Michigan
Michigan’s Nick Baumgartner trains for Olympics on homemade backyard snowboard track
Many Olympians train in world-class facilities, but gold medalist Nick Baumgartner simply walks into his own backyard.
At 44 years old, Team USA’s oldest athlete from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is chasing another Olympic Games—not with fancy equipment or world-class coaches, but with grit, experience, and a snowboard track he carved with his own two hands.
On a quiet, snowy street just outside Iron River, where harsh winters are a way of life, sits a house with a yard that doubles as a snowboard track.
“Alright, it’s time to do Olympic training, Bates Township edition,” said Baumgartner.
No chairlift. No groomers. The sponsor’s logo is on a propane tank.
Just a snow shovel, a chainsaw, and a 44-year-old snowboarder who built his own course by hand.
“I put in 20 to 30 hours building this track at my home. And when it’s all done, it’s a heck of a place to train right outside my door,” Baumgartner said.
Every day on Nick Baumgartner Way, he straps in and drops down his homemade track—every bump and turn carved himself. His mantra is simple: outwork everyone.
When asked if he thought anybody outworked him, Baumgartner said, “Absolutely not. I’m sure there are a few of them that do the same amount of work as me, and they’re doing everything they can, but no one’s outworking me.”
Baumgartner is the oldest athlete on the U.S. snowboard cross team—by far.
He’s old enough to be the father of some of the guys he races with.
“The older I get, the more people say, ‘Aw, he’s not a threat this time. He’s not a threat this time.’ Fall asleep on me. See what happens?” Baumgartner said.
Most mountain athletes slow down in their 30s, but Nick won gold at 40.
“This thing does not live on the mantle. This lives in my pocket, in my backpack, or the console of my truck,” Baumgartner said, referring to his gold medal.
Getting to the top of the podium for Team Snowboard Cross in Beijing helped fund his career, but it wasn’t always like that.
“It’s funny. I was working for a concrete company out of Green Bay, Wisconsin,” Baumgartner said, recalling how he supported himself and his son before snowboarding was even an Olympic sport.
Baumgartner’s training doesn’t stop in his backyard.
To build the strength he’ll need for the upcoming Olympics in Italy, he makes the long drive to Marquette, where the work looks different, but the mindset stays the same.
Out-train the competition. Inside advantage training includes intense squat racks and sprinting sessions.
Baumgartner knows he has the advantage—as the “old man”—working out with guys half his age.
“As long as nothing pops, we love it,” Baumgartner said.
He’s the one who’s been there, fallen short, but always gotten back up.
“The last thing I want to do is come around these young kids and look old. So I work a little bit harder, and then when I can come here, and I can test some of these kids, it pushes them as well,” Baumgartner said.
Always turning limitation into an edge, Baumgartner cross-trains with mountain biking, surfing, and other activities.
After decades in a sport built on speed, Baugartner has proven something true: sometimes the longest and most difficult path in life often leads to the highest peak.
And sometimes, it starts in your own backyard.
Baumgartner does train on professional courses, but he built his home course to make sure no one outworks him.
He does at least ten laps on his course every day as part of his training regimen.
We should hear soon whether Baumgartner and his teammate, Jake Vedder from Pinckney, will represent the U.S. at the Olympics.
Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
ROTHBURY, Mich. — Michigan State Police (MSP) detectives shared some more information Friday about their investigation of the infant death at this year’s Electric Forest music festival in Rothbury.
Troopers recently received a tip about a Muskegon woman who was said to have information about the incident, but after interviewing her and completing other necessary investigative steps, MSP said they ruled her out as a suspect.
A restroom vending company employee at the festival found the body of a neonate, a newborn infant who is four weeks old or younger, in a portable restroom in the festival camping area on June 28, according to troopers.
The festival is hosted at the Double JJ Resort, which was locked down to anyone entering the following day as police surrounded the scene.
Troopers are asking for tips from the public at michigan.gov/michtip.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Harmful algal blooms have been reported on two notable lakes in West Michigan: Gun Lake and Muskegon Lake.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy says cyanobacteria was reported on Muskegon Lake July 3, but no tests have confirmed it.
The Barry-Eaton District Health Department says a harmful algal bloom was confirmed Thursday on Gun Lake. The lake remains open, but the BEDHD is encouraging visitors to use caution and avoid water that has “visible algae.”
Visitors are encouraged to avoid any contact with water that appears bright green, blue-green, brown or red or has “floating mats of scum.”
Pets should also avoid the water. If they come into contact with the algae, pets should be rinsed off as soon as possible with clean, fresh water.
Exposure to algae can cause a rash or irritation to the skin, eyes, nose and throat. It can also cause stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fever and trouble breathing.
“If you become sick, contact your healthcare provider. Seek medical care right away if you have trouble breathing, severe vomiting, or other serious symptoms,” the BEDHD said in a statement. “If your pet was exposed, rinse them well with clean water and do not let them lick their fur until they have been washed. Contact your veterinarian right away if your pet has vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, trouble walking, excessive drooling, shaking, or seizures.”
