Southlanders Josiah Murphy (18) Dean Stewart (17) and twins Zac and Josh Pearson (18) are not your average teenagers.

They completed their first gruelling multi-day adventure race in Fiordland last weekend (January 9-10), competing alongside experienced adventure racers from across the country.

The boys were the youngest team in the 3rd annual Wilderness Traverse of Fiordland and battled extreme fatigue and sore muscles as they trekked across mountain ranges, paddled down rapids, and stopped to sleep for just three of the 55 hours they were on the course.

Advertisement

Advertise on the Southland App

Despite this, crossed the line in third place and were one of just three teams to finish the course. Ten teams took part. However, they emerged the winner because they were the only team to also visit all of the optional checkpoints at the end of the course.

The Wilderness Traverse of Fiordland, or commonly known as WTF, is a non-stop adventure traverse set in Fiordland National Park and is not for the faint hearted.

Organised by the Fiordland Endurance and Adventure Racing (FEAR) society, this year’s event was held over the weekend (January 9-10).

It began just south of Manapouri at the Mararoa Weir, down towards Borland Lodge, then crossed Lake Manapouri from South Arm and passed over the Kepler mountains to finish in Te Anau.

President of FEAR society Andy Magness has been running WTF over the last four years.

He said the event attracts people from all over New Zealand as many participants use the informal race, set in highly technical terrain, as a training ground for Godzone.

Although participants go as fast as they can in the event, it’s not a formal race and was designed by Magness for those passionate about the outdoors, who want to take part in a multi-day activity but at a “fraction of the cost” to similar sporting events.

A team rafts the Griebe River during the Fiordland Traverse. PHOTO: Keegan Magness

“My goal in starting this starting this was ‘how can we put on top notch, challenging events… without charging an arm and a leg,” he said.

Set mostly off the beaten track in the national park, participants get to explore rarely seen secret gorges, mountain ranges and come up close with an array of native wildlife.

For team Fear Youth, this was one of the best parts about adventure racing in Fiordland.

They have been training together for about six months now, with Magness as their mentor, and the event was their first overnight adventure race. 

They had to make some big calls along the way, including deciding to make a “really big detour” in the middle of the night, as the route forward didn’t look safe.

“We had to turn around about 2 o’clock in the morning, about 100-200 vertical metres from the top of one of the mountains, and then spend another two hours going round to another ridge…trying to get to the top of this mountain we were probably half an hour away from,” said Josh Pearson.

“We were at 1400 metres and we dropped back down to a 1000 [metres] and had to go back up to 1600 [metres]… it was just really annoying, at 2’oclock in the morning having to lose all this progress,” he said.

Advertise on the Southland App

Josiah Murphy said the unpredictability of the terrain can make it difficult when orienteering with maps.

“You can take a route choice but… you just can’t tell on the scale of the map what’s happening,” he said.

However, despite a few setbacks along the way, the boys said they loved the experience.

Their favourite part was battling the grade three plus rapids on the Griebe River.

“It was a good time,” said Dean.

Their hard work felt worth it when they saw the sunrise on Sunday morning and they knew they’d almost reached the finish line.

Competitors in the Fiordland Traverse enjoy a break on a peak. PHOTO: Hayley Richards

Magness said the boys showed levels of endurance, decision making, and strength expected from seasoned adventure racers much older than they.

The boys are off to university and work this year but will continue training for adventure races with Magness.

Josiah is heading to Otago University to study health science, Josh is off to Christchurch to study engineering at Canterbury University, his twin Zac is staying in Te Anau to work full time and Dean will continue working on a farm in Wyndham. 

But for now, they will enjoy the rest of the summer in Southland, before they head off on their next adventure.