Suicide Hill is almost ready for ski jumping tournament
ISHPEMING — The Ishpeming Ski Club ski jumping tournament at Suicide Hill is earlier than usual this year. Club members and volunteers are busy preparing the hill for the competitors.
This will be the tournament’s 128th year. It happens in less than two weeks, on Tuesday, January 28th. Jumpers from the central United States, Finland and Slovenia, among other places, will be there.
The 90-meter hill itself is almost ready for the event right now.
“That early snow that we got was really terrific because it was really wet and heavy, and it really packed in good,” Ishpeming Ski Club president Tom Petersen said. “Then we got some nice fresh snow after that, so our landing is just about ready to go. It’s nice and smooth.”
Mother Nature has been so generous with fresh snow since November that the Ishpeming Ski Club has not needed to make any snow for the big hill.
“We’re going to snow the scaffold on Friday, so it’s going to be kind of nice to be ahead of the game rather than worrying about last-minute getting the hill ready,” Petersen said. “It’s been a pretty good year.”
About ten different businesses in western Marquette County are selling tournament buttons, which serve as admission tickets. They’re $10 in advance and $15 at the gate.