Scraping the Sky

Pedro Kummel photo for Unsplash.

It's skyscraper day, A day to appreciate the largest buildings in the world, the country, or community.

Depending on where you live, skyscrapers define buildings of different heights. In Madison, the state capitol is the tallest building, 284 feet tall. 

The next four tallest can all be found on the University of Wisconsin campus. All of them are 243-feet or less. Van Hise is a 19-story academic building.

My summer before second grade, mom and me went with dad to a conference in New York City. Besides his conference we saw quite a bit of the city, one of my favorite memories was going to the top the Empire State Building. 

The 250 wheel is 23 stories.8/8/26 dwm

 At the time it was still the tallest in the world from 1931 to 1970 until the north tower of the World Trade Center eclipsed its height. 

 Last month at State Fair, I went to the top of the 250 Wheel, which is 230-feet high or 23 stories. It felt really tall, but the tallest building in Milwaukee is the U.S. Bank Center, which is 601-feet, topping out at 42 stories.

 When you look at the ride that way, it's not big at all!

 Unless heights make you nervous, it's usually fun to stand on top of a tall structure to survey the land from a different point of view. 

 People can be like buildings. For example, the best athlete in a small community is a big deal, but if they head to the large university as a big-time athlete, they may be surprised to find there are plenty of other athletes who are just as good, or better, when it's time to play. 

 While I've generally liked to get to the top of tall buildings and lighthouses, I've felt differently about other structures, for years that would have included rides and it certainly included a ski jump in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Copper Peak Ski Jump 9/19/2022 dwm

Copper Peak is 'only' 18-stories, but it's on top of a hill and as the tallest structure for at least a hundred miles, it feels a lot taller than that.

From where we parked, I walked to the bottom of the hill where I took a chair lift to the top of the hill where the jump was anchored. There were moments I was nervous when the lift stopped or shivered for a moment. 

At the base of the jump, I took an elevator up the main support (see the vertical support in photo at right). From there I climbed to the top of the jump. I was the first visitor of the day and able to take in the view from as high as I was likely to get then or now.

Before I went on that trip, I decided it was important to get past the fear, deciding a few minutes of nervousness doesn't compare to the memories of reaching the peak.

I read recently progress is being made to resume ski jumping at Copper Peak. 9/19/2022 dwm

Surveying Upper Michigan from Copper Peak. 9/19/2022 dwm