Kiwanis Ski Club cancels World Cup ski jump competition, will still hold Continential Cup

IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (WLUC) - The Kiwanis Ski Club is preparing for ski jumping in Iron Mountain again this winter. The club was looking to host a “World Cup” competition but had to postpone its bid.

“We have a team working in Europe, a team working domestically for national companies, and it just wasn’t coming together quickly enough,” said Susie Fox, Kiwanis Ski Club Corresponding Secretary. “The ski club did not think it was prudent to go into the fall taking a huge risk of the ski club losing money by going further into debt.”

Fox said the club needed to make $1.5 million worth of infrastructure improvement and find more than $600,000 worth of sponsors to host an effective World Cup by February.

“It costs almost six times the amount of money to host a World Cup than it does a Continental Cup,” Fox said.

Some of the improvements the club still needs to make are adding an elevator to the tower, additional platforms for TV cameras and more space for coaches and event personnel. All of this is on top of the more than $2 million ski jump installed last year.

“The Kiwanis Ski Club is the biggest and best ski jumping show in North America,” Fox said.

Fox said the club is hopeful to host a world cup in 2025. Until then, fans can expect two more Continental Cups. Fox expects the number of jumpers to grow from last year.

“Last year we lost three teams at the very end just because of COVID-19,” Fox said. “I think we are going to be back to our regular levels of 45 to 55 jumpers representing 10 to 14 countries.”

Fox said the ski club wants to work with the veteran’s memorial and with the upcoming addition of an elevator, run tours of the ski jump year-round.

A new date for the Continental Cup has not been decided yet, but there will be ski jumping in Dickinson County again this winter.

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