Making Up For Lost Climb Wwii Vet Finally Gets To Scale Mountain That Illness Kept Him From In War

Nelson Bennett was in an Army hospital when American ski troops scaled an Italian mountain under the veil of darkness and overtook a vital German stronghold.

But two weeks ago, during a 50th anniversary re-enactment of Riva Ridge, Bennett was the first up the 2,300-foot-tall rock.

He scampered past other geriatric climbers as well as active-duty American soldiers helping commemorate the event near Lizzano, Belvedere, Italy.

The “boys” in the current 10th Mountain Division were amazed at his two-hour climbs.

“I don’t feel 80,” the Yakima man says days after his Italy trip. “It’s just what my birth certificate says.”

Bennett’s own fountain of youth is cold white powder. A lifelong ski bum and member of the National Ski Hall of Fame, he still glides down championship trails.

With a dab of hair coloring, he looks ageless. He fathered his third and final child at age 66.

“The major (Gene Smith) said I was an inspiration to his boys,” Bennett says of his Feb. 17, 18 and 19 hikes up and down the Appenine Mountains.

Bennett didn’t make the trek a half century ago. He was hospitalized in February 1945 with a perforated ulcer.

“Some people have holes in their stomach from the outside in. Mine was from the inside out. It was probably the coffee,” he says.

On Feb. 18, 1945, 10,000 soldiers in the 10th Mountain Division climbed nearly half a mile up steep and slippery Riva Ridge.

Stunned German gunners who had held the mountain pass for months quickly surrendered during the night-time assault. The Allies had a clear path to the Po Valley in Northern Italy and to ultimate victory.

One thousand Americans died, though, and 4,000 were wounded.

The 10th Mountain Division is legendary, and not just from its Riva Ridge exploits. Many of its World War II members came home and built careers around skiing.

A technical delegate - a kind of referee - for the International Ski Federation, Bennett was in the Spanish mountains last month for an Alpine event that was canceled for lack of snow.

A dozen comrades from the 10th invited him to Italy for the anniversary shindig. Lizzano townsfolk were waiting, champagne glasses and red carpet ready, Bennett was told.

He jumped at the chance. He was tired of hearing how the climb had been “one helluva scramble.”

Since he had missed the wartime hike, Bennett planned to hold back and let other veterans reach the summit first.

But the competitive juices in the octogenarian adrenaline junkie soon kicked in, he says.

“Once I get moving, I don’t like to stop,” Bennett says. “It was a real ego trip for me because I had stayed in shape and wanted to see what the other guys could do.”

Not much, unfortunately.

A few seventysomething comrades climbed Riva Ridge once, but had to ride by vehicle back down. Several of the crew took Jeeps up and down.

Bennett not only bounded up the mountain on re-enactment day, but he helped active-duty members of the 10th scout the trail a day earlier. He threw in a third climb for good measure.

Bennett was born Dec. 6, 1914, on a farm outside Lancaster, N.H., where he learned to navigate snowy hills on crude boards.

He graduated with a forestry degree from the University of New Hampshire and was a member of the ski team.

In 1940, Bennett moved West for good. Before and after the war, he ran the ski patrol at Sun Valley, Idaho.

In 1960, he took over as general manager of the White Pass ski area, 50 miles west of Yakima. He ran the mountain for 25 years and helped develop Olympic medalists Phil and Steve Mahre.

“The twins were damn good,” says Bennett, who hasn’t been able to shake his strong New England accent despite a 55-year separation from his birthplace.

“It’s pretty difficult to get rid of,” he says.

Since the 1950s, Bennett has been an official with the U.S. Ski Association and International Ski Federation. He still inspects and certifies American alpine race courses and officiates at events throughout the world.

He has been involved as a manager or official in five Olympiads.

“Find something you like and stick to it,” he says.

Bennett travels one-third of each year and spends the rest of the time at his “pad” in Yakima. His basement looks like a shrine - skiing honors line the walls, old photos hang out of numerous leather scrapbooks.

Tucked away in one such binder full of memories are black-and-white shots of Bennett skiing with Lucille Ball, Clark Gable and Gary Cooper.

Twice divorced, Bennett has a son and two daughters, including a 14-year-old who has taken up snowboarding of all things, he says.

He supplements his retirement income by testifying for ski resorts after they’re sued by injured skiers.

A lifelong Republican, Bennett believes in self-empowerment and taking responsibility.

“Any time you put on skis, you risk injury,” he says. “It’s a dangerous sport. People should know that before they do it.”