The course is located in a ski resort on the mountain Pohorje in the suburbs of Maribor, Slovenia's second largest city with a population of 150,000. The same venue is used for the classic women's Alpine Ski World Cup slalom and giant slalom events. The finish area is only 6km (10 minute drive) from downtown Maribor.

Downhill 2009 map

Tec. Spec.:
lenght: 2.500 m
vertical rise: 448 m
foreseen time of ride: 3,30 min

Course composition:
5 % macadam,
80 % forest,
15 % meadow

Hamlet camera video of Maribor course

The start of the Mountain Bike World Cup downhill course is on 783m above sea level at the Luka hut which is situated on the ski slope Habakuk. The racers start from a wooden platform which leads to a fast meadow section with a 15m long jump. After landing a combination of three berms follows which continue to a very interesting and rhythmic forest section with roots and rocks. A part of this section is a wooden drop with no support. This section can be avoided on a slower chicken way line. The course then heads to a meadow and to the second forest section with three very fast berms in a row. After that racers have approximately 10 seconds to prepare for the most interesting part of the course – the rock& roll section. When and if the racers finish this part they've almost finished the half of the course. The next section is an 80m long and slightly descending macadam road that ends with a steep right drop. A very fast section follows, leading to a hanging and technically very demanding root section. The structure in the lower part of the course is diverse and covered with roots, demanding accurate steering and holding the ideal line. This is one of the parts where each mistake means loss of speed and consequently a bad time result. In case of rain this already extremely technical part of the course turns into a real hell that doesn't allow any mistakes. Coming out of the forest, the racers have to complete another 15m long and extremely fast jump. After the jump follow the final flat section and the finish on 335m above sea level.

Dan Atherton explaining how to ride rock section in Maribor

4x 2009 map