“Discovering” producer Kristin Ojaniemi films Willie Erickson in his Iron Mountain home. (Photo courtesy of William Jamerson)

By JESSICA POTILA

Journal Staff Writer

IRON MOUNTAIN — Willie Erickson is aware that he has been luckier than most.

“I’ve had some wonderful experiences over my lifetime,” he said.

Erickson, 87, has succeeded in sports, business and family.

The three-time national ski jumping champion and Olympic athlete from Iron Mountain earned that success.

“I guess I was lucky in everything I did, but luck comes with hard work. I was always a workaholic. My wife Maija was the same way. Together I knew we’d never fail. I knew we’d be successful,” he said. “Low and behold everything turned out just beautiful.”

Erickson met his wife in 1962 while training in Finland with the United States ski jumping team ahead of the world championships.

“Maija, she was a beautiful girI. I just kind of took a liking to her and she took a liking to me,” he said. “It was love at first sight.”

The couple would have two children, Will and Lenita.

But first, Willie Erickson would make his mark as an athlete.

“Back in the day there was really nothing for kids to do. We didn’t have all the things the kids have today like the telephones, the computers and all that stuff; we made our own enjoyment.” he said.

For Erickson, this involved skiing.

His father, who emigrated to the United States from Finland, made Willie’s first pair of skis out of hickory boards.

“My dad was an old Finnish carpenter. I remember it like it was yesterday. He got hickory boards at the lumberyard. He planed them, sanded them, bent the tips and soaked the tips of the skis down into boiling hot water. He hung them on the rafters in the basement and put weights on the tail end of the skis to bend. He would have to repeat that many times to get the points to stay in that position,” Willie said. “Those are memories that have been with me for life and I guess never leave.”

Willie won his first U.S. national ski jumping championship in 1956 when he was just 16 years old. He would go on to repeat that honor in 1957 and 1959 and compete in the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California.

After living with Maija in Finland for several years, the couple returned to Iron Mountain with a new plan of action.

“I used to hang out at one of the restaurants in town. I went to the guy that owned the restaurant and said, ‘Hey, why don’t you sell me this restaurant?’ and I bought the restaurant,” Erickson said.

Capitalizing on his athletic success, the Ericksons would establish another restaurant, Willie’s Olympic Lounge.

The marketing strategy worked.

Erickson developed his own line of skis and opened Willie’s Olympic Ski Sales and Rentals.

“I used all of my skiing notoriety in my businesses,” he said.

The sport that made Willie Erickson famous and helped propel him to the successful life he has known has changed over the years, as everything does.

“It used to be more of a graceful sport; you kept your skis together and never moved a muscle. Your skis never moved. I call it poetry in the sky,” Erickson said. “Today’s ski world is a little different. Now it’s kind of a wild sport; hands are going all over the place, the equipment has changed and the hills are bigger.”

Perhaps the most profound change of Erickson’s life occurred when Maija passed away in 2022 after 59 years of marriage.

“I was so blessed to have her; she was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, really,” he said. “I’m proud of everything I’ve done and that makes me feel really good about life. What a life. What a life.”

Jessica Potila can be reached at 906-228-2500. Her email address is jpotila@miningjournal.net.