Sammy Carlson Spins off a Ski Jump…Backwards

Teton Gravity Research and 8-time X Games medalist and 3-time Real Ski Champion, Sammy Carlson, introduce The Sammy C Project. The Sammy C Project hopes to inspire those even beyond the realm of snow to go after their dreams with tenacity. He places himself in the record books as the first skier to hit a “ski-flying” long jump with freestyle intent. Carlson not only spun himself from the lip of a jump designed to send skiers upwards of 500 feet, but began several of many descents into the jump switch. Built in 1970, the 24 story, 300-ton steel structure, known as Copper Peak, is located on Michigan’s upper peninsula and along the shores of Lake Superior. The ramp itself claims 364-feet of vertical drop and a 35-degree in-run, providing for jumps with distance records stretching over 500 feet. 

“When we showed up it was a ghost ramp. It not been hit in twenty years,” declares Carlson. “The people helping me from the community where just as committed as I was to hitting the ramp. It was true team effort.” 

The film shares nearly two years of unthinkable freestyle skiing progression, with features, locations and cinematography to rival the groundbreaking segment released today. “The jump is truly enormous,” says TGR co-founder Steve Jones. “Hitting a gap this big in general takes significant confidence and skill, not to mention spinning from its lip or dropping in switch. Sammy is unbeatable when it comes to skiing like this.”