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Eklutna Glacier
Military Training Site
1950's to Mid 1970's |
| Name of Skiing
Area: |
Eklutna Glacier Military Training Site |
| Location: |
Eklutna Glacier (and Whiteout Glacier) in the Western
Chugach Mountains east of Anchorage |
| Type of Area: |
A
large glaciated area accessed by roads from the Glenn Highway to
Eklutna Lake and then 13 miles along and past the lake to the
glacier terminus |
| Dates of
Operation: |
1950's to mid 1970's |
| Elevation: |
Camping area at the end of
the Eklutna Lake Road: ~900'; Whiteout Pass: ~5200' |
| Facilities: |
Military campground at the end of the Eklutna Lake Road.
Wooden and cable suspension bridge across the Eklutna River for
access to the glacier |
| History: |
Military training for arctic
warfare took place here in the 1950's and 1970's. Little
at present is know by ALSAP about the history of these military
training operations. A caption on a picture below
indicates that in September 1963 Company A, 1st Batallion, 60th
Infantry performed ski training here. People still
occasionally ski in this area, but military training no longer
occurs here. For
history of the 23d Infantry in Alaska, Gary Carter maintains a
blog on this military history at
www.23d-infantry.blogspot.com/
If anyone has stories or
pictures to share about military arctic warfare and ski training
at the Eklutna Glacier, please contact us so the military skiing
history of this area can be preserved and shared. Thank
you! |
| Sources of
Information: |
Tim Kelley / photo acquired
from Dave Ludwig of San Antonio, TX (see below); Fred Trimble;
Gary Carter; Edwin Cooper; Kermit Davis; Don Lynch; William
Webster; David Leon |
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~
PHOTOS ~
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1963 Photo of 60th Infantry
Troops Skiing Across Whiteout Glacier towards Whiteout Pass and
the Eklutna Glacier
[Photo Credit: SP-5 Henry J. Hamilton] |
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Tim Kelley note: I'm
guessing this shot was taken near Whiteout Pass looking south
across Whiteout Glacier. Possibly the peak in the center
is Hut Peak. If anyone believes differently ... please let
me know. Thanks. |
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Zoomed in view of
the 1963 Hamilton picture, click on this picture to expand it
even more |
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24864
FORT RICHARDSON, ALASKA
Arctic Infantrymen master the rugged weather
and terrain in the "Land of the Midnight Sun",
adapting modern Army concepts of mobility to
the far north. Overwhite clad combat troops
of Co A, 1st Bn, 60th Inf, 172 Info DO (Mech),
perfect tactical skiing techniques during a
training exercise on a snowfield more than a
mile high in the Chugach Mts. Base at Fort
Richardson, near Anchorage, Alaska, these
tough Infantrymen undergo constant training
geared to their mission as the Key to
Landpower on America's Northern boundary.
12 September 1963
Photo by SP-5 Henry J Hamilton |
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Above: Text on
backside of the Hamilton picture |
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1961 picture of a soldier, Thomas J.
Brown, in "firing position" on the Eklutna Glacier. Photo
by Capt. Charles Beresford, Ft. Richardson. |
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Text on the backside of the
Beresford picture. |
Seattle Times article pasted on the
backside of the Beresford picture. |
| |
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Military
glacier training, Eklutna Glacier, July 19, 1961.
[Photo credit: US Army Signal Corps, Alaska State
Library] |
Rappelling from
HU-1A
helicopter,
Eklutna
Glacier,
1963.
[Photo
credit: US Army Signal Corps, Alaska State Library] |
Military
ski
patrol
exercises on
Eklutna
Glacier,
Sept.
4,
1962.
[Photo
credit: US Army Signal Corps, Alaska State Library] |
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Army
mountain training,
Eklutna
River,
July
9,
1961.
[Photo
credit: US Army Signal Corps, Alaska State Library] |
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Army
constructing
bridge,
Eklutna
River,
July
7,
1961.
