ITHACA, N.Y. – John Botto got a challenging job flying medical transport helicopters immediately after getting out of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division last year. He wasn’t one of the veterans he worries about the most – the men and women suddenly without a purpose after the highly organized military life.

But after 10 years in the Army and four combat tours overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, he still had some things to work through. Last spring, on a backcountry skiing trip in Colorado with fellow Houghton High School graduate Ben Brown and a few others, the healing took a big step forward.

“I kind of broke down about halfway through,” he remembers. “I had a moment. … It was a really therapeutic experience for me.”

“Then on the trip back I had the idea to bring other guys up to go though this, to get them talking,” he said. “Especially guys who have PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).”

Not long after, Botto and a few brothers-in-arms founded 10th Mountain Healing to do exactly that. They got started registering the group as a 501c3 nonprofit and began organizing the group’s first backcountry trip slated for this April.

They’ll be bringing other veterans to the storied 10th Mountain Hut system near the 10th’s historic Camp Hale base near Vail, Colorado, where soldiers originally trained for mountain duty in Italy during World War II.

There will be plenty of laid-back skiing and snowboarding, Botto said, and time to talk through war experiences. But participants will also be expected to train seriously for the six-day trip, which will require about 20 miles of trekking between huts over three days at high altitude.

That training is as much a part of the therapy as the time in the mountains, he said, giving those veterans who might be at loose ends something to focus on.

“We’ll work all day like in the military. … We’re trying to give guys a goal, and a network afterwards of guys they were with,” Botto said. “When you leave the military, you go from being always busy, with lots of calls from home and people micromanaging your life, to then you’ve got nothing.”

Botto said 10th Mountain Healing hopes to bring 10 to 12 veterans on the first trip, free of charge, along with support staff including guides and a psychologist. Male and female veterans from any military branch are welcome, and the group also hopes to bring veterans’ families when that might be beneficial.

10th Mountain Healing’s Jesse Edwards is another helicopter pilot who flew with Botto in Afghanistan. Leaving the military and friends who’ve shared tough experiences overseas can leave a “void of camaraderie,” he said.

“When you’re deployed, you’re all there stuck together, and it sucks, but at least you’re all together,” he said. “In day-to-day life, you don’t have that. Some guys can cope with it, and some don’t know how.”

Botto said 10th Mountain Healing only has one trip planned this winter – reservations are tight at the 10th Mountain Huts – but they hope to expand that to three or four trips next year and grow more from there. Hut rental is cheap, and he hopes ski shops will donate the necessary gear, but it will still cost about $1,000 per veteran to fly them to Colorado and cover other expenses.

The group hosted its first fundraiser last week in New York – they showed a ski movie – and donations are also being accepted through the group’s web site, 10thmtnhealing.org. That’s also the best place for interested veterans or family members to make contact.

Edwards is confident getting veterans outdoors and pushing themselves again will be well worth the investment.

“Being outside in the mountains sort of recharges the soul,” he said. “It’s a good feeling.”