The Rawest And Most Rugged Adventure Race In Aotearoa

Hari Hari delivered everything the West Coast is famous for, power, beauty, unpredictability and mana.
The fourth edition of the True West Adventure Race returned to the heart of Te Tai Poutini, following previous chapters in Franz Josef, Hokitika and Haast. With 80 teams and 268 racers spanning schools categories through to the extreme 48-hour race, True West once again proved why it is the rawest and most rugged adventure race in Aotearoa.

Race Director and Course Designer Nathan Fa’avae, world champion adventure racer and widely regarded as New Zealand’s most experienced race director, designed a course that honoured the landscape, not by taming it, but by embracing it.

A Land of Journeying, Then and Now

Long before modern adventure racers carried packrafts and carbon bikes across these valleys, Ngāi Tahu ancestors of Ngāti Waewae and Makaawhio travelled these same river corridors and coastal routes. The Wanganui, Poerua and coastal lagoons were highways of survival, trade and exploration.
True West is not just a race, it is a modern expression of that same spirit of journeying.

Where Māori once moved through these lands with deep knowledge of weather, rivers and terrain, today’s racers must also read the land, the rise of a river, the shift of wind, the bite of an approaching front. The connection is undeniable: resilience, teamwork, navigation and respect for the environment remain the currency of success.

The 48-Hour: Storm, River and Resolve

At 3:00am Friday morning, in calm and cool darkness, 15 four-person teams stood on the start line knowing a storm was building offshore.

The opening 17km trek up the Wanganui River to Hunters Hut was classic West Coast, rough valley travel, shifting between track, riverbed and sandy flats. An hour in, the rain arrived. By daylight, teams were battling heavy rain and rising rivers. It was epic mountain weather.

From Hunters Hut, packrafts were dropped and teams climbed steeply toward Blue Lookout at 1300m. Roots, mud, slippery rock. Some were rewarded with expansive views stretching to the Tasman Sea and across the Lords Range. Others climbed through mist and light snow.

Early control belonged to local legends Team Packraft NZ, Keith Riley, Barney Young, Kelly Wood and Pat de Jong, previous True West Hokitika champions with intimate knowledge of the terrain. Close behind, Nelson’s Team Gearshop, Dean Velenski, Sakkie Meyer, Rachel Baker and Dan Busch, winners of True West Haast.

Packraft NZ opened a 30-minute margin by Hunters Hut, and once out of sight, they never relinquished it.

The upper Wanganui was high and aggressive, full of features, waves and holes. It was a paddler’s river, and Packraft NZ are elite whitewater technicians. They extended their lead through technical water before the river eased into fast braided grade 2 below the highway bridge. The final 10km into a strong southwest headwind made the 40km river stage a true test of grit.

Behind them, the battle for third raged between Via Ultima, Lakes Adventure and King Country Cockies, separated by minutes, pushing relentlessly.

The coastal stage introduced strategy. Timing the tide at Saltwater Lagoon mattered. Packraft NZ fought through a sandstorm on the beach before finding shelter near Tunnel Bay. Night paddling on the Poerua River and collecting the Wanganui Heads checkpoint sealed a masterclass in control.

Under starlit skies at Lake Ianthe Matahi, the storm cleared. Calm water. Cold air. Gearshop closed the gap with strong paddling, but Packraft NZ transitioned first onto bikes and powered through forestry tracks to Greens Beach and back to Hari Hari.

Victory:
1st Packraft NZ – 30:01
2nd Gearshop – +27 minutes
3rd Via Ultima – 36:37

The final 48-hour team crossed the line in 46:59, battered, proud and deeply satisfied.

Barney Young of Packraft NZ summed it up:
“True West is the number one adventure race in New Zealand because it’s full immersion. It demands real skills, especially paddling and whitewater. There’s no fluff. No bullshit. Just you, your team and the terrain.”
Rachel Baker of Gearshop echoed the sentiment:
“We keep coming back because it’s the only race in the country with proper paddling and genuine whitewater. And the places you get to explore, they’re simply majestic. Nowhere else feels like this.”

The 24-Hour: Youth Unleashed

By 6:00am Saturday, the storm had cleared. Blue skies. Crisp air.

The 24-hour race launched in perfect conditions and quickly became the predicted showdown between Kaikoura U20 and Packraft NZ 24.Both team

s set a blistering pace across the same demanding terrain, Wanganui River and Saltwater Lagoon again centre stage. For hours they raced within 15-20 minutes of each other.In the 

end:
1st Packraft NZ 24 – 12:21
2nd Kaikoura U20 – +17 minutes
Two astonishingly fast times over technical West Coast terrain.

A Festival of Adventure RacingWith lo

ng course teams deep in wilderness, the 3-hour, 6-hour and Schools categories exploded into action under sunshine.

This is what makes True West unique.Te

n-year-old youth teams cross the same finish line as elite 48-hour racers. School juniors, intermediates, seniors, weekend warriors and seasoned world champions all share the same event hub, the same stories, the same West Coast mud.

True West is a festival of adventure racing, all abilities, all ages, all genders.The schools racing was electric, pure joy, mud-splattered smiles and emerging talent navigating, paddling and riding with confidence beyond their years.Nat

han Fa’avae reflected:
“The youth teams don’t just represent the future of our sport, they add something massive to the present. Their energy lifts the whole event. Watching a 10-year-old team cross the same finish line as a 48-hour elite team, that’s powerful.”

The Rawest Race in Aotearoa True West is uncompromising. It doesn’t sanitise terrain. It doesn’t avoid weather. It embraces the West Coast in its full character, rivers in flood, wind-whipped beaches, steep forest climbs, silent lakes under stars.

It demands navigation skill. River sense. Team cohesion. Decision-making under pressure.
It is, without doubt, the rawest and most rugged adventure race in Aotearoa. And Hari Hari delivered.

Gratitude
True West 2026 would not be possible without:
Ngāti Waewae and Makaawhio, for their support and guardianship of this land.
Department of Conservation
Hari Hari Community and landowners
Development West Coast
And our incredible sponsors:
Rab Equipment, Loksak, Real Meals, Musashi, Starborough Wines, Tineli, Blue Duck, Pure Sports Nutrition, Petzl, Okarito Sandfly Repellent.

© Scoop Media