Will Michigan’s Copper Peak host FIS ski jumping competitions again?

By Published On: July 14th, 2015Comments Off on Will Michigan’s Copper Peak host FIS ski jumping competitions again?

The Copper Peak ski flying hill, located near Ironwood, Mich., in the northeast of the U.S., is the only ski flying hill outside of Europe and the world’s smallest ski flying hill homol0gated by the FIS.

But the facility has not been used since 1994, at least not for ski jumping. This hill not only looks breathtaking with its exposed 73-meter high tower, it also offers an amazing panoramic 360-degree view.

Thanks to the local club, headed by president Charles Supercynski, the facility is still in good condition over 20 years after the last competition was held there. The vantage point at Copper Peak has become a tourist attraction. Getting up the unstable (but safe) 73-meter high inrun tower is a real challenge, but the reward is an unrestricted view over the forests of Michigan and Wisconsin as well as Lake Superior.

Built in 1969, Copper Peak was inaugurated with the first competitions in 1970. International competitions took place there until 1994. The hill record is held by the two Austrians, Matthias Wallner and Werner Schuster (currently head coach of the German ski jumping team), with 158 meters. Efforts to reactivate the facility have been made for some time now, recently fueled by the private initiative of local industrialist Bob Jacquart.

Now FIS Race Director Walter Hofer and the chairman of the FIS sub committee for jumping hills, Hans-Martin Renn, accepted the invitation of the national ski association and the organizers of Ironwood to make an inspection of the facility. Clint Jones, team director of the U.S. ski jumping team, and Signe Jordet, executive director of USA Nordic, were also present at this on-site meeting. The strategies and schedules that could lead to a return to the international competition calendar were discussed as well. This means that the foundation was laid to prepare a detailed financing plan.

More concrete plans will be presented at the upcoming FIS fall meetings. There’s definitely a huge interest by both bordering states, Wisconsin and Michigan, to use the facility not only for sports competitions, but also for cultural and tourism events in the future.

Release courtesy of the FIS

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