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Name
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Boardman, Donald M.
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Rank, Company, Regiment
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PFC HQ 86th INF
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Birth date/Death Date
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Vermont Location
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Weston
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Awards
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Bronze Star
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Competitive Skiing
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Importance of Vermont
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"Skiing and the love I had acquired for Vermont got me to locate some property and build my "ski cabin" which was done over many weekends and vacations. I worked in Connecticut, but I lived in Vermont…"
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First skiing experience
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"At age, probably 9 or 10, going straight down the steepest hill at the local country club where I lived in Connecticut with nothing but toe straps and if we made it, taking off the skis and walking to the top of the hill again. At 14 and a junior in high school, I had progressed to some laminated skis with steel edges, Dovre cable bindings and LL Bean ski boots and along with 3 or 4 friends would head for South Mountain where we would pack down trails through the woods and practice our turns - "skill" we were learning from the printed page only. At 17 and a junior in high school I got to my first real ski area --the G-bar-S Ranch, Great Barrington, Mass. (known now as Butternut Basin) where 3 rope tows were required to get us to the top. Mostly trails rather than open slopes -- one went till they fell and then got up and continued down. After that it was getting to any area I could that had lifts."
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College
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What was your experience in the 10th like?
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"The 10th taught us how to survive under the worst of conditions. Except for live ammunition, nothing we experienced in combat compared to what we went through in training."
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Why did you join the 10th?
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"Fascinated by storied of the Russo-Finnish War and the part played by men on skis. Skiing was my favorite sport and I thought that was the part of the Army I should be."
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Ski Patrol
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Ski School
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Ski Industry
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Vermont Ski Area Connection
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Role of Skiing in your Life
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Other information
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Photograph information
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Information submitted by
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Donald Boardman
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