Rockford Sweetheart Splash 2012, photo by DJ Wolfman.
Happy Valentine’s Day Michigan! Here’s hoping that you find someone in your life who will stick with you in times hot and cold.
Check this out bigger and see more in Daniel’s Rockford Sweetheart Splash slideshow.
Ice Climbing – Tannery Falls, photo by James Marvin Phelps
“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.”
~ John Boswell
Our February Michigan Event Calendar features all kinds of cool events, from races like the i500 snowmobile race, the UP 200 sled dog race or (we can’t make this stuff up) outhouse races to winter celebrations like the Winter WOW Fest in Traverse City or Perchville USA in Tawas. One of the neatest happens this weekend: The Michigan Ice Fest in Munising.
James took this shot at Tannery Falls near Munising. Click to view it extra-large and see more in his Michigan slideshow.
A little more about Tannery Falls on Michigan in Pictures.
Sugar Cookies – Michigan, photo by betsyweber
We, the PEOPLE of the territory of Michigan … mutually agree to form ourselves
into a free and independent state, by the style and title of “The State of Michigan’”
~Constitution of Michigan of 1835
While Michigan’s Constitution was written in 1835, it took until January 26, 1837 for President Andrew Jackson to sign the bill making Michigan the nation’s 26th state (more about that right here but the short answer is, blame it on Ohio). That makes today the 175th birthday of the Great Lakes State. We’ve been making a fuss of it and giving things away on Absolute Michigan all week, and joining a whole lot of people in touting the good things about our great state at #Mich175 on Twitter.
Here’s some fun facts about Michigan:
More fun facts from the State of Michigan.
Check this out background bigilicious and in Betsy’s Cookies slideshow.
PS: I made a little Michigan Birthday cover photo for Facebook that you are free to grab.
A skier glides down Suicide Hill, circa 1959, photo by Michigan Tourist Council
On Absolute Michigan we regularly feature articles & photos from the Archives of Michigan and their great web site Seeking Michigan. When Bob Garrett posted this feature, however, I knew that I couldn’t let Absolute Michigan have all the fun!
Suicide Hill’s very name intimidates skiers. The Ishpeming Ski Club, however, describes it as “fine, competitive and safe” (See the Ishpeming Ski Club Web Site). Ski jump enthusiasts hold the hill – and its rich history – in high esteem.
In the Beginning
The Norden Ski Club – renamed the Ishpeming Ski Club in 1901 – held its first formal ski jump competition in 1888. The competition site was south of Lake Angeline, near Ishpeming, Michigan. An annual tradition did not immediately follow. The Club did, however, host competitions in some subsequent years. Various hills in the Ishpeming region served as competition sites.
In 1925, the Ishpeming Ski Club launched a search for a new hill. Peter Handberg and Leonard Flaa, then officers of the Club, found what would be called Suicide Hill. The Hill is located off what is now M-28, between Ishpeming and Negaunee. The Cleveland Cliffs mining company owned the land, and a lease was quickly negotiated.
In the autumn of 1925, development work began on the hill. It proved a community effort. Local citizens donated materials and volunteered their labor. The hill was cleared, graded and shaped. Finally, the Ishpeming Ski Club announced the first competition on the hill. This occurred on February 26, 1926.
“A Little Color”
Ted Butler, a local newspaper reporter, apparently gave the hill its nickname. An Ishpeming skier named Walter “Huns” Anderson was injured a few days before the 1926 meet. Butler wrote about this, using the phrase “Suicide Hill” in his story. “Sure, it’s a good hill, but why not add a little color to it?,” he reportedly said. James Flaa of the Ishpeming Ski Club protested the name, claiming that it created a bad impression and kept skiers away.
Today, eighty-six years later, skiers are still coming to Suicide Hill. They come from many countries and gather for the annual competitions, traditionally held in February.
The annual Suicide Hill Ski Tournament will be held next on February 8, 2012. Suicide Hill waits quietly for the day, ready to challenge a new wave of daring skiers.
Editor’s note: we found a great video of a jump at Suicide Hill and another from the point of view of the jumper.
Sources
“Flying into the Future” by Jane Nordberg. Michigan History Magazine, March/April 2002, pp. 6-11.
For a related article, click Ishpeming winter events
Powder Day – 2.19.09 #13, photo by CrystalMountainImages.
All January Absolute Michigan is celebrating Michigan skiing with and features on downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding along with photos and videos that take you up close and personal with the Michigan ski experience. We’re also giving away 4 pairs of tickets to 4 great Michigan ski resorts: Boyne Mountain, The Homestead, Shanty Creek and Crystal Mountain!
Michigan has 41 ski areas with 840 runs, more than 40 terrain parks and hundreds of kilometers of groomed cross-country trails, and January is the perfect month to enjoy it all. Head over to Absolute Michigan’s skiing page for all the details!
Check this out on black and see more in Crystal Mountain’s powder slideshow!
Michigan at the Archive of Michigan, photo by farlane
“Sometimes you got to put your foot down, or your mitten, so to speak.”
~Dave Lorenz, Travel Michigan
Last week the state of Wisconsin touched off a firestorm – snowstorm? – by suggesting that they might in fact qualify as a mitten state, prompting Pure Michigan to ask Who is the Real Mitten State? that for some reason we are only winning 83% – 17%. mLive has a look at the controversy that includes a the Badger’s case for Mittenhood (which appears to be no more than Mitten envy) and a really cool Vernor’s commercial with former Red Wing Petr Klima demonstrating “where it is on the hand.”
