Two weekends ago I traveled to Blue Mountain, near Collingwood Ontario, to photograph a new adventure sports event sponsored by Keen and run by a veteran Canadian adventure racing company. The event is called the Keen Adventure Sports Games and it featured a number of separate adventure sports disciplines that occurred over two days. Competitors could compete in individual events or all of them but only those who participated in the "Adventure Challenge" category qualified for the grand prize. The Keen AS Games uses disciplines adopted from adventure racing i.e. biking, hiking, and paddling only they are run separately. Adventure racing photography can be challenging due to the non-stop nature of the event but fortunately this attribute provides you a few more opportunities to capture your intended shot. This competition, however, allowed less time for error. I only had the luxury of two to four hours not two to four days to plan and shoot. In this situation one must identify good shooting locations from the course map and travel to them quickly. The rest is up to your instincts and vision.
This event looks very promising and will hopefully be an annual competition. Breathe Magazine has a write up on its website if you're interested in reading a bit more about this unique event. You can view it here.