[Photo
credit: US Army Signal Corps, Alaska State Library] |
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1961 Photo Courtesy of Don
Lynch |
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This topo map shows the East Branch of the
Eklutna Glacier where military training operations took place. The
arrow points to the campground which is now Eklutna (Native) Inc. land.
The X marks the estimated location of the Hamilton picture above.
Next to the X there still exists a military reservation area that allows
military helicopter landings. Land surrounding the military
reservation is now Chugach State Park. Here is the
survey document for the
military landing area. |
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|
This satellite map shows the location of the
Eklutna Glacier in the Western Chugach Mountains. |
 |
| Research
Correspondence |
[Tim Kelley - notes]
In the past I, and others, have found remnants of military crampons on
the medial moraine of the Eklutna Glacier near its terminus. Fred
Trimble mentioned that old iron pitons could be found in the early
1970's in cracks in the rocks
near where the campground existed. Troops would practice setting
pitons in this area. |
[Gary Carter - 03 March 2009 email]
I was stationed with the 23d Infantry at Ft
Rich Jan 61 to April 63, and am creating a blog of the 23ds history at
that time. There are and will be several photos of the Eklutna
Mountain/Glacier training there.
|
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[Edwin Cooper - 18 June 2011 email]
Greetings: Ed Cooper here. In June 1977 I was in the third
squad, 1st Platoon of the 562nd Combat Engineer Company
(Arctic Light) assigned to Ft. Richardson, AK. Our tent
camp was very near the face of the glacier at the end of a
valley road. We did our week of training on the Eklutna
Glacier that included learning to walk on the ice, learning
how to fall and then catch our selves with our ice axes,
they had us roped us together in groups of about four, and
rapelling into a crevasse and then walking out on the rope.
We built a steel cable bridge across the glacier stream and
then threw our platoon leader into the 33 degree water,
that's an engineer tradition.
'Nother story
from my week of glacier training. We were in a valley with large
rock formations on both sides of our camp. A group of our
soldiers decided to climb up one of the scree and talus slopes,
to get up to the rock face. We had observed some Dall Sheep up
above the scree slopes and had been watching them through
binoculars. I chose to stay at camp and watch. Later that
morning we could see our group ascending the scree slope and
getting closer to the rock face. We could see the sheep above
them, I was watching off and on through the ‘nocs. There came a
rumble and a rock slide was observed coming down on the
ascending soldiers. We saw guys dodging this way and that.
Several stayed down and didn’t get up. Two guys were hit, one
broke an arm and the other was a head injury. It was said that
the sheep had caused the rock slide. A MEDIVAC chopper was
called in from Ft. Richardson. Cloud cover was below the
surrounding peaks so the pilot had to use instruments to find
the valley and then let down into it to evacuate the injured.
And that was pretty much the end of our glacier training.
Ed Cooper
in
Shelbyville, Kentucky |
|
[Tim Kelley - 29 June 2013 note]
Recently I mountain biked to the end of the Eklutna Lake
Road. I remembered what Fred Trimble had said (see above) about
practice pitons being placed in cracks in the rocks in this area.
I looked around a bit and found one of the old iron pitons. Here
is a picture of it:
 |
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[William Webster - 10 August 2018 email]
I was
researching some info to write a short Bio for my children.
Lake Eklutna and Mt Training popped up I had the privilege
of starting mountain and glacier training at Eklutna in the
late fifties. Can't recall the exact date, but summer of 58
may be close. Have attached a couple of pics of my training
cadre. The group picture with the officer teaching rope
management. He was then Lt Dick Kattar. I am observing the
instruction. Then 1st Lt William Webster. Pictures were
taken for the local newspaper in Anchorage. Col.
United States Army (Ret)
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Do
you have further information, stories or pictures that you would like to
contribute about
arctic warfare and military ski training on the Eklutna Glacier? |
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