Harmful algal blooms are powered by the sudden growth of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. Cyanobacteria occur naturally in lakes, rivers and ponds but is often boosted by a sudden excess of nutrients, often caused by fertilizer runoff from farms or failed septic systems.
They can last for several days and sometimes even months. The water will look “scummy” or like “spilled paint or pea soup.” They are typically found in the summer and fall — usually peaking in August or September and dying off by the end of October.
You can report a suspected harmful algal bloom to EGLE at AlgaeBloom@Michigan.gov or 1.800.662.9278.
Sterling Stamping Plant is the largest in the world
Ed Daniels, vice president of North America injection and stamping operations, discusses the process of producing metal parts for Stellantis models.
Warren — Hulking metal presses line one wall of Stellantis NV’s cavernous stamping plant here, punching out the raw shapes of Jeep doors, Dodge hoods and Ram tailgates in rapid succession.
Nearby, swinging yellow robots continue the tightly choreographed work, gluing and pressing and welding smaller components to the sheet metal that eventually will start to resemble the shape of a truck or SUV.
Seven miles north, in Sterling Heights, Stellantis operates an even larger stamping plant — the biggest in the world, at 2.7 million square feet — that does much of the same work, churning out various shapes of steel and aluminum 24 hours a day.
Together, these lesser-known links in the manufacturing supply chain support all of Stellantis’ big North American assembly plants — from next-door Warren Truck Assembly Plant, where the Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV is built, to facilities in Windsor and Mexico that make minivans and pickups.
Inside Stellantis’ Huge Detroit Stamping Plants
The Detroit News recently got a rare look inside the automaker’s Sterling and Warren stamping plants, which are key to the company’s turnaround plan.
The Metro Detroit stamping plants, the automaker’s only two such facilities in the United States, have at times struggled in recent years, facing major job cuts and worker morale issues amid slowing sales and shifting production plans. But under Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, the facilities are expected to cram in more workload — and add staff — as Stellantis begins a new five-year strategic turnaround plan, which includes a heavy focus on its most profitable North American market.
The carmaker’s goal: grow sales by more than a third to 1.9 million annually by 2030 as it launches 23 vehicles, including 11 all-new models. The company also is directing billions of dollars of investment into its U.S. manufacturing footprint due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“Stamping has never really been viewed as the sexy side of automotive manufacturing, we’re relatively invisible,” said Ed Daniels Jr., vice president of North America injection and stamping operations. “Because when you look at the commercials and advertisements, it’s always a beautiful Ram rolling off the assembly line or climbing the side of a mountain.
“But we’re the inception of that vehicle,” he said. “This is where raw materials are turned into commodities and parts.”
The Detroit News recently got a rare look inside the two plants that combined employ about 3,000 people. The automaker wanted to show off a newly-installed blanking press at Warren Stamping and other machinery like a high-speed transfer press and a robot that spots flaws in the metal.
Hiring expected
The blanking press unspools long coils of metal and chops them up into pieces that can then be shaped into roofs, fenders and floor pans. Stellantis shipped the massive machine to Warren from its idled Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois last year.
After upgrades to the machine, executives said it’s able to produce as many as 120,000 metal blanks per week. It will save Stellantis money since the plant will no longer need to pay a supplier to break down the coils before the metal arrives there.
The blanker addition is a big deal for the plant and signals that the company wants to bring more work in-house and invest in the facility over the coming years, said Romaine McKinney III, president of United Auto Workers Local 869, which represents workers at the factory.
The plant has already brought back all of its laid-off UAW workers, and McKinney said he anticipates more hiring to get underway if sales grow and new Stellantis vehicles come to market.
In another corner of the Warren facility, one of the fastest press lines in the world — known internally as the Hellcat — pushes as many as 15 pieces of metal through per minute. Dies that weigh up to 50 tons apiece squish the material into the shapes of doors and hoods before robotic arms snatch them out and place them on conveyor belts. Midway through a shift, workers can reconfigure the machine to make a different component, a process that takes just five minutes.
Robots check for quality
Curtis Booth, who manages Warren Stamping, said manual processes inside the plant have become increasingly automated, and safer, over the last couple decades, even as the automaker’s two stamping factories still utilize some presses that were installed in the 1960s.
The latest high-tech addition is the Automated Body Inspection System, or ABIS. It’s a camera system mounted on a robot that automatically checks the quality of components and flags anything in need of repair.
Auto plants of all kinds are increasingly turning to these types of camera systems, infused with artificial intelligence, to catch flaws in sheet metal and other components before they are shipped. Booth said worker visual inspections are still used. But in some cases the human eye has too much subjectivity, and the ABIS removes the guesswork.
Greg Bauer, who manages Sterling Stamping, said his plant has added staff over the past year, and expects to continue hiring as more work is assigned to the facility. There is no space at the plant to add more presses, but officials have figured out how to increase efficiency — quickly toggling back and forth between making doors for a Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Charger on on a single machine, for example.
“We want to bring high-volume parts into the plant, and we want to maximize the capacity of the equipment,” Daniels said.
lramseth@detroitnews.com
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