The event – in which individuals and teams ski or snowboard, cycle, kayak and run from The Remarkables to sister skifield Coronet Peak – has been sold by founder Geoff Hunt to the local company behind the GODZone adventure race.
100% Pure Racing, which also runs New Zealand and Australia’s Red Bull Defiance, bought Peak to Peak through its new subsidiary, Active Tonic, and hired local event specialist Adrian Bailey to run it.
What’s NZ’s longest-running winter multisport event started in 1994 after Hunt was asked to create a Winter Festival event linking the skifields.
It quickly attracted NZ’s top multisporters, while also having broad local appeal.
It later became a standalone event, usually held in August, but it’s shifting this year to September 14.
Bailey says that having it after night skiing’s finished gives Coronet Peak greater flexibility to host the event finish and prizegiving.
“The Active Tonic team are looking to re-energise the race, attract a wider cross-section of competitors and streamline the event to ensure it continues to be a ‘must-do’ activity in the lower South Island during the winter season,” he says.
“We are super-excited to be working alongside [skifield operator] NZSki to develop and fine-tune Peak to Peak to ensure its legacy continues as a great Queenstown multisport attraction.”
Bailey says there are no immediate plans to change the race course or disciplines beyond introducing a tandem racing category.
Entries for this year’s event open in May.
