The words “Purgatory saved my life” have been echoed by four friends of mine, who will tell you that were it not for the opportunities to work and ski at Purgatory, they might not be alive. Why?
“I would have drank myself to death, the pain, (memories of combat), was so bad.”
“I shared living in a remote miner’s cabin for a year before I found out the other guy was a combat Vietnam veteran. That’s how deeply we stuffed it.”
Wife of skiing vet: “Make sure you tell them that Purgatory saved his life.”
“I needed the adrenaline rush of skiing over cliffs, skiing as fast as I could.”
This photo was taken by the helicopter’s pilot, Doug Farfel, son of the late Cliff Farfel or “Angel,” the legendary mountain binding mechanic. When Doug was between tours in Vietnam, he got the bumper stickers that he would paste onto his Light Observation Helicopter in 1970 during his second tour there. Doug had three forced landings due to his aircraft being shot. In the photo one can see rockets in the pods, an M-60 machine gun and white phosphorous grenades.
George Usinowicz served in Vietnam as a U.S. Army 1st lieutenant Combat Engineer platoon leader.
