The final round of the Rollercoaster series was brought back to Ourimbah. I went up there and covered it for Rocky Trail Entertainment. Here’s a few of my selected favourites.
01
Dec
2014
Sports
The latest news from Sydney-based photographer Richard McGibbon as he travels up and down the East coast of Australia covering athletes on adventures and high-action sports events and races.
07
Nov
2014
North Black Range Bouldering Festival
I went down to Canberra to catch up with Duncan Brown, a professional climber and boulderer. Each year Duncan puts on a bouldering festival in the North Black Range near Canberra. The area is strewn with large granite boulders and Duncan has developed a mass of boulder problems and is still putting more in.
The festival was small key which was nice being that it is held in a National Park but it definitely has the potential to be larger still. There was probably about 50 people or so over the weekend who all split into groups and went off exploring the various areas. The whole region is so large that it was rare for two groups to bump into each other unless it was intentional.
In the evening a series of games were held around the campsite. Prizes were given out by the event sponsors for events such as crashpad stacking and who could do the most pull ups on a flake of rock. All in all a nice relaxing time away and good to be out and shoot something different for myself again.
28
Oct
2014
Thule B24 in Bright, Victoria
Once again Gil and I hit the road as OuterImage, this time making our way down to the Victorian Alps. It was time for the Thule B24 enduro at Bright. It’s the second year it has been running and word is getting around about the 24hr race and it’s trails, numbers were up on last year and this year almost 300 competitors registered for the race.
Gil and I arrived on the Thursday evening and scouted the course on the Friday. Although mainly the same course as last year there was a couple of changes to add in more single-track. The track runs out along the river before heading up into the pine forests on the mountainside above Bright. It dips into the pines of Treehugger before the return downhill through a flowing section called Gorilla Warfare and back out to run along the river again. Over the nights we stayed at some great lookout points in the surrounding mountains and rose early to catch sunrise photos.
Race day saw temperatures up into the 30’s and a few people dropping out for a few hours until things cooled again heading into the evening. Many soldiered on though and continued knocking out the laps. As night fell so too did the temperature though not to the same biting chill like the previous year. Lights came on but Gil and I continued to shoot into the night. Eventually Gil and I called it a night.
As Sunday dawned we got back into the shooting in some beautiful mountain light. As the sun rose and the temperature climbed again I made my way deeper into cooling shade of the trees around the river. As the temperature rose even further I actually made my way into the river and cooled down a bit whilst standing knee deep and shooting from there. I wasn’t alone as the race neared completion more and more competitors who had made their final run came down to cool off.
A huge congratulations to all those who competed and a big thank you from Gil and I to all those who helped organise such a wonderful event. Already looking forward to the next one.
08
Oct
2014
Redass Downhill, Round 4: Stromlo
The weekend gone saw Gil and I, under the guise of OuterImage, make the trip down to Canberra to cover the final round of the Redass State Downhill at Mount Stromlo Forest Park and put on by Rocky Trail Entertainment.
It’s the first time I have shot downhill racing at Stromlo. Gil and I started at the top then leapfrogged our way down. It can be hard to shoot at Stromlo as the light becomes quite harsh through the day and race day was no exception. Bright blue skies and a glaring sun kicked up some harsh shadows on the course. During times like this, you really need to pick the location well and let the rider ride through a sun patch or use flashes to lift them out of the shadows. The track was dry and dusty which can make for some great shots though as the dust gets thrown up and can really add a sense of movement to the shots.
There are some great features on the course including the Rock Garden, G20, Road Gap and Triple Treat. Unfortunately they also took a toll on the riders this time round. Perhaps as it was the final round the riders put that extra bit into the race and pushed themselves just a bit too far. The dust also can be rather treacherous for the riders taking away from the grip of the tyres.
All in all, it was a great finish to a great season. There are a few smaller races to coming but the next big one will be the Cannonball at Thredbo again. Hope to see you all there.
25
Sep
2014
Highlining Project Pulpit Pt2.
The crew have returned to Pulpit Rock near Blackheath in the Blue Mountains and given the big Highline another attempt. Under some beautiful weather, the lines were set. And the attempts at crossing began. We were up there the whole weekend which also gave me the chance to sneak in a few landscapes. Below are a few of the images I captured over the weekend. Enjoy!!
14
Aug
2014
Kathmandu Adventure Race: Glenbrook
The Kathmandu Adventure series is a multi-sports race that takes place in some of the most picturesque spots around Sydney and beyond. This year I was there to cover the event in the Blue Mountains National Park near Sydney as it took place in the Glenbrook section of the park. The event included rogaining, mountain biking, kayaking and trail running.
