Team DART Invites Bitton to X-Adventure Raid

DART at the X-Adventure Raid race included (from left) Cyril Jay-Rayon, Matt Hart, Jennifer Segger and Ryan VanGorder.

Seattle adventure racing team DART invited me to document its participation in the X-Adventure Raid race in Bend, Ore., June 24-26. DART dominates the adventure racing scene in Oregon and Washington, where I normally photograph adventure sports. Even though DART has won many of the races I've covered, I rarely captured them in action. I'd see them at the start, and after the race. The rest of the time, DART was so far ahead of the field, I had to let them go so I could photograph other teams. The prospect of covering DART for two or three days straight appealed to me. I'd certainly have a chance to make great photos of the team. I believe such photos will be in demand in coming years, as DART is an up-and-coming elite adventure racing team. I'd be the proud owner of the finest DART photo gallery, the go-to photographer if a magazine editor needed shots of the them.

I had a delightful time with DART and its support crew during the X-Adventure Raid. The photos I made are among the best of my career. Best of all, I now count DART as friends. No one witnesses what they went through during that two-day adventure race without growing fond of the team's ability to cope with difficulty and strive for excellence. I am proud to say I know these athletes, which I predict will be among the world's best adventure racers in years to come.

An Adidas NW team member is reflected in the windows of the KOIN Center tower in downtown Portland, Ore., as she rappells from the roof of a nine-story parking garage.

Wicked Urban Race Takes Athletes on Radical Rose City Tour

PORTLAND, Ore. (June 4, 2005) – Athletes who competed in the Wicked Urban adventure race got an insider’s look at the Rose City as they ran, pedaled, paddled and rappelled through Portland.

Fast teams completed the pro course in about six hours, while slower teams raced for about 10. Twenty-five teams entered the pro division, while a dozen teams entered the shorter, sport course, category.

Race Director Shane Gibson designed the pro course knowing he’d have to challenge top Pacific Northwest teams like NW Nike ACG, D.A.R.T. and Mergeo.com. Yet he also provided a gentler alternative in the sport course, which many first-time adventure racers completed successfully. Results are available at the Wicked AR website (www.WickedAR.com).

Next Adventure (www.nextadventure.net), Portland’s Alternative Sporting Goods Store, sponsored a massive gear giveaway for those in attendance. Packs from GoLite, LaFuma, Granite Gear and Mountainsmith were among the most coveted prizes.

I was recently named the director of photography for Wicked AR, and I put the best photos on my website (www.bittonphoto.com). At the request of several athletes, I posted the images in team galleries. Now, participants and fans can quickly navigate to the images they want to see.

The 2005 Wicked Adventure Sprint Series began March 26 with Wicked Mountain on Mt. Hood, Ore. Wicked Urban, held June 4, was the second race in the series. Wicked Gorge will take place in the Columbia River Gorge July 16, and will be covered by the Adventure Sports Magazine Mobile Tour. http://www.adventuresportsmagazine.com/mobile/index.html
The 2005 series finale, Wicked Ocean, will take place at Nehalem Bay State Park, Ore., Oct. 1.

Competitors in the Boater-X head-to-head whitewater kayak race battle for position at Carter Falls on the Upper Clackamas River, Ore.

NWRA Whitewater Festival, Upper Clackamas River, Ore., May 14-15, 2005

I learned of this event from Next Adventure, a sporting goods store in Portland, Ore. The store is a spnosor of the festival, and asked me to shoot some photos for a gallery they'd like to have on their web page. I let the event organizers know I was coming, and told them I often offer photos for sale on my website, and they welcomed that idea.

I'm relatively new shooting whitewater, so I asked a lot of people where I should be to get the best shots. Everyone was very helpful.

The first day was filled with practice runs, and ended with a fun event called the Anything But a Whitewater race. Participants ran the river in an odd variety of craft, including a home-made pirate ship!

The second day was filled with races. I was able to shoot nearly every run. Highlights included watching the inflatable kayak race, during which most participants took a swim, and the hard-shell kayak head-to-head race, called "boater-cross," where paddlers battled for first-place as they descended Carter Falls through a series of numbered gates.

Spending a couple of days next to a river is very relaxing for me. I will find ways to shoot more whitewater in the future!

Paddlers fight for position on the East Fork of the Lewis River near Battleground, Wash., during the Boatercross Sprint race, part of the Oregon Cup whitewater race series.

Oregon Cup, "Boatercross" Sprint Race
East Fork Lewis River, Washington

Day two of my adventure in whitewater photography found me super sore from paddling Lake Merwin, and from bouncing off the face of that cliff yesterday at Canyon Creek. I got to the race location plenty early to scout angles and try to chat up the crowd a bit. I got advice from several experienced paddlers, but in the end, settled on a location of my own invention. There was one rapid at the top end of the course that bottlenecked the participants into an area that just was not wide enough for more than one boat at a time. Since the race was a head-to-head event, groups for four and five would be paddling like mad through this narrow strip of water. I decided to go with it. I figured they'd still be in a pack so close to the start. Most of the time, they were. I am happy with the resulting photos. I've got a few of competitors banging into eachother, and I think that was the peak action of the race. Some of the facial expressions are very telling of the tension of the moment.