Copper Peak

For the mountain in Antarctica, see Copper Peak (Antarctica).

Copper Peak is a ski flying hill designed by Lauren Larsen and located near Ironwood, Michigan, United States. It was built in 1969 and inaugurated one year later.^[1][2] The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973^[3] and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971.^[2] The site is currently used as a summer tourist attraction.^[4][5]

Copper Peak
Constructor(s)	Lauren Larsen
Location	Ironwood, Michigan, USA
Operator	Gogebic Range Ski Club
Opened	28 February 1970, Reopening October 2024
Renovated	2023
Expanded	1980, 1988, 2023
Closed	1994
Size
K–point	145 m
Hill size	469 ft
Longest jump (unofficial / fall)	159 metres (522 ft) Werner Schuster (25 February 1989)
Hill record	158 m (518 ft) Matthias Wallner Werner Schuster (22, 23 January 1994)

History

Copper mining

In 1845, the Chippewa Copper Mining Company began mining work here, sinking a tunnel into the granite rock. They produced no copper and eventually closed. Around 1900 the Old Peak Company made further explorations, with no production. The 1845 tunnel is still visible.^[2]

1969: Built

It all started in 1968 when a delegation from Gogebic Range Ski Club from Ironwood, Michigan came to visit civil/structural engineer Lauren Larsen in Duluth, Minnesota.

1970: Inaugurated

Built in 1970, Copper Peak remains the only ski flying facility in the Western Hemisphere. In 1994 a K-point on Copper Peak was at 145 meters (476 ft), allowing jumps up to 158 meters (518 ft). There have been no flights at Copper Peak since 1994. An exhibition tournament was announced for 2014 but was canceled.^[6]

Between 1970 and 1994 there were ten competitions sanctioned by FIS and additional two international events were held.^[7] The hill record is 158 meters (518 ft), set by Matthias Wallner and Werner Schuster (both Austria) on 22 and 23 January 1994, respectively. The hill was expanded in the 1980s, but the profile is still outdated compared to current standards.^[8]

Renovation

The Copper Peak, Inc., has established the Copper Peak Organizing Committee for the purposes of raising funds to renovate the ski flying facility for FIS competition.^[4] Some improvements to the facilities were made in 2012.^[6]

On 14 July 2015 International Ski Federation announced "Copper Peak shall be reactivated" after an inspection of the facility by FIS Race Director Walter Hofer and Hans-Martin Renn who is the chairman of the FIS subcommittee for ski jumping hills. In October 2015, FIS awarded Copper Peak a Grand Prix Summer Series finale event held in September 2017 and a Summer Continental Cup and a Nordic Combined summer event in 2018.^[9] These events were not held due to the modifications unable to be completed.

On 30 March 2022, the State of Michigan granted Copper Peak $20 Million for the re-introduction of international ski jumping events at Copper Peak. As of May 2025, reconstruction of the landing hill has begun and is the construction of the concrete ski jump landing hill and outrun is scheduled to be complete in December 2026.^[10] Barr Engineering Co. of Duluth and Minneapolis, Minnesota, designed the landing hill renovations and the construction work is being performed by Engineering & Construction Innovations Inc., and Dykon Blasting. Currently, Copper Peak is open on Sundays during the summer and fall to see the construction progress.^[11]

Events

Date	Competition	Winner	Second	Third
28 February – 1 March 1970	KOP	Jiří Raška	Zbyněk Hubač	Rudolf Doubek
3–4 February 1973	KOP	Jerry Martin	Tom Dargay	Minoru Wakasa
2–3 February 1974	KOP	Ron Steele	Jerry Martin	Petter Kongsli
7–9 February 1975	KOP	Jerry Martin	Jim Maki	Shunichi Akimoto
29 February 1976	KOP	Hans-Georg Aschenbach	Hans Millonig	Bernd Eckstein
2–5 March 1978	KOP	Henry Glaß	Jochen Danneberg	Claus Tuchscherer
13 February 1981	WC	Alois Lipburger	Andreas Felder	John Broman
14 February 1981	WC	Alois Lipburger	Andreas Felder	Fritz Koch
15 February 1981	WC	strong wind
25 February 1989	INT	Franz Wiegele	Werner Schuster	Wolfgang Margreiter
3–4 March 1990	INT	Stanislav Vasko	Stefan Horngacher	Franz Wiegele
22 January 1994	COC	Terje Nyhus	Werner Schuster	Matthias Wallner
23 January 1994	COC	Matthias Wallner	Werner Schuster	Frode Håre

Hill records

Date		Length
27 February 1970	Greg Swor	78 m (255 ft)
1 March 1970	Zbyněk Hubač	134 m (440 ft)
3–4 February 1973	Akitsugu Konno	136 m (446 ft)
3–4 February 1973	Jerry Martin	137 m (449 ft)
3–4 February 1973	Akitsugu Konno	138 m (453 ft)
2–3 February 1974	Tom Dargay	144 m (472 ft)
2–3 February 1974	Jerry Martin	144 m (472 ft)
7–9 February 1975	Jerry Martin	147 m (482 ft)
29 February 1976	Hans-Georg Aschenbach	154 m (505 ft)
13 February 1981	Alois Lipburger	154 m (505 ft)
3–4 February 1990	Stanislav Vasko	156 m (512 ft)
22 January 1994	Mathias Wallner	158 m (518 ft)
23 January 1994	Werner Schuster	158 m (518 ft)

• W. Schuster crashed at 159 m (522 ft) at event on 25 February 1989.^[12]

Chippewa Hill

The peak, also known as Chippewa Hill, is a felsite hill about three hundred feet in height. The hill slopes steeply to the north and south, and there is a steep bluff on the east side of the hill. The Copper Peak ski-slide and tower dominates the peak of the hill. The tower sits on concrete footings based in solid rock. An 1845 tunnel and several copper excavation pits are visible on the hill, and are not affected by the construction of the ski-slide.^[2]

Mining

The hill, also known as Chippewa Hill and Old Peak, was the site of a mine owned by the Chippewa Copper Mining Company. Work began in 1845, but no copper was produced.^[13]

See also

Two other ski jumps located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan:

• Pine Mountain Ski Jump – one of the highest artificially created ski jumps in the world, located near Iron Mountain, Michigan
• Suicide Hill Ski Jump – located near Ishpeming, Michigan and the National Ski Hall of Fame