Suicide Hill Ski Jump by Ishpeming Ski Club

The annual UP Ski Jumping Tournament is celebrating its its 139th anniversary this year January 16-18, 2026, and aptly named “Suicide Hill”, the longtime site of the tourney, will be celebrating its 100th anniversary!

The competition is hosted by the Ishpeming Ski Club every winter on MLK Weekend at the UP Nordic Ski Complex. It lasts three days and in addition to the marquee event, the club hosts Junior National Qualifiers, a cross-country ski race, and a Target Jump event where competitors try to land as close as possible to a predetermined mark on the hill. They also have bonfires, concessions, beer tent & fireworks show.

The Ski Club has some great information about the colorfully named Suicide Hill explaining:

Suicide Hill got its name when in 1926 Walter “Huns” Anderson was injured on the hill. The local newspaper reporter, Ted Butler, said “Sure it’s a good hill, but why not have a little color about it. I gave it the name a few days before it was used in 1926. Walter Anderson fell in practice a few days before the meet and was badly hurt. In the stories I sent out about him, I called it Suicide Hill and the name stuck”. “We don’t like the name ‘Suicide Hill,” James Flaa, club official protested, “because it keeps riders away. It creates the wrong impression of what troubles await them”. Actually, it’s one of the best hills in the country. Even Johanna Kolstad, the fine Norwegian woman skier, says she has only seen one better hill in the country. But the name did stick, and it has turned out to be a fine, competitive, and safe hill.

Pure Michigan shared some pics and added a reminder that the competition is just a few miles away from the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum, providing an opportunity to explore and celebrate the history of the sport while visiting the “birthplace of American skiing.”