My good friend Jacob Wheeler has an excellent rundown on the Mitten Wars in which he notes that:
…the Badger state did have reason to be peeved at the Wolverine state. In 1835-36, Michigan and Ohio “fought” the Toledo War, a completely bloodless boundary dispute that resulted in Ohio getting the narrow stretch of land where the Mud Hens now play baseball, and Michigan getting three-quarters of what’s now the Upper Peninsula from Congress (it was previously considered “Indian territory”). Michigan’s gain was Wisconsin’s loss, as the western part of the U.P. would yield untold mineral wealth — and the historic Calumet Theater — over the next century and a half.
Wisconsin became a U.S. state in 1848, and contented itself with the cheese curd as its gourmet food favorite, and not the meat and potato-filled pasty, which the Finnish immigrants to the U.P. carried with them into the mines. Wisconsin’s bitterness simmered, for 175 years, like Golum clutching the ring deep in the caves of Middle Earth.
That angst finally boiled over this week when the Travel Wisconsin website posted a knit mitten shaped like the state of Wisconsin on its website as part of a winter tourism promotion campaign. Michiganders who identify themselves in the world beyond with an open-faced right hand, took the news as a humorous, yet serious, challenge.
“People in Michigan, we do identify ourselves so closely with the Mitten State,” Alex Beaton of the Awesome Mitten website told the Washington Post (seriously, the Washington Post?). We’re America’s high five!”
Jacob adds that Wisconsin PR pro Tom Lyons suggested that “Wisconsin is the left mitten. Michigan is the right mitten. Even children know that one mitten doesn’t cut it when it comes to Midwestern winters.” Lorenz (who seems to be on fire right now) shot back “We’re not going to take this lying down. Wisconsin already took the Rose Bowl from us this year. They’re not going to take the Mitten State status from us.” Amen. Definitely read on at the Sun for more including a Michigan vs. Wisconsin matchup.
I took this photo of the 4-story map showing Michigan’s topography at the Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing several years ago. I was never able to find out who designed it, but you can see another view and check out the online tour of the museum. View this photo background big and see more from the museum in the Michigan Historical Center group slideshow.
People meet Bear, photo by FHGVZEhyde.
The Freep had a feature this week on Google adding the Detroit Zoo to their Street View this week. Street View is feature of Google Maps that presents 360-degree views of locations, allowing you to explore through your computer. Normally, they use a car for the photos – sometimes with humorous results – but that leaves a lot of interesting sights off the map. To that end, they developed the Street View trike.
In July, Royal Oak Patch posted a video of the Google Trike in action at the Detroit Zoo. They explained that this summer:
Google asked its users to submit nominations for pedestrian-only locations they’d most like to see on its popular map feature in several categories, including theme parks and zoos. More than 15,000 voters said they wanted a virtual tour of the Detroit Zoo, beating out the San Diego Zoo and Universal Studios in Florida, among others.
The Google Street Trike is a three-wheeled pedi-cab equipped with digital cameras. Google technicians spent two days collecting digital images of the zoo’s award-winning habitats and attractions, both indoors and out.
Here’s the the Detroit Zoo on Street View. TIP: Turn RIGHT to start your exploration of the Detroit Zoo!
Check this photo out bigger and in her Animals and Nature slideshow. She explains:
There is a little tunnel underneath the polar bear exhibit where you can see the seals swimming around, but today the bear decided to chill right on top of the tunnel. That has never happened before. People were freaking out left and right but it was so cool.
PS: The Street View technology also powers a previous Michigan in Pictures feature, What Was There.
DSC07351, photo by ansonredford.
When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam,
May luck be yours on Halloween.
~Unknown
Here’s hoping everyone has a spooky and safe Halloween. Don’t miss The Legend of the Michigan Dogman today on Absolute Michigan.
Check it out bigger and see a lot more Halloween fun on Michigan in Pictures!
Michigan Fall Paddle, photo by onewildwest
An adventure a day keeps the doctor away by Carol Thompson on the Great Lakes Echo is short, sweet and exactly the prescription that Michigan can be filling for an over-stressed and under-recreated nation. Carol writes:
A dose of exercise and fresh air is just what the doctor ordered.
Getting out for a bike ride is a good medicine for any Great Laker.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is partnering with Porter Health Systems in Indiana to prescribe walks, bike rides, kayak trips and other activities to patients through the Park Prescription Program. By getting out to the park, patients will get some exercise and stress relief, while hopefully boosting visitation.
Not every prescription is the same. Before they write a prescription, Porter doctors will find the right trails and activities based on the patient’s needs and abilities. Considering there are over 40 miles of trails in the Lakeshore, there’s something for everyone.
Don’t wait for your next checkup to get out for a hike or a ride. In this case, a little self-medication might be ok!
We should probably add “paddle, ski and snowshoe” to that list. Can we take a cue from out neighbors to the south and add “Michigan is good for you” to the Pure Michigan message?
Check this out bigger and in Brent’s Random slideshow.
art prize preview 2011 040, photo by jode1115.
“I think it’s terrifying & thrilling.”
~Jerry Saltz, Senior Art Critic at New York magazine on ArtPrize
ArtPrize, the radically open competition held every year in Grand Rapids that gives away the world’s largest cash prize – all decided by public vote – starts today and runs through October 9th. You can keep up with it at absolutemichigan.com/ArtPrize and also through the mLive Artprize section.
Of course there’s an ArtPrize Facebook (and Twitter & Tumblr), and an ArtPrize photo group and a lot of ArtPrize photos in the Absolute Michigan pool. For all you photographers out there, there’s a daily ArtPrize photo contest with a camera or laptop as the top prize!
ArtPrize is in its third year and truly is one of the most amazing events I’ve ever been to. If there’s any way you can make the trip to Grand Rapids, do it. You won’t be disappointed!
Check this photo out background big and in her ArtPrize 2011 slideshow.
Michigan in Pictures 
