SCOTT McGUIRE
Iron Mountain, Michigan
smcguire@usaskijumping.com
Circa January of 1972, Monday, 6:00 p.m.
“Timmy, Timmy, Timmy…the lights are on at the Miron.” I yell to my little brother, Tim.
“Fantastic…hey Dad, can you tie our boots?” replies Tim.
We strap on our Northwoods and down the hill from our house we go.
In Iron Mountain, MI, this was a daily occurrence for many boys and girls. My brother Timmy and I could only see the lightbulb at the top of the scaffold from our living room in Kingsford Heights. Once we saw it, we would strap on our skis and ski down to the Miron entrance for a night of ski jumping.
In its day, Iron Mountain, MI had the best junior ski jumping program in the country.
Every Thursday evening, the community schools would sponsor a ski jumping tournament on the Mini Might, the Mighty Might, and the Miron hills. On a typical Thursday night, there were usually more than one hundred boys and girls participating. Yes, girls too participated! These were the hills that groomed Theresa Altobelli, the matriarch of women’s ski jumping.
In addition to Theresa, other notable jumpers include the Konopacke brothers, Mark and Mike, the Benzie brothers, Tony and John, Eric Hiatt, as well as a slew of other great jumpers!
On Saturdays, ski jumping tournaments took place throughout the Midwest.
I personally am eternally grateful to the parent and community volunteers that made these events all possible.
Ski jumping taught us at a young age, to work hard, pursue our passion, and excel in competition. For this, I am grateful for my youthful experience.
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USA Ski Jumping
PO Box 982331
Park City, UT 84098
