Down Wind Sports

Join us in Marquette every Thursday evening for our Mountain Bike Group rides. This is a good ole’ ride at your own pace, social, off road bike ride. These rides are a great way to meet other local bikers and to be introduced to all of the different trails in the Marquette area as each week we will choose a different trail to ride. Bring water, energy food or gels, and of course helmets are required. Typical ride times are between 1-2 hours and we meet at 6:30pm. For more information please call the shop at 906-226-7112. The rides start Thursday May 20th and the ride meets at the Harlow Lake (Gravel Pit) Trail Head- two track-single track, beginner/ intermediate skill level

Please check the event schedule on this site for ride dates and locations!

The Queen Bee is a vintage-inspired cap sleeve top that delivers performance during your ride and all-day style after. The fabric is so soft and comfy, you won’t believe it’s actually our high performance, breathable Sheer2Dry™ poly-blend knit that will keep you dry and cool during and after your ride. We added two rear teardrop pockets to store the essentials.

Though it’s just as stylish and comfy as that old plaid shirt hanging in your closet, don’t be fooled; Your New West is trail-ready. Using Club Ride’s lightest RideDryWear™ fabric with abundant venting, the New West keeps you cool on long climbs and dries quickly for whatever comes next. Add the Air2Flow™ hidden zip system, pearl snaps, storage pockets and a media port and you’ve got high performance style.

Whether you’re heading out for a quick lunch loop, or gearing up for an all-day grind, the Club Ride line will keep you cool, dry and looking just as great as the ride makes you feel!  Stop by for a look at our new line- Club Ride!

The Ultimate Fishing Machine!

This is the boat that launched the Native brand, the original and still #1 seller for Native. Lots of reasons why: With a patented hull design and revolutionary performance, the Ultimate 12 marked a new class of boat; a class of boat designed around people — the way we sit, the way we move, our postures when relaxed. All that research results in the most enjoyable and comfortable kayaking experience on the water.

Performance Promise – Stable ride sitting or standing – Comfortable support for rear end and lower back – Ideal for flat water and up to Class II rivers – Optional rudder – Tons of available accessories

We have filed tested this boat salmon fishing in the upper harbor, catching pan fish in Greenwood Resevoir, as well as bass fishing on Harlow Lake.  We don’t think you’ll find a more thought out fishing rig than the Ultimate 12.  Need more convincing?  Check out what Jimbo has to say about it!

Why is everyone raving about Nuu-Muu? Because Nuu-Muus feel as good as they look and perform like a dream. Nuu-Muu dresses are easy care and easy wear which makes them a go-to garment in any wardrobe. Their no-fuss dresses are flattering and friendly to real women’s bodies. Nuu-Muus are designed to perform from the trail to the gym and charm everywhere in between. They are crafted for comfort – so you feel good enough to keep going. Nuu-Muus are also perfect for travel, great at the beach and darling at dinner. They layer gorgeously for year-round versatility. There is nothing built in, so you get to choose your favorite undergarments. Bike shorts, running tights, yoga pants, swimwear – Nuu-Muu does what you do.

NUU MUU PHILOSOPHY

Girl Power – We believe in strong girls and women. We believe in real people, real bodies and real friends. We believe in trying really hard. We believe that moments of truth can be extended to lifetimes of truth. We believe in having fun along the way. We believe that you can too.

Green Living – We believe in riding bikes. We believe in recycled and recyclable packaging and tags. We believe less is more. We believe in hand-me-downs and in products made well enough to last.

Made in the USA – We believe in limiting our carbon imprint. We believe in supporting our national economy. Every single Nuu-Muu is made in the United States in small batches so you can feel as good on the inside as your Nuu-Muu feels on you.

Contributing – We believe in sharing. We believe in being engaged members of our communities. We believe in being the kind of company who cares enough to do the right thing.

Stop in the Marquette store to check out the latest fashions from Nuu Muu!

