Rising more than 1500 feet in altitude and 300 feet above the surrounding terrain, Copper Peak was the southernmost area in Michigan thought capable of producing copper in commercial amounts. The Chippewa Copper Mining Company began work here in 1845 and sank a tunnel, still visible, into the granite rock. No copper was ever produced, although the Old Peak Company conducted further exploration around 1900. In 1970, a 280-foot ski slide, the highest in the world, was completed on the peak in time for the western hemisphere’s first international ski flying tournament, and skiers have recorded flights of nearly 500 feet from the slide.