New Year Round Ski Jump For Michigan
The long established Copper Peak ski jump in the US state of Michigan’s Upper Peninsular region is to be redeveloped into a spectacular year-round ski flying hill with an all-season surface, the only one of its kind in the world.
The existing Copper Peak, constructed in 1969, was originally a ski jumping hill and has a 469-foot long ramp, but for the past three decades the 26 story structure has been more of a visitor attraction and ,location for extreme events. From the top there are great views of forest over to Lake Superior. It has the world’s 6th largest ski jump, at 180 metres, but last operated as a jump in 1994 and is now run by a non-profit group.
The new ski-flying hill will involve what’s being billed as “the largest man made structure in the world’ and is set to re-open for ski-flying in October 2024. It has a price tag of $24m of which $20m is reported to have already been raised. $20m has come from Michigan’s state government awarded Copper Peak $20 million towards the project.
Ski flying is similar to ski jumping but jumpers go further thanks to specially designed curved ramps and a longer hill. Ski jumpers around the world have announced their support for the project with one telling local media “I believe this is the biggest opportunity in our sport besides the Olympics. This will be the world’s biggest ski jumping training hill in the world and open all year.”
