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home | updates | map | photos | alsappers | contact | about | ||||
Sparrevohn AFS 1953 to early 1980s* |
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~ PHOTOS and DOCUMENTS ~ (All Courtesy of The Online Air-Defense Radar Museum, www.radomes.org/museum/) (click on any image to expand it) |
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~ MAPS ~ |
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This large scale topo map shows where Indian Mountain is relative to Lime Village (a village of less then 100). Other than that, this remote radar station is not close to any town or road. (click on this map to expand it) |
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A zoomed in view of this 1957 topo map shows Base Camp next to the landing strip and Top Camp. It also shows the wildly switch-backing early access road. And the new access road to the south that was built after 13 people died on the original road. (click on this map to expand it) |
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Research Correspondence | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[Jim Harkins - 28 December 2004 emails]
Yeah we had a couple of morons try to ski and damn near froze to death [1966]. But they were "topped" by the crazies (such as yours truly) that used to slide from top to bottom camp (we used sleds to 'belly-flop' and when the sleds broke we 'body slid' our winter clothes) --- much to the anxiety of many. Hi Jim, Sparrevohn -- naturally! |
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[Gary Bashline - 16 May 2006 email]
Tim I was stationed at Sparrevohn between 1971 and 1972 at the lower
camp where I was a boiler plant operator. That year for New Years
four of us skied from the top camp to the bottom at mid night We
each had a road flare in each hand and we skied an 'S' pattern the whole
way down. Everyone at the bottom camp said it was a great New
Years show (By the way the weather was perfect and the moon was full or
near full which made the skiing great Thanks for the pictures it sure
brings back some great times.
Gary B |
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[Dick Estep - 7 July 2005 email]
I was stationed with the 719th during 1968 and 1969 as site
electrician. It was a rough year weather-wise. |
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[Ron Ingram - 16 January 2007 email]
Howdy – I was stationed on Sparrevohn (hilltop) from Sept 13th (Friday) 1963 to Sept 13th 1964. 36 of us were assigned to man and maintain the radar operations center. We didn’t have skis, bowling alley or any other luxury. We did have a fair library and chow was as good as could be expected – powdered milk and eggs, no fresh vegetables (rarely). Late winter 63-64 we received new mattresses – the empty boxes were the closest thing we had to ski boards. Several of us went outside and launched ourselves off of the west facing slope of the mountain – very steep and very high - several thousand feet. One of our maintenance lieutenants hit a pipe (also used as a dump) and cut his stomach severely. This put an end to that. During the summer we were allowed off of the mountain to visit a one room camp site down at a creek below the runway. Fishing was good – bears (grizzly) were plentiful. We had to travel in pairs and carry a weapon. One trip I was picked to cook – so I heated up some lard from a coffee can – cleaned the fish and fried them in what we soon learned was hand soap. So it was a hungry night. I was manning the scope when we first got word of JFK assassination – I was the first and we had to authenticate the info via top secret procedure. We then went on Operation East Wind – we got to man the perimeter of our mountain top with carbines without ammo. Long before we could have seen an enemy our radar would have seen them – or if on foot we would have seen them days before they could reach us. I was there during the Good Friday Quake – March 27 1964 – the ground started shaking like it never had before. Terrible. So much paranoia – us looking at them looking at us looking at them. Most memorable moment – about every three months we were visited by a circuit chaplain – Christmas of 63, Father DeAngelo visited our site – I worked the evening shift and attended midnight mass when relieved. Father DeAngelo spoke of the dangerous times that brought us to worship under an instrument of war – in order to preserve peace. I wish I could remember the words – the moment is still with me. When you use the word remote – remember – 1964 was a leap year – so I got to spend 366 days on a windswept frozen mountain top with 35 other men – tough – primitive and living on the edge. Rarely did we get a flight into our lower (support) base – even that didn’t ensure we could be provisioned – the tram broke and fell off in August ’63 right before I arrived so we depended on the switch back (13 deaths) or the long way via White Alice. This has brought back memories. Thanks. |
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[Gerald Hill - 01 June 2007 email]
I was at Sparrevohn from
2/54-1/55. At that time, skiiing was STRICTLY prohibited!!
