The Crusher History

Crush (verb)
a :to suppress or overwhelm as if by pressure or weight
b: to oppress or burden grievously
C: to subdue completely.

The Crusher has been many things over the years, but we’ve always called it The Crusher. Originally a way for the riders of Marquette, MI to explore the hundreds of miles of barely-maintained gravel, two-track, and logging roads, The Crusher now takes riders from across the midwest to places that have a higher bear population than human.

You don’t have to go far into the woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula until you come across some mining equipment, often times a machine that takes large rocks and crushes them into small ones. Every year there’s a portion of the route that: a) could use a mining crusher to pulverize the gravel to more rideable conditions, and b) provides soul crushingly stout terrain about two thirds of the way in.

Riding it for the first time, the name just made sense. “Crusher” was a natural choice.

The early years had riders exploring the Huron Mountains to the northwest of Marquette. Think miles of dirt, gravel and sand. Crushingly fast (and frequently well graded) downhill. Back then the official name for the event was “The Huron Mountain Crusher.”

The ride cut across the Huron Mountain highlands and down a screamingly, crushingly fast (and frequently well graded) downhill on County Road 510. The ride then rolls up and over a spine of the Huron Mountains for a second, less well maintained descent. Serious terrain features, sometimes over aggregate the size of footballs (and larger!) Sections with gnarly gravel, on steep grades, mixed in with sand, mud, swampy gulches and brushy workarounds if a rider doesn’t want to get their feet wet.

When we expanded beyond the Huron Mountains and ran a checkpoint event we called it, for a brief time, The HAMR (Huron Adventure Mountain Race). But everyone still calls it The Crusher. Distances vary each year, with options for a shorter route that will take riders all day, to a longer route that may take riders two days to complete. This year’s long race has an option for a new 225-mile route from Copper Harbor to Marquette. Rain or shine. Self-supported. There’s a reason that a snorkel is on the required gear list.

It’s all about community.

906 Adventure Team is a 501c3 Non-Profit based in Marquette, Michigan. Since 2014 we have been creating outdoor adventure experiences for youth through Adventure Bike Club and events like Polar Roll, The Crusher, and Marji Gesick. Our take on life is pretty simple – it’s an adventure. In life (and adventure) stuff doesn’t always go to plan. Things go wrong. Bad things happen to good people and you don’t overcome it by complaining or pointing fingers. The truth is adversity brings out the best of us – by taking us down unknown paths to find it. 

 

906 Adventure Team uses revenue from the events to support trail organizations and create more youth Adventure Teams. 

 

The Marji Gesick will donate $27,000 to local trails this year, bringing total trail donations since 2015 to $216,000. 

 

In 2022, with the help of corporate partners, we invested $40,000 in youth programs for three new Adventure Team communities. Resilience, confidence, community, and a sense of belonging have never been more important than it is for kids today. Adventure Teams help them “find their people”, the way you feel like you’ve found yours at Marji. 

 

We want you to know when you support 906 Adventure Team and the events you’re making life better here in Marquette County and in communities across the Midwest. 

 

Learn More

When you sign up for The Crusher mailing list