Vail Symposium explores CIA’s Tibetan resistance program at Camp Hale

Camp Hale has long been a local treasure, both in terms of natural beauty and as the training ground for the 10th Mountain Division, the Army’s first and only mountain infantry division. In 2022, President Joe Biden established the 53,804-acre Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument, once more bringing Camp Hale into the news.

But there are still stories to uncover in this vast expanse. On June 7 and 9, join the Vail Symposium to learn about Camp Hale’s history as a training camp for Tibetan freedom fighters.

From 1958 to 1964, the CIA operated a secret training facility at Camp Hale to support Tibetan freedom fighters. Referred to as “The Ranch” by the CIA and nicknamed “Dumra” (“the garden”) by the Tibetan soldiers, the CIA trained Tibetan members of the Chushi Gangdrung army, a citizens’ army formed to defend the Dalai Lama, Tibet and Buddhism against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

Until very recently, the exact location of the training facility had been lost to history. Anthropologist and scholar of Tibet, Dr. Carole McGranahan, together with retired CIA Agent Bruce Walker, who trained the Tibetan fighters at Camp Hale, with assistance from Vail Valley local Tracy Walters, has located Dumra. This chapter of history is ready to be explored.

“We are excited to share this unknown part of Colorado history,” McGranahan said. “Colorado plays an unexpected, but important part in the Tibetan fight for freedom. The connection to the CIA kept this operation secret for decades, but now the time has come to tell the story.”

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Joining Dr. McGranahan and Bruce Walker are Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam. The filmmakers have been researching this story for many years, using archival material from Tenzing’s father Lhamo Tsering, a leader in the Tibetan resistance and a liaison between the Tibetans and the CIA.  

On Friday, June 7 at 6 p.m. at Eagle River Presbyterian Church in Avon, Sarin and Sonam will be featuring clips from their documentary “The Shadow Circus: The CIA in Tibet.” With McGranahan and Walker, the pair will share the stories and images of the CIA’s Tibetan training camp in Camp Hale.  

On Sunday, June 9 at noon, members of the Tibetan community and international delegates will join McGranahan, Walker, Sarin and Sonam at a special commemorative celebration at Camp Hale. This free gathering will be a memorial celebration as well as a Tibetan picnic luncheon.