We only had a S/Sgt medic on site so it was considered far
too dangerous to allow skiing. That was about the only
strictly enforced rule there at that time. We were out of
uniform, grew beards, etc., but NO skiing & the CO meant
it!!
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[Dennis Habbershaw - 07 July 2007 email]
Hi... I was stationed at Sparrevohn AFS from Feb. 1966 to
Feb. 1967. I was a heating Spec. stationed most of my hitch
at top camp but the remaining 3 or 4 months at bottom camp,
and enjoyed every second of it. The attached photos are some
pretty bad B&W's. I also have boxes and boxes of slides that
I haven't looked at in decades. I never skied before in my
life but me and a couple guys tried to ski down the road,
unsuccessfully, not enough snow and too many rocks.
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[Gary L. Blackwell - 03 December 2007 email] I can’t remember the exact dates that I was stationed at Sparrevohn, but it was probably around October or November 1965 to July 1966. I was the Supply Officer on the site at the time, but my tour was cut short because I was accepted into Pilot Training. My memories of Sparrevohn were good ones. In the spring and summer several of us fished down at fish camp on Thursday night and caught enough fish to feed both camps. We would come back early Friday morning and clean the fish for the cooks. My big adventure came around Memorial Day 1966. Major Harding, the Commander agreed to let six of us go on a trip about 20 miles north of top camp to visit one of the Indian villages (we had to take radios) close by and do some lake fishing. One of the officers from top camp cut his leg open when we were cutting down pines for a lean to. Major Spaulding drove a track master out to pick him up and take him back and they had a plane come in and take him back to Anchorage. We had a great fishing trip. I remember in one three hour span that we caught 60 Northern Pikes. We gutted them and hung them over a fire. One of the best fish cookouts ever. We gave the balance of the fish to the Indians. We spent the last couple of days in tents with wood burning stoves made out of 55 gallon drums. I found some ski’s in one of the building where supplies were stored. I did a little skiing up by the weather station above the air strip. The snow was so crusty that the ski’s wouldn’t cut into the snow. I can remember going into a drift head first and being buried clear to my ankles. I enjoyed my time there. The NCOs always let us into their club and we had some talented country musicians. Inter-site bowling competitions were fun. We had one USO show. I remember Doreen (one of the Mickey Mouse Club gals) used my room to change for the show. The perfume lasted for days. I am attaching a couple of shots of the air tram.
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[Lawrence Myers - 28 May 2008 email] I was attached to the 5040th Civil Eng. Sq.(Off Base Facilities or “OBF”) from Anchorage. We would fly to the various sites throughout the state and do repairs. Generally we would spend 90 days and move on depending on the jobs. I arrived at Sparevohn in 1966 and remember seeing all the wrecked aircraft lying in the creek next to the runway. The thing that caught my eye was the large sign painted on the end of the runway, on a rock face as I recall, it simply said “DEAD END”. After the 90 days TDY it was off to Indian Mtn. 708th with only 2 days at the fort (Elmendorf). Most of the guys doing time at the site were not happy to see us come and go, it was quite understandable under the circumstances. After a year of radar site travels, I changed my AFSC and was the guy sending those poor fellas remote ! I only spent enough time to get my 3 level and then was off again to Vietnam (31st CES, Tuy Hoa). I left Alaska in Nov. of ’67 about 10 degrees and landed in Vietnam just in time for tet and 114 degrees………… |
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[Dennis Habbershaw - 11 September 2008 email]
Hello from Dennis Habbershaw again. I posted several
photos on PhotoBucket from Sparrevohn, most are of the
guys I was Stationed with. Just an FYI, weather they are
posted or just linked to.
http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u180/idoweddings/Sparrevohn/ Enjoy Thanks again; Dennis Habbershaw |
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[Dwain Cox - 22 October 2008 email]
I was at Sparrevohn Top Camp for
13 months. Nov '73 to Jan 75. Ran the scope.
