But they’re going to need something more to lift them to that next level. Literally.

The club in early July will begin work on an elevator designed to carry athletes to the warming hut adjacent to the top of ski jump, where they wait for clearance to take off.

Kiwanis Ski Club President Nick Blagec said the Michigan Economic Development Corp. provided a $1 million infrastructure grant in 2024 to get started on the elevator.

Construction costs, however, have risen considerably in the past three years, so the elevator will be built in phases, Blagec said.

Gundlach Champion Inc. will build a new tower this summer on the back of the scaffolding that has the Pine Mountain ski jump warming shelter, with the elevator slated to be installed in 2026. (Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo)

Gundlach Champion Inc. this year will construct the frame for another 92-foot tower on the back of the existing structure that has the warming hut, with catwalks to the four levels where the elevator can stop.

During the work, half of the one-way section of Kramer Drive that leads to the top of the hill and the U.P. Veterans Memorial will be closed to traffic. But the other half of the loop will be opened to two-way traffic to maintain access to the site, Blagec said.

The second phase — putting the elevator in the new tower — is slated for 2026. But another $1 million will be needed to complete the project due to increases in the price of steel and other materials, Blagec said.

“That was a big setback” in the process, he said.

It has the club looking for other grants or funding sources to keep the project on track as part of its ongoing effort to meet standards for international competitions.

Giant Pine Mountain is considered among the top jumping venues in North America, hosting annual competitions for eight decades. The club works with the governing body International Ski Federation, commonly referred to as FIS. The Continental Cup tour that comes to Iron Mountain is the second level of international ski jumping, behind World Cup.

Lake Placid for now has the only World Cup meet in the United States, with Pine Mountain hosting the country’s only Continental Cup jumps. But FIS has indicated it will consider Pine Mountain as a World Cup host if it has proper facilities — which requires the elevator.

The club already had used a $3 million loan from the Great Lakes Sports Commission — in agreement with the First National Bank & Trust of Iron Mountain along with other banking partners Northern Interstate Bank, First National Bank of St. Ignace, Range Bank and State Savings Bank — to renovate the jump in 2020 and 2021.

That money helped convert the track, formerly formed with iced snow, to ceramic with refrigerated cooling lines that make a more consistent surface; added a new staircase just for skiers to reach the top; built the warming shelter near the start area; and replaced existing wood on the 176-feet-high and 384-feet-long scaffold with galvanized steel.

Gundlach Champion was general contractor for that renovation as well, with other key services provided by Bacco Construction, IDI Architecture-Engineering-Consulting of Marquette, Coleman Engineering, Top Speed Technology, M.J. Electric, Beaulier Buildings, Northern Landscape and UP Fabrication.

After the 2021 competition was canceled due to COVID-19 crowd restrictions, the refurbished jump made its debut in 2022 to strong reviews.

The elevator was always next on the list.

While costly now, the elevator should bring an additional benefit beyond ski jump competitions, Blagec said. Along with being a tourist attraction, making the warming hut more accessible also makes it more attractive for renting for special events, such as small parties.

“It’s going to be a money-maker for us. It’s not just for World Cup,” he said, pointing out Copper Peak takes in about $160,000 annually since adding an elevator to its hill.

FIS has suggested other improvements as well: upgrading the venue’s sound system and adding lights on the hill so jumping can continue after dark.

The former would cost an estimated $75,000, the latter $250,000, Blagec said. Luckily, the lights are still optional. With the help of sponsor M.J. Electric, they’re going to see what might be done with the sound system.

Along with the elevator, the club has been asked to add another set of steps on the right side of the warming center tower, “so it’s not so crowded up there” along the track itself, Blagec said.

To speed packing down the landing hill during competitions, FIS wants platforms built at spots alongside the slope so crews can be stationed farther down, Blagec said.

And the club has the ongoing expenses of maintaining the venue so it’s ready when the ski jumpers come in February.

Putting on such an event, too, takes money. The system for measuring time and length of jumps alone costs $45,000, Blagec said. The athletes, coaches and judges need to be housed and fed through the weekend, with the days of sending them into local host homes long gone.

This past February saw four competitions over three days at Pine Mountain, making up for ones called off in Switzerland due to conditions. While proud to become the first hill to have a fourth competition in one weekend, each set of jumps adds to the expense, Blagec explained.

It’s a lot to ask as well of an all-volunteer, non-profit organization whose members are not getting any younger, said Blagec, who will turn 74 in a couple months and has logged almost 40 years with the event.

But even with the challenges, the club has managed so far to keep itself relevant in ski jumping, drawing international competitors and more than 10,000 to 13,000 fans each year– better crowds than some of the World Cup events, Blagec said.

The athletes and coaches regularly name Pine Mountain as the best venue on the Continental Cup circuit, he added.

Some might view that as a sign the club has gained financially, Blagec said. “They see these big crowds and they think, ‘They must be making money hand over fist.’ … But it’s very expensive to put on a World Cup,” he said.

With the backing of local businesses — like title sponsor Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson; major sponsors M.J. Electric, Bacco Construction, BOSS Snowplow; and probably about two dozen others that give smaller but significant amounts — Kiwanis Ski Club does “do very well” with the tournament, “enough to survive and hopefully do it again next year.”

But if they can secure funding assistance for these last series of projects, “we’re pretty much self-sufficient,” he said.

Which is why local officials have expressed some frustration over the state’s relatively low-key financial backing for the venue, especially after watching the Copper Peak ski jump in Gogebic County receive a $20 million state grant in 2022 to convert it to an all-season ski-flying hill. The site in Ironwood Township hasn’t hosted an event since 1994.

But the state budget in 2024 did include $1 million in forgiveness on the $3 million loan from 2020 for hill improvements.

That ongoing assistance, even if done piecemeal, leaves the club hopeful it will be able to secure enough in the future to stay on schedule with the elevator and make the complex a year-round attraction that puts it on firmer financial footing.

“We really think there’s revenue up there,” Blagec said of renting out not just the warming shelter but the Springer Haus behind the U.P. Veterans War Memorial and Popple Palace at the base of the hill as well.

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Betsy Bloom can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85240, or bbloom@ironmountaindailynews.com.