Ski Jump Snow Job

IN 1994, COPPER Peak, a ski-flying hill located in a remote area of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, hosted its last ski-jumping competition-or so it thought.

- Natalie Dowzicky

At the time, the site was $300,000 in debt and needed considerable maintenance to address erosion. There's been no ski flying at Copper Peak for 30 years, but for $25 adults can take an "adventure ride" up the hill to see the 360degree view. Michigan lawmakers apparently think they can bring the site back to its glory days-in March 2022, they allocated $20 million to revitalize the park in order to "attract international ski competitions and provide sports-related tourism." Ski flying is like ski jumping but at longer distances. The largest ski-jumping hills used for Olympic competitions are typically between 120 meters and 140 meters; Copper Peak sits at 180 meters. With this unexpected cash infusion, Copper Peak wants to become the only ski-flying hill in the world with surfaces that can be used year-round.