Went to Fish Camp every chance I got. Took a
load of photos, they are around here somewhere.
I remember making several "Bag Drags" attempting
to get in from Elmendorf. Those Guard pilots
took one look at the remains of a C-130 by the
landing strip and declared "Sparrovohn this is
MUCH 29, we are experiencing turbulence, we're
RTB". Couldn't get a supply plane in for almost
3 weeks, had to eat the emergency supply of hot
dog wieners, black eggs and lumpy milk for a
while. Everyone was an expert at pool and ping
pong. My roomy was Rex from Hawaii, he would
put on his fat-boy pants, mukluks, parka and
pile cap, go outside, lay down in the snow and
watch the northern lights. It was just like
"MASH" but in Alaska.
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[Paul J. Pickard - 28 July 2009 email]
I was stationed at
Sparrevohn in 52 & 53 and there was no such
thing as skis at the time. In fact it was a
joke because I later was transferred to the
705 AC&W at Naknek in the Islands which was
flat as a pancake and they had lots of skis.
I was wire chief in charge of communications
and all they had were field phones which
Col. Kelley hated, so when we put in a
switch board and desk phones he thought that
was great. I brought the wire from the
dome by tying the wire to my waist and
sliding down the valley on my Parka to the
base. I would like to hear from others
who were there.
Thanks,
My E-Mail is Topchief@earthlink.net
CMsgt Paul
J.Pickard
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[Bob from Anchorage - 11 August 2009 email]
Just another
story.
I too was
part of the OBF team From Elmendorf and
arrived at Sparrevohn in late March of
1976. I joined a few others already
there at the bottom camp. First day
there I was wrangled into using 2 new
sleds that had arrived earlier but
nobody had ever used. These where the
metal and wooden slat models that were
almost big enough for two people to ride
provided they did not have artic gear on
which we did. I'm well over 6' tall.
We got a
ride up to top camp and split up.
Two guys rode their sled down the tram
line while another guy (forgot his
name) and I rode down the road.
The road had
fresh snow on it. When you got going
fast it would kick up and into the
"tunnel" or snorkel of the parka
completely blocking your view and
stinging your eyes. We would bounce off
the ice berm or rock face on the side of
the road and crash, laughing all the
way.
We switched
back and forth "driving" as we really
did not have control of this rocket on
short skies. We came to a steep section
of the road. Well, steeper than the
rest of the steep road anyway. It was
my new buddies turn to drive and I got
on the back. We were flying! Blind of
course but really making good time,
gathering more and more speed as we
went.
I happened
to get a view of what was up ahead and
knew we would not make the turn at this
speed and we would go over the ice berm
that had a drop off of about a thousand
feet down into a steep ravine.
I grabbed
the hood of the his parka and pushed off
the sled taking him with me. We hit the
ground tumbling and sliding a ways
before I saw the sled bounce off the
berm and go around the corner and
straight into the bumper of a truck
coming up the hill.
Oops.
Got to meet
the station commander after that. I
also got to meet him a few more times
but those are other stories. Something
about a stolen snow cat and a toilet.
The other
two guys were not so lucky. The
hillside is very rocky, not good for
skiing or sledding. They blew apart the
sled almost immediately and got a lot of
bruises in the process. They had a long
painful walk down the mountain. They
were lucky nothing got broken. They
said it was great until they hit the
first rock which was just about the
first thing they did!
