• Monday-What'sUP May 14 - 10:36 pm

Last week when we were visiting the Black River Harbor area, near Ironwood, Capt. Paul mentioned several other attractions in the same area, one of which was Copper Peak. Luckily enough, Brenda Leigh made a springtime stop there, too. From the looks of the sign and the HUGE skier, it would be hard to miss the location of this ski flying facility, proclaimed to be the only one in the Western Hemisphere, with the other five located in Europe. The jump actually rises 26 stories above the crest of the hill, so to access it, you need to ride the chair lift 800 ft. up and then take an 18 story elevator to the top. Once there, you're rewarded with a view like no other, 2500 square miles of the Lake Superior Basin. The sign does say there are Adventure Rides to the top in the summer and during the fall color season. I can only imagine how beautiful it must be then. Another place to add to my "must visit" list.

There has to be quite a moment of truth for a first-time jumper on one of these ski flying hills. I've never been to Copper Peak, but I have stood at the top of the Pine Mountain Ski Jump in Iron Mountain and looked at the fearsome void below. Copper Peak is almost twice that size, so it's gotta be a real rush!

Even if I were an expert skier (have never skied) I don't think I'd be brave enough to attempt that jump in the second pic. Just looking at it made the bottoms of my feet 'tingle'.:(

I was under the impression that Copper Peak had been closed for years. Is it operational?

If you ever get the chance, by all means take the ride to the top, it is amazing especially in autumn when the leaves are out. On a clear day, you can see Canada and Isle Royale with no problem. As you ride up the chair lift, you also pass right over an old mine shaft that was still open the last time I took the ride.

How does one practice for that...does one begin by jumping off the garage roof?

I cannot imagine going down that thing!!! There are many adventurous people out there!!!

If I am reading the sign correctly, only the top 100 or so "ski jumpers" (in Gogebic County? in the United States? in the World?) are qualified to "ski fly". Is there a test that "ski jumpers" must take to show that they are qualified to "ski fly" at Copper Peak? I like to keep both feet pretty close to the ground myself! :-)

Europe's not in the western hemisphere any more?

A ski jumper has to qualify on a lesser "hill" (probably a 90 meter
hill) in order to participate in ski flying competition on a "hill" that is
120 meters or more. Pine Mountain and Suicide are two examples
of ski jumping hills in the UP. Copper Peak is the only ski flying hill
in the US. Only the top ski jumpers in the world will qualify to jump
on a hill such as Copper Peak. The view from the top is
SPECTACULAR!!

There was really an adventure one year for us at Copper Peak! We took some friends on a visit, ominous clouds around, but they let us take the elevator to the top for the panoramic view. Very Quickly, the storm came up, tremendous wind and lightning....the power went off. No elevator! We had to go down the stairs in terrible conditions, rain started with the wind, and we were on the best lightning rod structure for miles! They shuttled some vans & trucks over to pick us up for the roundabout trip back to the visitor center/gift shop. Very memorable day!! Energizing, to say the least

The last I heard Europe never was in the western hemisphere. The western hemisphere is North and South America.

Most of Europe is in the Eastern hemisphere, but since the Prime Meridian cuts through Greenwich, England, there are parts of Europe in the Western hemisphere. All of Ireland, roughly half of France and most of Spain are in the Western hemisphere.
The West coast of Africa has a number of small countries, all of which are in the Western hemisphere. These include Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Monrovia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Senegal and the Gambia. Mauritania and Morocco are also in the Western hemisphere, while Mali and Algeria are split between the two hemispheres.

After riding 18 stories up the elevator, you then climb the stairs another 8 stories to the top. The stairs are located on the underside of the ski jump. As you climb the stairs, you can look right through the metal grating to the treetops a couple hundred feet below. Once you've gone all the way up you will know what it feels like to walk on air. The very top section of the jump is cantilevered out and bounces like a diving board as you climb - quite frightening actually when you're accustomed to having your feet on solid ground! Anything you might know about cyclic loading, metal fatigue, and ultimate tensile stress needs to be completely blocked out of your mind. Needless to say it is quite an adrenaline rush just going to the top much less strapping on a pair of skis and flying off the jump into the sky! Having said that, I highly recommend the trip to the top as the view is unbelievable.

I can say with a great deal of certainty that you'd never catch me up there. I can imagine the view is incredible but there's no way I could make it up to the top.