Sitting atop Chippewa Hill about 15 miles north of Ironwood, the Copper Peak Ski Jump can be seen from miles away.
This time of year, it’s a popular spot to view the fall colors.
Visitors can take a ski lift up to the base of the jump, ride an elevator up 18-stories, and the very brave can take the stairs another eight stories to the very top of the ski jump.
It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s one people will tell you is well worth it.
Looking back on Copper Peak
Long before it was a tourist attraction, Copper Peak hosted ski flying events.
Between 1970 and 1994, skiers would ascend to the top of the jump, strap on their skis, and speed down the ramp at 70 miles per hour until they launched into the air trying to stay airborne for as long as possible.
And yes, that’s ski flying, not jumping.
“People always ask me, What's the difference between ski flying and ski jumping?” said Bob Jacquart, President of Copper Peak.
He says the main differences are the size of the hills and restrictions.
Nowadays, any hill size taller than 185 meters is considered sky flying, below that, it’s ski jumping.
“Copper Peak was built and was a ski flying hill. Now, it's the largest ski jumping hill in the world, which means we're the largest hill in the world that has absolutely no restrictions,” said Jacquart.
It’s not just hill size and restrictions that have changed since skiers last jumped Copper Peak.
In 1994 during the last ski flying event, skiers launched with their legs together and skis parallel in front of them.
“A parent of a 15-year-old boy got tired of buying new skis for him, and this 15-year-old boy was shorter than dad, and she said, ‘I'm not going to buy three pairs of skis until you get 18. I'm gonna buy skis that would fit your dad, because you're probably gonna grow as tall as your dad.’ Well, the skis were too big for the 15-year-old, and so when he kept his skis in front of him parallel and put him up, the wind kept blowing him into his face. So, he spread his skis into a V and changed the sport,” Jacquart share the story.
Getting it up current standards
Because of these changes and others, Copper Peak isn’t up to standards of the International Ski Federation or FIS right now.
Work will be starting next year after the spring thaw to bring it up to standard.
“All of the lines, they call it the profile, are all changed significantly. The landing is softer, and then when you blow Copper Peak up into such size, those changes are very expensive,” said Jacquart.
Copper Peak received $20 million from the State of Michigan through the American Rescue Plan Act. That will cover phase one of construction to get Copper Peak up to standards.
Phase one will include completely redoing the landing hill. The bottom of the landing needs to be raised 18 feet. The top needs to be dropped about 20 inches.
“Twenty inches into some of the hardest rock on Earth. There's got to be a blasting process. And so, it's tilting it down by two degrees, making it just a little softer. Then after that, the dirt is in the right profile to match the FIS standards. Then a five-inch slab of concrete gets poured on a 38-degree angle in Ironwood, Michigan to not crack. It's actually a pretty amazing construction feat,” said Jacquart.
Copper Peak still needs to raise $18 million more dollar to cover phase two which will focus on upgrading the jump itself.
It’s a lot of time and money being put into this project, but one Jacquart is confident will be worth it.
This plan has been in the works for more than ten years. In 2013, FIS contacted Copper Peak to see what it would take to get it functional again.
“Ski jumping is the most watched winter sport in Europe right now in winter. 3.2 billion people cumulatively watched ski jumping last year, but it's not popular in the United States. Their vision was: let's get it opened up again in the United States. Let's get it popular,” said Jacquart.
It's not just ski jumping competitions in Winter. Copper Peak will be open for summer practice and competitions.
Bringing the world to the U.P.
All of which Jacquart and officials from Ironwood like Community Development Director Tom Bergman hope will mean big things for the region.
“It's an incredible opportunity for our community in the sense that, I mean, it's something that really puts us on the world stage. It puts Michigan on the world stage, and it puts the Western U.P. and Ironwood on the world stage,” said Bergman. “It's just such a unique asset for a community like ours, there's nothing else like it in North America.”
Jacquart believes Copper Peak will attract visitors from Europe that will come for training and competitions.
“They're going to come over for a three day meet and just hang around and be part of our culture and our economy,” said Jacquart.
Jacquart also looks forward to what Copper Peak could mean for breaking records, especially among women.
Men have been competing in ski jumping in the Olympics since the winter games started in 1928. Women weren’t allowed until 2014.
“Copper Peak is going to be the biggest hill in the world that anybody can practice on. The world record is on a hill bigger than Copper Peak, but the biggest hill that they can practice breaking the world record is going to be Copper Peak,” said Jacquart. “They believe that if women get enough time to practice, which will be here on Copper Peak, we could be part of the women breaking the world record, not the women's world record, the world record.”
Jacquart says if they can secure the $18 million in funding needed for phase two by next spring, then, optimistically, work could be completed by November of 2026.
“This is a bunch of cool Copper Peak volunteers who have worked their butts off to make this happen on time that they've stretched from work and gotten away from this. It’s pretty cool to be part of this,” said Jacquart.