True Films 3.0 - Kevin Kelly

Fire on the Mountain
In the pre-dawn of WWII, an ambitious outdoorsman convinces President
Roosevelt to fund an elite army corps who are expert in mountain
skills – to compliment US water and amphibious forces. They round up
all the ski bums, mountain climbers and wilderness die-hards in America,
long before such activities were mainstream. Among those who respond
to this call is Sierra Club founder-to-be David Brower. The soldiers camp
and train in Colorado, near the then unknown Aspen. They develop the
snowmobile, the snow cat, early versions of modern camping, and modern
ski techniques. Then off to the Alps in Italy where the US mountain
unit defeats Nazi troops in a key mountain battle. Then they return to the
US to invent the ski industry, Nike shoes, and run most of the ski resorts
in the West. What holds all this together is the intense camaraderie of
these outdoor fanatics. As one old soldier said, “This wasn’t an Army
unit. It was a fraternity.”
By George Gage and
Beth Gage
1996, 72 min.
Available from Amazon
Rent from Netflix
The first Snowcat was developed by this
group (below). Maneuvers with snow
shoes and guns (left).
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