So just what is this thing called slacklining?  You may have first been introduced to it during the Madona Super Bowl Half time show featuring “Sketchy Andy” Slacklining is the act of balancing along a narrow, flexible piece of webbing which is low to the ground and usually anchored between two trees.  Originating in the climbing world, slacklining has evolved into a cross trainer, backyard activity and sport all of its own.

Slacklining can be traced back to climbing camps in Yosemite during the mid seventies. Climbers would stay there for weeks blazing new routes and in their time on the ground they starting rigging climbing rope to walk across.  They found that the activity improved their core strength, balance and movement for climbing – and is was FUN.

Gibbon Slacklines have fueled the next generation of slacklining by making it easy and accessible to everyone. The 2″ webbing and ratchet tensioning design make the Gibbon line friendlier to walk on and easier to set up. No additional tools or rigging are needed; just the kit and a couple of trees and you’re ready to go.

GIBBON CLASSIC SLACKLINE NOW IN STOCK!

The new Red Classic offers our custom weave, perfect for beginners and flexible enough for learning tricks

•     Available in two lengths
•     Low mounting height for safe handling
•     Two part kit for quick and easy set-up and take down
•     Includes instruction manual

Children of any age love the challenge of slacklining, but it is not just for fun. The Slacklining has some physical benefits like improving your child’s balance and strengthening his core as they struggle to stay on top.  Perfect for family reunions, church retreats, homeschool groups, birthday party’s or anywhere a crowd gathers, the Gibbon Slacklines consists of only two parts, so it is super-easy to set up and can be quickly rigged between two trees or sturdy posts.  Stop by the store to check them out!

For trout anglers this weekend marks the holiest of all days…..the season opener!  Trout opener is always a great time of the year. Rivers, streams, and creeks that have been closed since the latter part of September are once again open.

In the Upper Peninsula, the  trout streams will still be cold and running high from the extended winter, and trout are not as eager as anglers to engage in that elusive game of catch.

With all this in mind, fly-fishing the opener can still be fun and productive. The forecast for Saturday is for the weather to be 43 the night before, and opening day will be in the 65 degree range. High water and existing snow on the banks will make for some challenging conditions this year- but it will still be fun to be out walking the river.  This is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and you can expect just about anything during the trout opener!

Have fun on the streams and if you need anything to make your “holiday” more enjoyable be sure to stop in!

The Rio Gallegos Waders are the toughest, most puncture-resistant waterproof/breathable wader on the planet. They combine the finest level of durability while offering a new level of comfort and convenience. In other words, the ultimate wader. Patagonia started by strategically placing varying weights of our proprietary H2No® Performance Standard polyester microfiber fabric package with a waterproof/breathable barrier according to specific breathability or toughness needs. The result? Max durability and flexibility without resorting to excessive, heavy, sweat-trapping layers. The revolutionary merino wool grid-lined neoprene booties wick perspiration and create guilt-inducing levels of foot comfort. The 3mm neoprene maintains the warmth of 5mm neoprene but with better breathability. Patagonia’s innovative internal suspension system allows easy conversion to waist height and – this is critical – quick relief without having to remove your jacket or fight sticky zippers. Upper exterior glued-in, water-repellent zip pocket at chest provides ample storage for quick access to tippets, nippers and lip balm. An interior, clear-welded TPU pocket provides waterproof security for cell phone, camera and keys. More features: sculpted upper for reduced drag in heavy currents, anatomically curved knees with removable knee pads, built-in fabric gravel guards with abrasion-resistant scuff zones and high-filtration mesh drain strip, a quick-release DuraFlex® Stealth-V buckle for an adjustable fit and, to avoid line catch, concealed stainless-steel locking boot hooks. Exterior reinforcement tape on interior leg and crotch provides unsurpassed abrasion resistance where it’s needed most. High-filtration polyester mesh drainage strip is 100% recycled. It also comes with a field repair kit.

