Copper Peak Founders Circle of Champions will recognize top-level donors

IRONWOOD, MI (September 16, 2016) – Copper Peak has launched the Founders Circle of Champions, an exclusive recognition for Copper Peak’s top-level campaign donors, as they continue to raise funds to transform the peak into the world’s premier ski jumping summer training facility and a top competition site for Olympic–caliber athletes. Billy Demong, America’s only Olympic gold medalist in Nordic combined and the current executive director of USA Nordic, will join the campaign as co-chair along with Copper Peak Organizer Bob Jacquart to lead the fundraising efforts. The Founders’ Circle of Champions is slated to conclude in mid-2017. Copper Peak is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

The Copper Peak renovation plan, approved in 2014 by the International Ski Federation (FIS), includes an artificial surface, which will allow athletes to use the Peak from mid-June to October. Once renovated, Copper Peak is expected to draw significant tourism dollars. The regional economic impact is projected at $18 million over five years.

Demong notes, “Our vision for Copper Peak is to provide the best year-round training site in the world for our elite athletes as well as host one the world’s most important year-round international competitions, the FIS Summer Grand Prix finale, which features Olympic and World Cup athletes from around the globe. I believe this project is not just viable, but an incredible competitive advantage for our elite Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined athletes.” Jacquart adds, “Once it’s finished, Copper Peak will be the world’s largest ski jump open for training during the summer months. It will benefit our athletes and also serve as a huge economic asset for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.”

Billy Demong’s Olympic career in Nordic combined spans five games, beginning in 2002 at Salt Lake City and culminating in 2010 in Vancouver, where he became the first American in 86 years to win an Olympic gold medal in Nordic skiing. His peers later chose him to carry the American flag during the closing ceremonies. Since the spring of 2016, Demong has served as executive director of USA Nordic, the leadership organization for the US Ski Jumping and US Nordic Combined Teams.

For more information about Copper Peak’s Founders Circle of Champions, contact Bob Jacquart at media@copperpeak.com.

UPDATE: Competition to start in October of 2019

For more information, click here. (Apr 20, 2017)