Part 2 delivers a deep dive into the state of American and European climbing before the war, as well as how the rise of the Third Reich caused some of the best German and Austro-Hungarian mountaineers to emigrate, influencing climbing and skiing in America and contributing to 10th Mountain Division’s fighting skills. Show notes and resources: The episode, which is told through the experiences of John Andrew McCown II, includes interviews with Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard; Chris Jones, the author of Climbing in North America; and Howard Koch, a veteran of the 10th who...
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The State of the Art Part 1: Episode 02 Part 1
Ninety-Pound Rucksack
Episode 2, Part 1 provides a sweeping overview of the history of skiing in America as told through the experiences of one of the 10th Mountain Division’s greatest unsung heroes, John Andrew McCown II. Episode includes interview excerpts with Paul Petzoldt, the Teton climbing legend who would join the 10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale in 1942 and be put in charge of developing its mountain rescue system. Episode also includes an extended interview with Dr. E. John B. Allen, professor emeritus of history at New Hampshire’s Plymouth State University and the author of numerous books,...
info_outlineEpisode 6 follows the mountain troops to Mount Rainier National Park where, in the middle of February 1942, they began their ski training at one of the best places a soldier could ever learn to ski—a place called, appropriately enough, Paradise.
Show notes and resources: https://christianbeckwith.com/ninety-pound-rucksack-episodes/ninety-pounds-of-rucksack/
Available only to patrons, the Unabridged version of Episode 6 features the following exclusive interviews:
- Bonus Episode 1: an interview with professional trainer and world-renowned alpinist Steve House on the training protocol put together for the mountain troops by The American Alpine Club
- Bonus Episode 2: an interview with Kit DesLauriers, the first woman to ski the seven summits, on the regiment’s ski mountaineering training from the perspective of the modern ski mountaineer
- Bonus Episode 3: The original recordings of the songs the 87th's Regimental Glee Club used to sing at Paradise Lodge on Mount Rainier, including the one that gave Ninety-Pound Rucksack our title
To become a patron and unlock these and other perks, go to https://www.patreon.com/NinetyPoundRucksack