Work is being done on the ski hills to make them safer
ISHPEMING -- For 124 years, skiers from all over the world have been coming to test their skills at the Suicide Bowl in Ishpeming. But this year, some changes are being made as to how the snow is laid on the sky high jumps.
Volunteers from Lindberg and Sons Construction are raising the ground underneath the ski jump's scaffolding."We're filling it in to make it accessible for a front-end loader to be able to bucket snow onto the scaffolding," says Kevin Millimaki of Lindberg and Sons.
And this year, instead of volunteers manually dispersing snow on the jumps, a metal snow box will do it instead.
"This way we'll be able to dump it on with a piece of equipment, into a metal box we're going to construct, and the box will be pulled up--there will be no bottom on the box--and it will let the snow out as it goes up," says Tom Peterson, President of the Ishpeming Ski Club.
This new project will make "snowing" the hill much more efficient. Before, it would take 12 volunteers three days to snow the jumps; now it will only take four volunteers about six hours. The new snowing system will also make the hills much safer for skiers. It will lay the snow more evenly, making a more stable surface.
How much will the project cost the Ski Club? The answer is nothing. Lindberg and Sons and Cliffs Natural Resources, which donated the gravel, are taking care of the cost.
"It's good for the community, and this project needed to get done," Millimaki says.
The winter ski season at the Suicide Bowl starts in December.
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