Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
BOB JACQUART, Copper Peak Organizing Committee chairman, talks to area residents about plans for the ski flying structure at the joint Bessemer-Ironwood Chambers of Commece banquet Wednesday.
By TOM STANKARD
Bessemer - Bob Jacquart, Copper Peak organizing committee chairman, announced future plans for the ski flying structure during the joint Bessemer-Ironwood Chambers of Commece banquet Wednesday.
Jacquart said he remembers being on a bank board in the early 1990s and the board president said Copper Peak owes "so much money that we need to cut it down and sell it for scrap metal."
Standing next to Charles Supercynski, Jacquart said Copper Peak still exists because of Supercynski, who said the area has an icon in Copper Peak and "we can celebrate that icon."
Jacquart said Copper Peak will host the Federation of International Skiing Grand Prix Summer Series finale event in September 2017 and a Summer Continental Cup and a Nordic combined summer event possibly in 2018.
FIS manages the Olympic disciplines of alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, freestyle skiing and snowboarding.
To help get the word out, Jacquart said Copper Peak has teamed up with Tunheim, a consulting firm "...with a strong practice around intersections of sports and business."
Together, Jacquart said they're working on a massive project to highlight events that will draw more than 10,000 people to the area and attract the "world's eyes" onto the Ironwood area.
"We're going to make it a big sporting event," he said.
Tunhiem helped with consulting for the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Jacquart said the Cotton Bowl had the "worst venue, was in a bad neighborhood and took place at the worst time."
Despite all of that, Jacquart said the Cotton Bowl is now "everybody's favorite" because it's the "friendliest bowl game." He said Tunheim can help market Copper Peak.
"Why can't we start being the friendliest community with snow in the Northwoods?" he asked. "It's not Ironwood's Copper Peak, it is Hurley's, Bessemer's and Wakefield's Copper Peak. It is very exciting."
Pat Milan, Tunheim chief creative officer, said Copper Peak is like the Cotton Bowl.
"It's a wonderful structure and an international playground," he said.
Copper Peak hosted the first international ski flying competition in North America in February of 1970. The last meet was in 1994.
In the future, Jacquart said Copper Peak wants to host more events after 2018.
