Two Jacksonites are trying to survive — climbing, canoeing, killing their own food — on national television. Oliver Dev and Corry Jones are featured on the current season of Race to Survive: New Zealand. Race to Survive is a competition where contestants must rely on a combination of endurance racing, survival skills, and intuition as they navigate 150 miles of New Zealand’s harshest terrain. Contestants have to climb mountains, raft down rivers, rappel down cliffs, and in new this season, contestants were given no food. They had to forage, hunt, or earn every calorie. It’s like an adventure race on steroids. Nine teams of two compete for a grand prize of $500,000.
Nine teams of endurance athletes and survivalists navigate New Zealand’s harshest terrain. (Brian Firestone/USA Network)
The narrator of the show called Dev and Jones “The River Guides,” but quickly everyone else on the show started calling them “The Jackson Boys.” Every time they heard that, it felt special to them.
Jones said, “Like that just gave me goosebumps thinking about it again. We wanted to go out and represent the communities that have mentored us and put us in this place to be competitive in an amazing challenge like this. And, you know, throughout the experience, we were talking often about our mentors here in Jackson — some of the people that are on Teton County Search and Rescue who trained us and really fostered this love of being in the industry from the very beginning.”
Dev added, “Like I never in a million years would have even considered living in Wyoming. To come here and totally fall in love with this place and have the community kind of come around us and help us hone these skills … was really cool. He’s not ‘The Utah Boy.’ I’m not The Washington Boy.’ We’re ‘The Jackson Boys,’ which is pretty cool.”
The Jackson Boys quickly became clear front-runners in the competition, usually miles ahead of teams coming in second. Both Dev and Jones said they felt well prepared for the physical aspects of the race, but not as prepared for the survival aspects — namely, the hunger.
“The hunger, without a doubt, was difficult. … There were there were some hard physical days, but a lot of that was made more difficult because we were like, ‘We don’t have enough calories to sustain us,’” Dev said.
“Kahuranghi Coast,” Episode 207. (Brian Finestone/USA Network)
The hunger ultimately led to The Jackson Boys’ demise on Race to Survive: New Zealand. In episode 8, titled “A Rule Was Broken,” Dev and Jones were eliminated from the competition due to a disqualification.
Jones said, “We had a bit of a fall from grace. There was a moment in a survival camp where there was a lot of frustration, among our team and other teams out there about some of the rules and restrictions in place. And the decision was made. We killed something we weren’t allowed to kill and we ate it.”
Jones said that he wasn’t allowed to tell us what animal they killed, but said the clues were there earlier in the show. In episode 4 of Race to Survive, weka birds are seen getting into many of the contestants’ bags and food. Contestants talk about how annoying the weka birds are and how frustrating it is that they’re on New Zealand’s protected animal list and can’t kill and eat them. At one point, Jones is watching a weka bird and says, “I want that walking sandwich.”
The weka, also known as the Māori hen or woodhen is a flightless bird species of the rail family. It is endemic to New Zealand. (Brian Finestone/USA Network)
Dev and Jones were at Survival Camp 3 with other contestants when the illegal activity occurred. Another team are the ones who told producers about the rule violation; that’s why there’s no footage or audio of it actually happening.
“We trusted some people out there that also had half of one million dollars dangling in front of them and we forgot about it. We were just hungry. You know, we’re not really thinking about the money. And honestly, our biggest drive in this race was not to win the money, but to complete the experience and race to the final races. And that’s something that… It’s going to haunt me a little bit. It’s going to sting for a long time,” Jones said.
Life goes on for the Jackson Boys. They are both back-running rivers as guides for Jackson Hole White Water. In Race to Survive: New Zealand, mistakes were made, but a friendship not only survived—it grew and strengthened through the process. Which isn’t half a million dollars, but it counts for something?
