After "Extreme Snow" Causes $195,000 in Damage, Michigan Ski Jumping Hill Asks for Help
After heavy snow last winter, a ski jumping facility in Michigan suffered heavy damage, incurring a $195,000 repair bill. Now the group in charge, the Ishpeming Ski Club, is asking for help and raising money.
The “extreme snow,” the Club said in a Facebook post, caused its equipment building to collapse, severely damaging its WinchCat used for grooming the ski jumping slope called Suicide Hill. Without the cat, the Club said, they can’t host their annual ski jumping tournament. The Club added that spring runoff washed out the surface beneath the K40 ski jump, which is used by youth jumpers. It must be refilled with material to be safe for year-round training.
Across the Upper Peninsula, where the town of Ishpeming is located, several snowfall records fell as blizzards slammed the region in March. MLive reported that through the winter, Ishpeming saw 198 inches of snow, which is above normal.
The Club found a low-hour BR-350 WinchCat for sale and received a quote from local contractors for a replacement pole barn that will keep equipment out of the weather and extend its working life, and material and preparation costs to fix the damaged K40 landing hill. Those costs, the Club said, add up to almost $200,000.
To foot the bill, the Club is asking for donations through GiveButter. Every donation will be recognized on the Club’s social media and honored in full via signage on trail maps and the side of the new building.
As a nonprofit, the Ishpeming Ski Club said in the donation post that its mission is to “provide the facilities and expertise to train the next generation of these athletes. In our past season, our Nordic programs trained a total of 78 athletes, 5-18yrs old.”
“Our skiers competed across the Midwest and our top ski jumper flew in the Junior World Finals in Lillehammer, Norway,” the post continued. “Funding for the ISC youth and junior ski programs comes from Sponsors (both Tournament and Club Sponsors), Tournament proceeds, and club membership dues.”
First called the Norden Ski Club, the Ishpeming Ski Club dates back to 1887.
In a fun bit of trivia, the National Ski Association, which went on to become U.S. Ski & Snowboard, was also formed in Ishpeming in 1905. Duly, the little town is home to the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.
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