Winner of Field and Stream’s Best of the Best Award, Fly Fusion’s Editors’ Choice Award and the EFTTEX Best New Clothing Product Award, the Rio Gallegos Waders are Patagonia’s highest-performing, most durable and feature-rich waders – and now exclusively at Down Wind Sports of Marquette.

Daly Gadd Challenge

MultiSport Day

By Malcolm Daly and Will Gadd

For quite a few years now I have been thinking about all of the different sports that are available here in the Upper Peninsula and how fortunate we are to be able to do just about any outdoor sport we want.  This time of year is tough as I don’t know if I should go ice climbing or break out the rock shoes and go climb.  Why not do both!  I  remember a couple of my friends putting together a challenge to see how many different sports they could do in one day.  Check out what Malcolm Daly and Will Gadd did together in Boulder Colorado back in the 90′s.  (Image courtesy of  the Bozeman Ice Fest and Claudia Lopez.  Check out her amazing work at claudialopezphotography.com  )

In the spring of 1997 Will Gadd and I were discussing the relative merits of living in Boulder vs. Canmore, AB. See, Will is a Canadian and the call of the wild north was pretty loud in his head. He’d already been in Boulder for 3 years! Our discussion soon got around to the variety of sports available in the immediate area and the quality of life that those sports ibued on the residents thereof. Yeah, I know, it sounds like we had been sampling some of the medical marijuana Boulder is famous for, but the discussion predated the MM phenomena by more than a decade. It was more likely that we had gotten into some medical margaritas. Whatever—in no time we had decided to try to do as many of them as we could in one day.
The first thing we had to do was put some boundaries around our day and some rules around what is and isn’t a sport. Here’s what we came up with.

1. First we eliminated ball sports because anything that uses a ball or a ball surrogate is, in reality, just a game.

2. Second, we had to figure where one sport ended and the other began. Many sports are micro-sliced and trying to decide where one sports ends and the other begins took careful consideration. We eventually came up with a 2-step qualification.

a. First, there had to be a group of people who participate in the chosen sport to the exclusion of the boundary sports. Are there people who mountain bike but not road bike? Bingo: two sports.

b. Second, the sports had to have footwear or foot gear that was designed specifically for that sport. Trail running shoes vs. road running shoes? Bingo again: two sports.

3. We decided that to be honest we both had to be proficient, if not good, in each sport. In the spirit of keeping it real, we each had to own the equipment necessary to participate in the sport and bring it with us during our day. No borrowing or swapping allowed.

4. Our day had to be self-supported and in a single vehicle. No re-loading the car or wussy sag wagons or media allowed. We would be on our own in Boulder Canyon. Except for a stop for burritos at Illegal Pete’s.

5. Twelve hours only. 7:00 am to 7:00 pm was it. We met up, loaded the car and caffeinated at Vic’s

6. And finally, each sport had to consist of at least one logical interval. For instance to qualify for Alpine Skiing we had to complete one run. Each climbing category had to consist of one route, etc.

There you have it: a framework for a great day of insanity. We chose April 13, 1997 because both winter and summer existed in the canyon and the lifts at Eldora were still open. Here are the sports we did in the approximate order in which we did them: Ice Climbing, Snowboarding, Alpine Sking, Tele Sking, Classic Sking, Skate Sking, Snowshoeing, Rappelling, Trad Climbing, Sport Climbing, Bouldering, Trail Running, Road Running, Mountain Biking, Road Biking, Rollerblading and Kayaking.

Will ended up moving to Canmore and I lost a leg so the funhog potential in Boulder took a turn for the worse. Regardless, we still talk about that day whenever we get together and dream about doing it again but up the ante to 20 sports.

Malcolm Daly

I think Marquette is a candidate to break that mark of 17- who whats to give it a go?  The first ever Daly-Gadd Challenge right here in Marquette!  Give the store a call at 906-226-7112 and we will formulate a group….same rules as above, and we will shoot for 18 sports from 7am to 7pm Sunday May 5th!