Wii DK Summit

DK Summit (known as DK's Snowboard Cross in the British English version) is the third race course of the Flower Cup in Mario Kart Wii. The track takes place on a snowy mountain winter sports resort which appears to be popular among Shy Guys. This is the first race course in the Mario Kart series to have a different name between the American and British English localizations. This course is unique as it begins in a foggy environment that blocks most of the player's view, but as the race progresses, the fog clears until the final lap where the clear sky is visible.

The stage is somewhat a combination of DK Mountain from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and DK Pass from Mario Kart DS. Like DK Mountain, it has a Barrel Cannon aimed at a mountain and a zigzagging, crevice-filled path to the goal line, and like DK Pass, it is covered in snow and has various small snow piles that slow the player down if they run into them, as well as numerous Dash Panels.

DK Summit returns in Mario Kart Tour as a classic course starting with the Snow Tour, and in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the third course of the Fruit Cup in the Booster Course Pass.

Course layout
The race takes place in a mountain filled with snow and some snowboarding Shy Guys. The course starts with a right turn towards a set of automatic barriers and Item Boxes, which lead towards the Cannon. After landing from the cannon, the track makes a U-turn to the left along a half-pipe. The track then approaches a set of ramps, each featuring Item Boxes, with a larger single ramp with a Dash Panel on the right and three smaller ramps on the left. After this, the track takes a slight left past two areas of pink-striped deep snow, which will slow the player down if driven through, before approaching a set of moguls that form ramps. The mogul area also features three ramps with Dash Panels and Item Boxes. The course then makes a sharp right turn with a half-pipe on the left around one side of the chasm, and then a sharp left turn around the other side, before approaching a pair of Dash Panels in another half-pipe. The half-pipe features two drifts of deep snow, which cover up sections of the ramps, but do not prevent their use. Item Boxes are located on either side of the track with the deep snow, and Shy Guy Snowboarders appear on the half-pipe, with a single one between the two snow drifts and a pair after the second one. The course then turns to the right as the half-pipe slopes downwards and approaches the finish line.

If a player is playing as a Mii, the head of the wooden snowboarding Mario statue will be replaced with a Mii's head.

During the first lap of the course, snow is falling heavily, and the background and distant objects cannot be seen. By the third lap, snowfall clears up and all scenery can be clearly seen. This concept is reused for in Mario Kart 7.

There are three Item Boxes underneath the S-bend section that can be seen through hacking or with a glitch, but they cannot be obtained without hacking as Lakitu takes the player back to the track before the Item Boxes can be reached.

Shortcuts

 * The first shortcut is not an intentionally designed shortcut, but is a faster alternative to clearing the second turn of the course, and is mentioned in the Prima Guide for Mario Kart Wii. The player can jump over the left side of the hill by using a ramp, where they can perform a trick.
 * A Mushroom can be used to cut across the thick snow on the turn before the moguls.
 * A shortcut can be performed after the player has passed the moguls where there is a large chasm, and the player can drift and jump across the first chasm. The player can also slow down to cancel their drift, clear the first chasm and then drive off of the raised section ahead to clear the second.
 * Time can be saved on the last turn of the course by going up the half-pipe and wrapping around the corner, sticking to the invisible wall.

Tournaments
The second December 2008 tournament took place on DK Summit. Players had to go through all 25 gates on the course. Nothing else had been changed on the course other than the added gates. This tournament was repeated as December 2010's second tournament, April 2012's first tournament, and June 2013's second tournament.

Mario Kart Tour
DK Summit makes its classic course debut in Mario Kart Tour, introduced in the Snow Tour (making this the first Wii course to make its classic course debut in Mario Kart Tour). The Mario Kart logo on the starting banner now uses its modern version instead of its classic one, the starting banner itself is made completely out of metal instead of wood, the metallic grids around the start are replaced with plastic fencing, and there is a snowcat stationed by the starting grid. The gates racers pass through before entering the cannon now emit the sound of an airhorn (which was previously used in Super Bell Subway and Tokyo Blur 3, and later in Tokyo Blur 4) as they open, rather than a bell sound. On the course, the wooden snowboarding Mario statue near the moguls area is replaced with a stone Donkey Kong statue, most of the trees are absent, and the launch after the start/finish line now encompasses a Glide Ramp. A stretch of half-pipe ramp between the second chasm turn and the final stretch of the course was removed, and there is only one Dash Panel instead of two before entering the final section. The falling snow mechanic has been removed, with the course now being sunny throughout the whole race. The course's map has also been rotated 180°, with the starting line at the bottom of the map.

This course is a favorite of Blue Koopa (Freerunning), Toadette (Explorer), Peach (Explorer), Penguin Toad, Penguin Mario, Mario (Satellaview), White Tanooki Mario, King Bob-omb, Donkey Kong Jr. (SNES), and the ? Block Mii Racing Suit. It is also a favorite of the Hammer Bro Mii Racing Suit if it reaches level 3, Baby Mario (Koala) if he reaches level 6, and Luigi (Classic) if he reaches level 8. As with other courses in the game, DK Summit has a reverse variant, a trick variant, and a reverse/trick variant referred to as DK Summit R, DK Summit T, and DK Summit R/T respectively. The former two were introduced alongside the regular version in the Snow Tour, while the latter was added in the 2022 Holiday Tour.

For this course's tour appearances, see List of Wii DK Summit tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe


DK Summit returns in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of Wave 4 of the Booster Course Pass. It appears as the third course of the Fruit Cup. Its design is based on its appearance from Mario Kart Tour, only with numerous visual upgrades and modifications. For example, the jumbotron has been readded to the course after it was removed in Tour. The giant snowboarding Donkey Kong statue is now made of wood instead of stone.

Since Mario Kart 8 Deluxe supports British English, unlike Mario Kart Tour, this course is once again referred to as "DK's Snowboard Cross" when the Nintendo Switch console region is set to Europe or Australia/New Zealand, making it one of two courses in the Booster Course Pass so far to have a different English name, the other being.

Mario Kart Wii

 * Website bios:
 * Flag of USA.png "A challenging downhill course with a long series of halfpipe-style boost ramps for tricking over heavy snow banks."
 * Flag of Europe.png "The giant cannon that fires you to the mountaintop is just the first part of an incredible trip on this snow-covered track. Avoid the deepest drifts and look out for snowboarders as you pull off stunts on the half-pipe!"

Mario Kart Tour

 * Mario Kart Tour Twitter: "On the Wii DK Summit course, you'll blast through a barrel cannon to a mountaintop only to be met with winding hairpin turns and snow mounds that want to slow you down! Use the various ramps to finish the race in style!"

Mario Kart Tour / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

 * 100% Organic Antifreeze (Signs)
 * BaNaNa Boy (Signs, trackside banners)
 * Bullet Bill Speed Trial (Signs)
 * Burning DK (Signs, trackside banners)
 * Dream Gliders (Signs)
 * Mario Kart TV (Jumbotron) (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe only)
 * Princess Orange (Signs, trackside banners)
 * Roy Smooth Sounds (Signs)