PHOTOHigh flyers: The Copper Peak Ski Flying HillThe Detroit NewsTom Dennison, of the U.S. ski team is the first official flyer of the competition held in 1970, as he took off from the end of Copper Peak ski slide in the First International Ski Flying Meet. The meet dedicated the hill which has the world's largest artificial slide, equivalent to the height of a 24-story building. Dennison was allowed to jump again when it was decided to move the competitors up one chute for longer distances.Detroit News Photo ArchiveThe North American Ski Flying Tournament will be held at this Copper Peak facility Feb. 27-28. Last year the site hosted the International Ski Flying tournament with Czechoslovakian Zbynek Huback jumping a record 440 feet. The slide stands 241 feet above the summit of the hill and 945 feet above nearby Lake Superior.Detroit News Photo ArchiveView from the top during late stages of construction shows workmen installing the wooden decking on the top of the 120 meter in-run, the furthest from the take-off point. The landing area is seen 600-feet below.Detroit News Photo ArchiveThe Copper Peak Ski Flying Hill, under construction in 1969.Detroit News Photo ArchiveA view down Copper Peak Ski Flying Hill.Detroit News Photo ArchiveBreath-taking view from the extreme top of the Copper Peak in-run. Fliers will achieve speeds of 65 - 75 miles per hour before reaching the take-off 600-feet above ground level. \Detroit News Photo ArchiveThe Copper Peak ski flying hill, the first of its kind in this hemisphere and only one of four in the world, will be the site of the first ski flying meet the last weekend in February. National and International skiers are expected to fly over 500 feet. The top reaches 241-feet from the top of 364-foot high Chippewa hill near the Black River harbor of LakeDetroit News Photo ArchiveA racer heads down Copper Peak Ski Flying Hill.Detroit News Photo ArchiveOlympian Jerry Martin, Minneapolis, at the Copper Peak Ski Flying Classic in Ironwood, Feb. 6, 1973.Detroit News Photo ArchiveThe scaffold from the rear. Cantilevered chutes can be seen at top of in-run as can the 180 foot enclosed elevator shaft.Detroit News Photo ArchiveA flyer's few from takeoff, Frantisek, of the Czechoslovakia ski team, takes off on his third flight of the day's competition in the First International Ski Flying Meet at Copper Peak ski slide in 1970. A relatively small crowd saw the final day of the meet as another Czechoslovakian, Jeri Raska won the competition with a total of 356 points.Detroit News Photo ArchivePoised atop the summit of Copper Peak in the vast Ottawa National Forest north of Ironwood and Bessemer, stands a monument to the persistence and faith of a group of local ski jumpers -- the Copper Peak Ski Flying Hill. The only ski flying hill in the Western Hemisphere and only the fifth in the world, the giant slide will permit jumps of over 500-feet through space. From the observation platform at the 170-foot level, a view of three states is possible.Detroit News Photo ArchiveU.S. Ski Team member Jerry Martin, Minneapolis, at the North American Ski Flying Classic at Copper Peak Ironwood Michigan, February 11 1975.Detroit News Photo ArchiveThis giant slide 241 feet above the hilltop is expected to permit jumps of over 500 feet through space during the first ski flying tournament ever to be held in the Western Hemisphere one the Copper Peak Ski Flying hill near Ironwood Feb. 27 through March 1, 1970.Detroit News Photo ArchiveA chair lift, 810 feet in length, delivers skiers from the bottom of the hill to the base of the towering 241 foot scaffold. Lift will also be used during summer tourist season.Detroit News Photo Archive