IRON MOUNTAIN — The annual Pine Mountain Continental Cup competition originally set for Feb. 12 through 14 has been canceled due to limits on social gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kiwanis Ski Club announced Friday.

It’s the first time since World War II that the event, a fixture in the community since 1939, will not take place, club members said.

“The coronavirus has claimed another victim and it is our treasured ski jumping tradition,” Kiwanis Ski Club president Nick Blagec said in a press release. “With the restrictions currently in place on outdoor gatherings in the State of Michigan, we would not have been permitted to have spectators, resulting in significant impacts to the financial outcome of the event.”

The club made a “substantial investment” in major venue improvements this past year to continue to host the international event and remain “an economic driver in Dickinson County, the Upper Peninsula and the State of Michigan for many years to come,” Blagec said in the statement.

“A negative income year is not an option,” he said.

The Kiwanis Service Club has sold and will continue selling advertisements for the 2021 Dickinson County Healthcare System Pine Mountain Continental Cup program. It will be given away at various tourist attractions throughout Dickinson County “to introduce our visitors and tourists to our great winter tradition of ski jumping and the businesses that support it,” the news release said.

The Kiwanis Ski Club also will sell a limited edition 2021 button instead of booster buttons. The buttons allow for one individual tour of the new tower, either ski jump weekend Feb. 13-14 or summer dates to be determined.

Other jumping facilities that also will be open include the judges’ tower, Springer Haus, the clubhouse and Popple Palace.

Plans for further developments and events at the Pine Mountain Ski Jump complex, including the Veterans Memorial, are underway.

“To continue to get the complex up to International Ski Federation specifications for World Cup and to develop a year-round attraction for tourists, we need your help,” Blagec said. “We need the support of not only individuals and businesses in our community, but those from other locations that want to see our great tradition continue and see the economy in Dickinson County prosper.”

To contribute to the Kiwanis Ski Club Capital Campaign, go to the website at kiwanisskiclub.com or send a donation made out to the Kiwanis Ski Club to Kiwanis Ski Club, P.O. Box 475, Iron Mountain, MI 49801.