The 136th annual Ishpeming Ski Club Jumping Tournament returns Jan. 20-21 at the Upper Peninsula Nordic Ski Complex at Suicide Hill. The 2023 edition promises to be bigger than ever with three tournaments, food trucks, fireworks and more. (Journal file photo)

MARQUETTE — The 136th annual Ishpeming Ski Club Jumping Tournament makes its return on Jan. 20-21 at the Upper Peninsula Nordic Ski Complex at Suicide Hill on the border of Ishpeming and Negaunee.

The tournament is governed by United States Ski & Snowboard and is a part of the U.S. Cup Series and the Five Hills Tour, two major competitions in the ski world.

The 2023 edition promises to be one of the biggest ever, with three tournaments planned using all five hills in the complex.

“One of the biggest things this year is that the tournament is on a weekend. It’s been on a weekday for the past 10 or 15 years,” said Ishpeming Ski Club Vice President Peter Copenhaver. “Friday is the U.S. Cup Tournament. Jumpers come here to get points to qualify to get on the national ski team. Saturday is the Junior Tournament. Saturday night is the return of the Paul Bietila Memorial Tournament. Three big tournaments going on.”

While the tournament itself is the main draw, the 136th annual tournament will also have plenty of other things to get excited about.

“We have what has to be one of the world’s largest bonfires, with full eight-foot-long logs like you see on logging trucks on the highway,” Copenhaver said. “Beyond the huge bonfire, we also will have food trucks this year. Double Trouble DJ’s will be managing all of the festivities, announcing, music, etc. We also have a beer tent this year and that is a new thing for the club. Saturday night we will also have fireworks for the kids. A pretty amazing show from what I’m hearing.”

The tournament promises to be a weekend-long party.

“It’s a charged-up, fast-paced, family-friendly awesome tailgating event,” Copenhaver said. “Probably one of the two biggest tailgating events in the entire Upper Peninsula.”

The tournaments themselves will feature plenty of up-and-coming ski jumpers from throughout the United States. Previous years have seen international ski jumpers taking part, but over the past few years, COVID-19 has made scheduling international travel more difficult.

“We’re going to have somewhere from 30 to 50 jumpers. There has been years where we only had a dozen or 15 jumpers,” Copenhaver said. “We have talent from throughout the United States. These are younger jumpers, just starting their careers. They are hungry, they are aggressive, they are trying to get on the U.S. Ski Team.”

Normally Suicide Hill is the only hill in use during the tournament, but since all five hills will be used this year, changes have been made to parking.

“Since we’re doing so many tournaments, it diminishes space for parking vehicles. We’ve restricted parking for the ski bowl to 350 vehicles. If you’re elderly or have limited mobility, by all means come and park,” Copenhaver said.

Parking at the hill will cost $10 per vehicle. The ski club will have Checker Bus shuttles, free of charge for button holders, going back and forth between the hill and Negaunee High School parking lot.

Buttons for entrance to the event are currently on sale. Advance purchase costs $15 with buttons at the gate costing $20. Children 12 and under get in free.

Buttons for the tournament can be purchased at many of the locations sponsoring the tournament, including Midway Rentals, Down Wind Sports, Blackrocks Brewery, Ore Dock Brewing Co., SuperOne Foods-Negaunee, Jim’s Jubilee Foods, Sports Rack Marquette, Wilderness Sports, Inc., Buck’s Restaurant, Elaine’s Place, U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum, Kassel’s Midway, Greater Ishpeming-Neguanee Area Chamber of Commerce, Jasper Ridge Brewery, Midtown Bakery, Congress Pizzas and the Crossroads Shell/Mini-Mart.

More information can be found online at www.ishskiclub.com.

Randy Crouch can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242. His email address is rcrouch@miningjournal.net.