Photo Credit: Brockit Photography
Winter activity in the Copper Country is nearly as, if not as busy, as the region’s summers. Each weekend offers a unique Keweenaw Peninsula experience from people meeting at winter farmers markets, participating in festivals, or competing in different competitions. Next week hundreds of cross-country skiers will descend up Calumet and the Swedetown Trails for the 42nd annual Great Bear Chase.
So for the Great Bear Chase, 85% of the people come from outside of our area, mainly from Wisconsin and Minnesota. And we’ll get up, we’ll get more than a thousand people here when you count skiers, friends, and family. And using Visit Keweenaw figures, it’s about a $700,000 benefit to the local economy for the one weekend. – Dean Woodbeck, Organizer, Great Bear Chase
Many of the Great Bear Chase participants come from outside the Copper Country. But Organizer Dean Woodbeck says many locals will find a way to get involved. From participating in the race or volunteering and directing traffic on the course more than 200 people in the local area are out next Saturday as volunteers or participants.
We get a lot of volunteers, we get 100 volunteers roughly. One of the things people love about the race is the friendly volunteers. And I think that speaks to the community, to the village of Calumet, Calumet Township, and then just the greater Keweenaw, that people are friendly and they want the visitors and the guests to have a good experience. So we offer that with the grooming that we provide through the Sweet Town Trails Club. And then through the volunteers that come and work for the race. You know, we couldn’t do it without the volunteers. – Dean Woodbeck, Organizer, Great Bear Chase
Swedetown’s trails attract the Copper Country’s residents throughout the year. Offering trail access for mountain biking, snow bikes, snow shoe, and cross-country skiing. Woodbeck says that the Great Bear Chase has become a popular weekend for out-of-towners because of the Keweenaw Peninsula’s abundance of natural snow.
The feedback that we get that people love about the Swede Town trails is that for the most part, you always feel like you’re in the woods. You know, some people, especially if they come from the Twin Cities where there hasn’t been snow and they’re skiing on man made snow, it’s this big open area with basically the base is ice that you’re skiing on. And so they come here, we have natural snow and lots of it. It’s right after, they’re probably a hundred meters after they get out of the start area they’ll be in the woods. – Dean Woodbeck, Organizer, Great Bear Chase
Those interested in registering for the Great Bear Chase or wanting to volunteer can find more information online. The Great Bear Chase at the Swedetown Trails takes off on March 8th. Thanks to an anonymous donation in 2025 the Junior Bear Chase for young skiers has free registration. The Great Bear Chase will also introduce a free sit ski opportunity for adaptive athletes. Those interested in learning more about the Great Bear Chase can find more information here.
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