Thanks for
the memory
Bob
Anchorage,
Alaska
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[Jerry Hill - 31 August 2009 email]
My name is Jerry Hill (Lt. Hill when
stationed at Sparrevohn in the
mid-60s). I was a Weapons Controller
stationed at
Sparrevohn for a year, July 1964 to July
1965. I remember 45-M ("Four-Five
Mike"), the C-46 that brought us there
and took us home, and brought the mail,
food, and goodies for the Officer Club
and NCO Club bars. Then there was 16-C
(Sixteen Charlie), the Super Connie that
brought in our fuel and various
necessities. We lost two guys to
exposure that year on those little trips
to off the west side of the mountain -
sometimes as far as Lake 606 and Lime
Village, some 20 miles to the west.
I can't remember many names any more,
but I worked for Capt. Julian Bland and
had a Staff Sgt. on my crew, Sgt. Nix,
who had spent some time in a prisoner of
war camp in North Korea. I believe he
had been shot down in his F-86, but the
details are hazy at this point. He must
have been RIFed or something, which I
found very odd, since to me he was a
hero. I also remember Lt. Bill Dawe,
and Lt. Bob Conlin (who later went to
pilot school and wound up flying B-52s
in Vietnam - then became a pilot for
Delta). Then there was Mike Matheny, an
Airman on my crew, with whom I developed
an "off duty" friendship, as it had to
be in the military. Another nice guy,
of whom we had our share.
There was a tribe of Native Americans
(we called them "Indians", of course),
who lived over by Lime Hills. They were
some of the homeliest people I had ever
seen (eye of the beholder, of course)
and the friendliest. And they really
loved us, since we made sure that when
they brought their dog sleds to the
site, they returned with all the canned
evaporated milk and other staples they
could muster, as gifts from us. They
would bring their sleds over from
wherever they were. They were nomadic,
occupying Hungry, Lime Village and Stony
River, depending on what time of year it
was, so interestingly, those three
villages are all populated by the same
people. Their Huskies (and mixes of dog
and wolf, whatever that is called) would
drag the sleds over the tundra to the
site, snow or no snow.
There was a ridge leading about a half
mile north of the Radar site to a place
we called "Opportunity", maybe three or
four hundred feet lower than us. This
was the only "safe" way down the west
side of the mountain. Not many were
hardy enough to make the trip west to
Lake 606 and Lime Hills, but that was
the way to go, if you entertained such a
notion.
I went on one of those trips to the
"Bobby" Tribe near Lime Hills. I went
over with a couple NCOs I worked with -
really nice guys - and met the Chief,
Ignatti Bobby (I don't know about the
spelling, but that is how it sounded).
They fed us some Caribou steak, but I
can't remember what we had with it;
probably potatoes. It was REALLY good.
They made sure we had a tent to sleep
in. I can't remember the exact month,
or even the year, but it was probably
May '65, so not terribly warm. Our tent
was furnished with some most fragrant
pine boughs and a 55 gallon drum cut in
half, with an attached stove pipe, to
furnish heat.
You could smell the place (Lime Village)
for miles on the hike over. They used
fish traps to trap Northern Pike (huge
30 inches plus) and dry them on racks
constructed for that purpose. They
used them for dog food, which was a
relief, since my fear was that the foul
smelling fish would be offered to us to
eat and we would have to eat some, to
not offend them. Thankfully my fears
were unfounded and we were served some
delightfully tasty meals. I caught a
36" Pike while I was there, which would
have been the largest Pike ever caught
in Michigan, my home state.
To paraphrase Dickens; it was the best
of times; and it was the worst of
times. I made good friends on that
mountain top, but it was awful being
away from the family for a year.
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[Larry W. Maletta - 23 November 2009 email]
The first group of Radar Operators
landed in Sparrevohn in December
1951 I was in the second group
arrived in May 1952 and left May
1953. Before going up to the
mountain we help build Kitty. What a
mess. Mixing the cement for Kitty we
add several empty cans of beer.
While I was there it only worked a
couple of times. I went up the
mountain in August of 1952 and came
down to base camp in April of 1953
to replace the barber. While up the
mountain the CP-5 worked off and on.
