DHMW Marquette 2026

THE MOST FUN COURSE OF 2026?!?

Round 2 of the 2026 Downhill Midwest Series was one heck of a good time!!

Hosted at Marquette Mountain, the crew was allowed to rake in some fresh sections of trail. The trail gave riders a lot to think over during track walk!

Riders got to drop in under the old lift infrastructure. Getting a fun framing for a start gate! Immediately out of the gate, riders drop into a bit of off camber rocks with multiple compressions.

Then utilizing some of OG DH, the trail makes it’s way to the Tin Man. And this is when the trail got interesting.

A “road gap” over OG provided a lot of harsh bottom outs and some excitement! Riders wanted to hold the high line after the compression to open up the next tight right hander that had a nasty compression after. Riders toiled over this section for a while, with multiple lines being used by the end of the weekend.

Much of the fresh cut was taped very wide, with lots of lines being used during the weekend. Riders were sure one line was best, but after practice laps they would change their minds.

After the fresh bits the trail joined the bottom of the closed down Superior Switchback trail. The berms from this trail were still in place and were in great condition! With entering the corners from a different angle, riders had plenty of speed to push the limits of the berms!!

Finally the trail hops out into the open underneath the chair lift. Four grassy corners greeted riders as they try and finish out their runs strong!

Friday practice the trail was dry and hadn’t been ridden in at all. Causing for a lot of riders to be sliding around and feeling a bit unsettled. Practice was cut short due to lightning in the area closing down the lift. But riders sessioned sections to really dial in their line choice.

Friday night there was a lot of rain that came through the area. Creating some very different conditions Saturday.

Morning fog had riders taking goggles off. The dirt was amazing in some sections, slippery in others, and riders had to figure out which was which!

The moisture in the dirt really helped establish some great ruts in the fresh bits and grassy sections!

Saturday afternoon was seeding. Rider’s first time to see a time for the course.

Bodee McFadden was able to pull the fastest time on the day with a 1:32.44. But others weren’t far behind!

Lilli Regenold held down the fastest woman of the day with a 1:55.26!

Sunday kicked off with Cat 3 racers flying down Jawbone! Marquette Mountain’s main blue flow trail. This trail has a lot of high speed sections and fun jumps that bring you down to the bottom of the hill.

The fastest time on the Cat 3 course was posted by Jack Smith IV with a 3:09.73! A very fast time on such a long trail!

There were two little rippers in the 11 and under category! It’s so fun seeing them come down the course!

After Cat 3 was completed, Cat 1 and 2 were allowed on course to do a single practice run.

Why only 1 practice run? A few reasons. First, it allows racing to get done earlier in the day. This way riders can start the drive home sooner if they want to. Or riders can go ride the other trails on the mountain. Secondly, it’s good practice for those traveling to bigger races. It can be tough to only do one run on new conditions and then go faster than in Seeding.