Despite what I’d always assumed, this facility is not located here primarily because the 6,000 foot altitude provides some aerobic training advantage (though it certainly does help some), but rather because the site became available when it was donated by the US government and is the former site of Ent Air Force Base and the former headquarters of the North American Defense Command (NORAD). Side trivia: Ent AFB opened in 1951 but did not have any runways. Aircraft used nearby Peterson AFB (aka Colorado Springs Airport). In 1963 NORAD was moved to nearby Cheyenne Mountain but then on July 28, 2006 it was again re-located, for purposes of efficiency, this time to Peterson AFB. The Cheyenne Mountain complex is being left on “warm standby” until such time as the protection of the mountain is again required. NORAD officials no longer feel there is a threat of an intercontinental nuclear attack which could disrupt NORAD's operations. (Got it? There is a quiz in a bit.)
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