New Zealand's icon adventure race, the Southern Traverse, will celebrate its 10th anniversary in Canterbury next month. A double celebration will take place with this year's new partnership with Discovery Channel Inc. bringing unprecedented worldwide exposure and a new name. The race is now known as the Discovery Channel Adventure Race — a Southern Traverse partnership.

Recognized around the world as one of the most demanding and competitive races on the adventure racing circuit, the Southern Traverse was created back in 1991 by Geoff Hunt, the founder of adventure racing in New Zealand.

Based on a similar idea of French journalist Gerard Fusil who held an event in New Zealand in 1989 called the Grand Traverse, the race concept was for teams of five adventurers, men and women, racing nonstop, 24 hours a day. The course would travel over a 300km, mountainous and remote course which would present the combined challenge of competition and discovery.

With an extensive multi-sport background as a competitor and event manager during the late '70s, Hunt pursued his vision of creating a unique New Zealand race and found willing participants.

Twenty-three teams turned out for the event which started at Lake Ohau and travelled through the Southern Lakes region of the South Island. It was deemed a success and the event was set to become an annual competition.

In 1992, the race started near Haast on the West Coast and in 1993 it returned to Lake Ohau. While the concept was enjoyed by those who competed, the races struggled for numbers and with limited sponsorship and resources it took until 1994 for the race to start receiving recognition.

Innovative changes to the basic structure of the race continued to add new dimensions for participants. The inclusion of a three-person team category was added in 1993 and the secret course was introduced in 1994. The '94 course followed a circular pattern around the Wakatipu basin, with changing weather patterns bringing snow, rain and ice for competitors to battle.

Keeping the course details secret until 24 hours before race start has added another degree of difficulty for competitors. Navigation has become a crucial part of the Southern Traverse over the years with many teams losing their chance of winning due to navigational errors.

By 1995, the race attracted US racers and its international profile grew as media came from around the world to check out the New Zealand race attitude. The '95 race had a spectacular kayak start in Milford Sound with competitors traveling through the Homer Tunnel and then over the Humboldt and Richardson ranges. The end came quickly when the entire field was forced to stop racing due to inclement weather at the Remarkable mountain range.

Pascale Lorre became a partner in the Southern Traverse company in 1995 and, with a marketing and communications background, Lorre quickly became the driving force behind the sponsorship and promotion of the race worldwide.

Years of consolidation were seen in 1996 and 1997 with competitor numbers increasing steadily and by 1998 the race had its largest number of international teams. The '98 race was based out of Lake Te Anau and added abseiling to the line of disciplines, which include kayaking, mountain biking and trekking. This proved too much of a challenge for National Geographic presenter Boyd Mathewson who was filmed competing in '98 and declaring the race one of his toughest assignments to date.

Having covered most of the mountainous terrain in the lower South by 1999, the race moved to Nelson with 48 four-person teams competing. The move was a great success, increasing the race profile around the country and competitors declaring it the best race to date.

With the celebration of the 10th anniversary this year, the race now moves to Canterbury. The start town will be announced in two weeks time with over 500 competitors, support crews and media arriving by November 13th for race start.

Continuing in its commitment to provide viewers with the ultimate in human adventure programming, the Discovery Channel will capture the race in a four-hour primetime miniseries revealing the real-life human drama of a demanding, week-long multi-disciplinary sporting event.

The program will air in 149 countries around the world and will premiere globally during second quarter 2001. This exclusive new partnership between the Discovery Channel and the Southern Traverse combines one of the world's most experienced adventure racing companies with the leading global real world entertainment programmer.

For more information email Southern Traverse at traverse@queenstown.co.nz.