It was not protected for the
weather. Thanksgiving of 1952 we
had the worst storm while I was
there. Winds over 100 MPH the
temperature dropped to 65 below
zero. I was up with my radar crew
for about 20 hrs dressed in heavy
flight suits. Those sleeping in
sleeping bags (no sheets in those
days) on their cots were not able to
get up. The pot stoves had been
blown out. The latrine had a cut off
55 gallon drum with fuel oil to kill
the smell. In was in a small room
which had a urinal with a pipe
extend out the side over the edge of
the mountain. We could use it during
the winter so we built a snow igloo
to take a leak outside. Too wash up
most of us had a half lard can to
melt snow in during the winter.
During the winter we could not use
the drinking water that was locked
in melt trash cans. In March of
1953 a S/Sgt from Korea was assigned
to the mountain top. He said he
would rather be in Korea getting
shot at than this Hell hole.
Sparrevohn was not fun in those
days, even though we got combat pay
for being stationed there. If you
would like some early pictures let
me know.
Former A/1C Larry W. Maletta |
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[Robert Trotter - 17 December 2009 email]
I
was stationed at Sparrevohn as a
Weather Observer from Oct 1975
to Oct 1976. I did sled down
from Top Camp to Bottom Camp on
a night with a full moon. There
was a group of six or seven of
us that used plastic delta
shaped sleds that we got from
MWR. I remember this one really
crazy guy that took off ahead of
the rest of us. With the snow
berms and curves on the road,
there were a lot of shadows.
Well we all took off after this
guy and about half way down, I
hit this bump in the road in the
shadows followed by the other
guys. It turned out the bump
turned out to be the first guy
that took off. Fortunately his
was just a little bruised,
surprising when you consider how
many sleds ran him over.
I
also remember Thanksgiving day
that there were a group of us,
including officers, sitting
around thinking of something to
do. I made a suggestion that we
go toobin down the back side of
weather hill. Everyone thought
this was a great idea, so we
went to transportation and got
the inner tubes. I was the first
one to go down the hill. From
the initial scouting of the hill
I hadn't been able to see beyond
a certain part of the slope.
Well let me tell you, once you
got past the point that I could
see, the slope became about a
sixty degree drop! I was sitting
on the tube holding onto a rope
tied around it. when I hit the
steep slope and started going
really fast (faster than the
road from TC to BC) a ways down
I hit a bump and went airborne
and the hat I had on (Arctic
issue) had a snap chin strap.
When I landed I hit so hard that
my hat unsnapped and flew off my
head, but I didn't fall off my
tube. On subsequent trips down
the hill I laid across the tube.
Other than nearly breaking my
neck on one trip, that was a
Thanksgiving I will never
forget. Rob Trotter
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[Ken Howell - 30 December 2009 email]
Hey! I was stationed at
Sparrevohn in ‘71 – ’72. I
was at Top Camp, a
“scope-dope”.. It was an
eventful stay as I was hit
with appendicitis during my
time there. The site medic
diagnosed me and called for
a medivac. Never so happy to
see an airplane as I was to
see that C-130 out of
Elemendorf…. Don’t know
who you guys were, but a
really big “Thanks” from me.
Doctors said I had about 2
to 3 hours before my
appendix would have burst…
Thanks also to the doctor
who gave me 21 days
convalescent leave after he
found out I was remote…
J |
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[Willard Lester - 07 December 2018 email] Just dropping a note about the year I was At Sparrevohn. I was stationed there during 59-60. I served as a heavy equipment operator. Basically I plowed the “hill” so we could get food trucks, etc. to the radar site. Of course I would keep the runway open as well, though we only had rare official traffic on it. We did get some bush pilots that landed. I do remember during winter, on occasion, chaining a six-by to my dozer and towing him up as I plowed the “ hill”! It’s a long time ago but I believe one of the guys at dome told me one day, the temperature was 76 below! The memories of it are a lot more fun than the actuality! Regards, W. Butch Lester U.S.A.F. 1957-1960 |
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Do you have further information, stories or pictures that you would like to contribute about this ski area? |
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