Nick Hanson

Nick Hanson, aka The Eskimo Ninja, is a ninja coach from the small village of Unalakleet, Alaska.

American Ninja Warrior 7
Nick first competed in Venice in American Ninja Warrior 7 where he was one of the many competitors that failed the Hourglass Drop. He just missed out on advancing to the city finals, as he placed 31st overall.

American Ninja Warrior 8
Nick returned to compete in Los Angeles in American Ninja Warrior 8 where he cleared the qualifying course placing 13th.

In the city finals, Nick made it to the back half of the course, where he just barely completed the Salmon Ladder, and ultimately lost his grip on The Wedge. This performance, however, did place him 14th in the top 15. In the National finals, Nick unfortunately timed out at the top of the rope ladder on the final obstacle, the Flying Squirrel.

American Ninja Warrior 9


Nick returned to compete in Los Angeles again in American Ninja Warrior 9. His run was digested but he finished the qualifying course placing 7th.

In the city finals, he was the first runner of the night and failed the Swinging Pegboard when he missed the grab to the second pegboard, but he placed 14th overall, making his second trip to Vegas. On Stage 1, Nick became the first competitor that hit the buzzer on Stage 1 that season, finishing with 5.03 seconds to spare. His run on Stage Two was digested but it was shown he struggled with the course and failed the Criss-Cross Salmon Ladder when he lost his grip after the final transition.

American Ninja Warrior 10


Nick returned to compete in Los Angeles in American Ninja Warrior 10, In qualifying, he became just the second competitor to scale the Mega Wall and take home $10,000. He finished the course placing 9th.

In the City Finals Nick's run was put in the corner to watch during advertisements. He managed to get to the Baton Pass before failing, and placed 12th.

On Stage One, he had a good strong start, but just like American Ninja Warrior 8, he timed out at the top of the rope ladder on the final obstacle, this time being Twist &amp; Fly.

American Ninja Warrior 11
He returned in Tacoma for his fifth season. His qualifying run was digested, but he became one of many to fail the Lightning Bolts, making it his first time since his debut where he failed to complete the qualifying course. He still placed 20th overall at the end of the night.

In the city finals, Nick was the first runner of the night. Nick manage to get revenge on the Lightning Bolts where it took out many competitors and manage to get to the 8th obstacle, the Floating Monkey Bars before falling. However, he managed to qualify for the national finals, placing 11th.

Unfortunately, on Stage One, history repeated itself as he failed the final obstacle, Twist & Fly. However, in comparison to his timeouts in the previous seasons, he had actually failed the transition to the cargo net this time around.

American Ninja Warrior 12
He returned to the downsized American Ninja Warrior 12 and started out strong, but he spent a lengthy amount of time on the Ferris Wheel, barely beating the obstacle. He took a long pause before the Mega Wall and despite fatigue, he was able to scale it, earning the $10,000 prize for the second time. Hanson became the first person to complete the Mega Wall in that season. It was shown that, unfortunately, he did not advance to the semi-finals because it “appeared” that his time was not fast enough.

However, according to a video posted by Grant McCartney, the truth is that he had to be sent home because of contact testing, and so had to withdraw due to COVID-19 exposure. So Nick actually did not place 13th overall, but on broadcast, it was edited to where it seemed he placed 13th due to him consequently withdrawing due to quarantine.

American Ninja Warrior 13
Nick returned to compete on the third round of qualifying. Nick had ran right after his buddy Grant McCartney failed the qualifying course, with McCartney sitting in a precarious spot on the leaderboard. Nick took his time to ensure McCartney would land in the top 30. Nick himself, however, surprisingly went out on the same obstacle as Grant, going out on Air Surfer. From his slower time reaching the obstacle, he was automatically outside of the top 30. Because of this, it marked the second time he failed to move on to the city finals and the national finals since season 7 (this does not count season 12, as he technically was supposed to advance but due to withdrawing was edited on broadcast to make it look like he missed the cut-off for the semifinals).

Sadly, his slower approach did not pay off, as Grant McCartney ultimately placed 31st at the end of the night, and did not advance to the semifinals either.

Trivia

 * In all his stage 1 appearances in Vegas, he has made it to the final obstacle each time. Two of those times, he timed out. Only once did he actually hit the buzzer. The other time, he failed the transition to the cargo net.
 * Nick was the first competitor to ever conquer the Mega Wall in qualifying and not move on to the next round, which happened in American Ninja Warrior 12.