Course description

The course starts from the main street of Queenstown. Mt Owen towers directly above. And you will ascend it by the most direct route. We're remaking this route, directly up Little Owen Ridgeline, to access the off-track alpine ridgelines which are open and runnable. Across the surprisingly soft conglomerate gravel underfoot, and scramble the conglomerate boulders — pebbles and stones frozen together by pressure and time.

Descend via the most gnarly MTB in the network, Natural Selection. It's epic for the downhill frothers. This is super steep, and super direct. You’ll hit the classic tourist lookouts at Horsetail Falls at the foot of Mt Owen. This 50-metre waterfall can vary from a trickle when it is dry to a massive waterfall after rain. And then it’s out and back to the Iron Blow Lookout, which gives an impressive bird's eye view of the huge open-cut mine and perhaps gives you a little more understanding of the man-made moonscape landscapes around Queenstown.

It’s then back down the MTB trails, and around over the Miners Siding — a large sculpture that tells the story of Queenstown's rich mining history — and over the finish.

There are 2 aid stations on course (but you have the opporunity to visit the Monument Aid Station twice). See the Strava map for where they are. There is a recovery station at finish line.