American Ninja Warrior 13's Air Surfer
Air Surfer is an obstacle, firstly introduced as the fourth obstacle during the third episode of qualifiers in American Ninja Warrior 13, and then appeared back in the fourth episode of qualifiers.
The obstacle consists of a long, horizontally laid surfboard-like board with two handles underneath. The top side of the surfboard has the obstacle's name on it. Competitors must gently kip the board forward and down across five different tracks, each with varying lengths (the gap from the third to fourth pad is 4 feet). They will have to keep the board stable and as horizontal as possible to avoid pulling the board off the tracks.
In the third episode of qualifiers, a total of eleven competitors failed on the obstacle, including Cara Mack, Megan Budway, Heather Weissinger, Grant McCartney, Nick Hanson, Michael Johnson, Rochambeau Dolcine, Hector Gomez, and Lenny Lopez. This obstacle was served as the cut-off for both the Top 5 female competitors the top 30 competitors in general. For the top 5 female competitors, since only five female competitors attempted the obstacle, every one of them that at least attempted the obstacle moved on to the semifinals. Meanwhile, for the top 30 as a whole, only one competitor (Lenny Lopez) managed to make the leaderboard at the 30th and final place.
In the fourth qualifiers episode, eleven competitors failed on the obstacle, including Conor Galvin, Taylor Johnson, and Craig Stowell.
Other Season Appearances[]
American Ninja Warrior 14[]
American Ninja Warrior 14's Air Surfer
On American Ninja Warrior 14, Air Surfer appeared as the third obstacle during the first and fourth episode of semifinals.
During the first semifinals episode, this obstacle proved to be difficult as it took out eight competitors, including big names like Brett Sims, Matt Bradley, Sophia Lavallee, Tyler Behrle, and Jennifer Stefano.
This obstacle proved to be difficult once again during the fourth semifinals episode as it took out a total of eleven competitors, including Anabella Heinrichs, Liv Hackmann, Brad Giles, Christian Youst, K.C. Boutiette, Mark Antioquia, and Ryan Meeks (who also failed on its Las Vegas national finals variant, Epic Air Surfer on the previous season).
Other Appearances[]
Australian Ninja Warrior[]
Australian Ninja Warrior 6's Air Surfer
The Air Surfer appeared as the fourth obstacle of Stage Two during Australian Ninja Warrior 6, with some changes about the track compared to the version on American Ninja Warrior. The surfboard was revealed to be 7kg in weight. The gap between each cradle is 1m.
Ninja Israel[]
Ninja Israel 5's Air Surfer
In Ninja Warrior Israel 5, the Air Surfer, locally called ืืืืฉื ืืืืืืจื (literally: Air Glider), appeared as the seventh obstacle in the Semifinal 3 of that season. This time, there was a lachรฉ bar in front of the obstacle as a medium to reach the surfboard, and the number of tracks were also reduced to 4 (which made the obstacle similar to the Air Surfer used in Australian Ninja Warrior 6). However, the gap between the first two tracks and the last two tracks was smaller than the gap between the second and third track.
Epic Air Surfer[]
American Ninja Warrior 13's Epic Air Surfer in Stage Two
A variation of Air Surfer, (called as Epic Air Surfer), appeared as the fifth obstacle in Stage Two of American Ninja Warrior 13, replacing the Grim Sweeper from its past recent appearance.
This version involves six different tracks, each with varying lengths and gaps in which competitors must transition in order to advance. The transition between the third and fourth tracks requires competitors to move the board slightly to the right as opposed to the Air Surfer where the board must move at a straight line.
In its first appearance, five competitors failed the obstacle: Kevin Carbone, Isaiah Thomas, Tage Herrington, Ryan Meeks, and Brian Burkhardt in his second run at Stage Two.
On American Ninja Warrior 14, it was replaced by the Hornet's Nest.
Other Season Appearances[]
American Ninja Warrior 15[]
American Ninja Warrior 15's Epic Air Surfer in Stage Two
Epic Air Surfer later returned on American Ninja Warrior 15 as the fifth obstacle of Stage Two, replacing its successor from the previous season. Due to the nature of Stage Two being a side-by-side course, there were instances where competitors would fail the obstacle due to rushing.
