Early Memories of Skiing in Ironwood

I Remember…

I remember driving to the local sports shop in Eau Claire, Wisconsin to pick up my dad’s specially ordered cross-country skis. And I remember the store’s clerks gathering around to inspect those strange new things. And then hearing my dad’s stories of skiing back and forth in a neighborhood park, of course all alone since nobody else owned those strange kinds of skis. A year later he lined those skis up to the starting line of the first American Birkebeiner, as my mom drove me and my brother to the start of the inaugural Korteloppet. Something sparked in me during those early days of the sport, as I got into high school and college racing, always starting with the season-opener at Wolverine Ski Trails in Ironwood, Michigan. 

A DECADE LATER

A decade later, I jumped at the chance to move my family to Ironwood, assuming it was a true bastion of cross-country skiing. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Like my dad 20 years ago, I found myself lonely setting my own tracks in a neighborhood cemetery. Then the father-son duo of Dave and Eric Anderson opened ABR. And Wolverine re-energized. Then everything changed. Skiers returned to Ironwood. And bought houses and started businesses. Young people returned home, and started families. No more lonely cemetery skiing for me. 

But more importantly, ABR helped to revitalize the region’s economy. It’s no coincidence that the only municipality showing population growth in the Western Upper Peninsula is Erwin Township, the proud home of ABR. ABR will always hold a special place for me. I skied with my dad on the last ski of his life on Cherry Dairy. And a year later I skied with my grand-daughter on the first ski of her life on the same trail. But she will never need to break her own trails, or ski alone. Thanks to the generous gift of Eric and Angela — and to your support — the impact and legacy of ABR will continue for generations to come.