Video explaining Haka Pei
The only video on the internet that explains Haka Pei, the Rapa Nui sport of racing down a volcano on banana tree trunks. Researched, written, presented and edited entirely by me for Offcut Sports.
The Only One of Its Kind
Haka Pei is one of the most spectacular sports on earth: competitors on Easter Island ride banana tree trunks down the side of a volcano at highway speeds. Before this video, no explanatory coverage of it existed anywhere online. Scattered clips showed the sport, but nothing explained it.
I made the video that does. Research, scriptwriting, on-camera presenting, footage sourcing, editing, colour grading and sound design, all self-produced under my sports storytelling brand, Offcut Sports..
How It Was Built
The video started weeks before the edit. I researched the sport across every source I could find, from cultural histories of Rapa Nui to old event coverage, building pages of notes before shaping them into a script. The presenting segments were filmed in my room with a ring light and DJI Mic minis, then combined with action footage pieced together from years-old amateur uploads scattered across YouTube, cut and graded into something cohesive.
The edit was done in DaVinci Resolve Studio with cinematic colour grading, following a deliberate structure: hook, history, ritual, descent, and a closing question built to drive comments. A custom Google Earth zoom sequence places the viewer on the island, layered over voiceover and licensed music. The title and framing were built for search, giving the video permanent value as the answer to anyone asking what Haka Pei is.
The Result
Published across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, it's the best-performing Offcut Sports video to date and drove real follower growth across the brand. More importantly, it set the blueprint: this is the first entry in a long-term project documenting obscure and underreported sports around the world, continuing on the ground in South America.
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