It was the most brutal obstacle on Stage Two that season, as a total of 7 competitors failed to complete it, including Josiah Pippel (twice), Luke Dillon, Alex Romer and Ben Behrends. Ironically, on the red side of the obstacle, the final track was noticeably more slippery. This disadvantage caused 3 of the 7 competitors who failed it: Jackson Twait, Enzo Wilson, and most shockingly, Kaden Lebsack (marking the first time he fell in the water on a course), slid off the track and forced others to fall behind in their race as they had to exercise extreme caution.
Some competitors who completed it, such as Austin Gray, were barely able to get past it. In Gray's case, the board nearly slid off the track as mentioned above and he made an incredible save, barely generating enough swing for the dismount and almost falling off the platform.
American Ninja Warrior: Womenโs Championship 4[]
The same side-by-side version of Epic Air Surfer reappeared as the fifth obstacle of Stage Two in the fourth ever womenโs championship. To prevent people who raced on the red side of the course from having an unforeseen disadvantage, additional grip tape was added to the tracks of the red side. This made the tracks less slippery and evened out the two sides. The obstacle only eliminated Taylor Johnson, who came up just short on the dismount. The other women (Taylor Greene, Addy Herman, and Jesse Labreck) still opted to maneuver the board to the final tiny cradle to make the dismount easier.
American Ninja Warrior 16[]
The side-by-side version of the Epic Air Surfer reappeared on American Ninja Warrior 16, once again as the fifth obstacle of Stage Two. It will have a modification similar to the American Ninja Warrior: Women's Championship 4 as the right side of the obstacle wonโt be as slick as American Ninja Warrior 15 but due to the nature of Stage Two still being a side-by-side course, there were instances where competitors would fail the obstacle due to rushing. The obstacle was significantly easier than the previous season due to the red side of the obstacle wonโt be as slick (which was proven during the American Ninja Warrior: Women's Championship 4). which was shown as it only eliminated Luke Beckstrand and once again, Isaiah Thomas. Additionally, Josiah Pippel and Jackson Twait were both able to complete the obstacle after failing it during the previous season.
Competitors' Success Rate[]
- All results based on the NBC/Keshet 12 broadcast and external information found.
American Ninja Warrior[]
| Air Surfer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANW | Stage | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
| ANW 13 | QF EP 3 | 29 | 40 | 72.5% |
| QF EP 4 | 32 | 43 | 74.42% | |
| ANW 14 | SF EP 1 | 30 | 38 | 78.95% |
| SF EP 4 | 28 | 39 | 71.79% | |
| Couples Championship | 8 | 12 | 66.67% | |
| Total | 127 | 172 | 73.84% | |
| Epic Air Surfer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANW | Clears | Attempts | Percentage | |
| ANW13 | 10 | 15 | 66.67% | |
| ANW15 | 15 | 23 | 65.22% | |
| Women's Championship 4 | 3 | 4 | 75% | |
| ANW16 | 24 | 26 | 92.31% | |
| Total | 52 | 68 | 76.47% | |
Ninja Israel[]
| Air Surfer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWI | Clears | Attempts | Percentage | |
| NWI5 | 2 | 2 | 100% | |
| Total | 2 | 2 | 100% | |
Australian Ninja Warrior[]
| Air Surfer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AuNW | Clears | Attempts | Percentage | |
| AuNW6 | 9 | 9 | 100% | |
| Total | 9 | 9 | 100% | |
Trivia[]
The prototype design of the Air Surfer, in which Jennie Bensley submitted for the American Ninja Warrior: Obstacle Design Challenge
- The Air Surfer was one of the obstacles that won the American Ninja Warrior: Obstacle Design Challenge, designed by Jennie Bensley.
- The original idea of this obstacle when Jennie Bensley submitted to Obstacle Design Challenge was quite different from the current version of the course. Instead of having several tracks that competitors have to hop the surfboard across, there is a long zig-zag track that competitors have to push the board up until they can tip the board and slide at the downward track, then push the board up to the upward track, then repeat the process until they can dismount.
- The Epic Air Surfer would continue the trend of a fifth obstacle that appeared on Stage Two that was a modification from the qualifiers/city finals course.
- This was described as โfunโ by co-host Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and was also called his favorite obstacle from American Ninja Warrior.
- Isaiah Thomas is the first to fail the Epic Air Surfer in different seasons while Josiah Pippel is the first to fail it in the same night, making them the first since Jamie Rahn, Karson Voiles, Drew Knapp and Josh Salinas to do so on Wingnut Alley.