In the forests, rivers and volcanic landscapes of Inner Mongolia, Columbia is expanding the idea of the outdoor experience beyond traditional hiking.
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ARXAN, INNER MONGOLIA — Columbia has taken its 2026 Hike Party to Arxan National Forest Park in Inner Mongolia, introducing a new outdoor format that combines land and water activities in a single adventure race.
The inaugural Water-Land Adventure Race brought hundreds of outdoor enthusiasts together for a two-person team challenge incorporating speed hiking, rafting and lure fishing. The format represents a significant shift from the conventional hiking event, turning the surrounding landscape itself into a multi-stage sporting environment.
From forest trails to river water
The setting is central to the experience.
Rather than limiting participants to a single trail, Columbia's new format uses the varied terrain around Arxan to create a continuous journey across land and water. Participants began with a 10-kilometre speed-hiking section through forest terrain, before moving into a rafting stage and ultimately reaching the riverbank for lure fishing.
The combination brings together three increasingly popular outdoor pursuits — hiking, water adventure and fishing — while creating a format accessible to enthusiasts beyond traditional trail runners and hikers.
Columbia said the event reflects its approach of encouraging people to embrace the unpredictable nature of outdoor environments. Weather, terrain, water and the natural surroundings become part of the experience rather than obstacles to be removed from it.
The company also used the event to broaden its outdoor storytelling in China, where the Hike Party has evolved since its launch in 2024. What began as a combination of hiking and music has developed into a wider platform for outdoor experiences.
Inner Mongolia as an outdoor stage
The choice of Arxan, Inner Mongolia, gives the event a distinctive geographical identity.
The region's forest landscapes, rivers and volcanic terrain provide a natural setting for an event designed around movement between different environments. For Columbia, that setting allows outdoor equipment to be experienced under changing conditions rather than presented only through conventional retail or product-launch formats.
Brand ambassador Jiang Qiming joined the event as a competitor, participating alongside outdoor enthusiasts and other guests in the multi-discipline challenge.
The result was less a conventional hiking gathering and more an outdoor lifestyle experience built around exploration, physical activity and interaction with nature.
Product testing becomes part of the experience
The event also provided Columbia with a platform to introduce its new Softshell Interchange Jacket.
Instead of relying solely on a conventional product presentation, the brand incorporated the jacket into the outdoor experience and created a “Wind and Rain Lab” weather-simulation installation. The approach linked product demonstration with the environmental conditions that outdoor apparel is designed to address.
The jacket continues Columbia's Interchange System concept, first introduced by the company in 1984. The new product follows the brand's familiar three-in-one approach, designed to provide multiple wearing configurations within one system.
A broader outdoor opportunity
The Inner Mongolia event points to a wider evolution in outdoor-brand marketing: from selling equipment for individual activities to creating experiences that connect several activities within one outdoor journey.
For Columbia, the Water-Land Adventure Race creates a platform where hiking, water sports, fishing, apparel and community come together. It also demonstrates how distinctive natural environments can become part of a brand's consumer experience.
In Arxan, the forest trail leads to the river, the river leads to fishing, and the entire landscape becomes the course.
That is the central idea behind Columbia's latest Hike Party: outdoor adventure does not have to follow a fixed route.
