Pole Maze (ポールメイズ) is a First Stage obstacle introduced as part of the course's renewal in SASUKE 18 following Nagano Makoto's Kanzenseiha in the previous tournament. Competitors must grab a pole leaning against the starting platform and vault to the other side. The pole was anchored in the middle of the water pit and the top of the pole must be guided through a track above, so in some sense, it was basically a hybrid of Pole Jump (used in SASUKE 3 and 4's Third Stage) and Rope Maze (used in VIKING 1 to VIKING 3's Second Adventure Stage).
It was relatively easy in its debut tournament, only taking out four competitors, including Kume Ryouta who wore #100 In the run order that tournament.
Noguchi Norihiko attempting Pole Maze in SASUKE 18
Brett Sims attempting modified Pole Maze
in SASUKE 19
In SASUKE 19, the maze was lengthened and changed to make the obstacle harder to navigate. This change proved to be brutal, as many competitors spent time more than they supposed to take, most notably Yamada Katsumi, who spent about 75 seconds to clear the obstacle, and Kuramochi Minoru, who timed out at the obstacle.
Although it served it's purpose as time waster very well, the high clear rate prompted the producers to replace it with Circle Hammer in SASUKE 22.
Other Appearances[]
SASUKE Vietnam[]
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SASUKE Vietnam 3's Pole Maze
From SASUKE Vietnam 1 to SASUKE Vietnam 5, the Pole Maze, locally called Đường Zig Zag (literally Zig Zag Road in Vietnamese) appeared as the first obstacle in Stage 3.
However, the track layout of this Pole Maze was slightly different compared to SASUKE's version, and a red pipe was added at the end to block the pole, but it mostly didn't work at all. Also, due to its placement as the first obstacle in Stage 3 (since the stage had no time limit to complete it), competitors were only allowed to return to the starting platform up to three times if they failed to generate enough momentum to vault the pole properly. If they did it a fourth time, they would be disqualified. This rule only eliminated Phạm Thế Hoàn in SASUKE Vietnam 2 being the first and so far only victim of this rule.
The dismount of the Pole Maze on SASUKE Vietnam 4.
In SASUKE Vietnam 4, with the first ever attempt of a woman in SASUKE Vietnam's Stage 3, which was made by Olivia Vivian, the producers gave her a special rule that she was allowed to return to the starting platform up for as much as she wanted to.
Also in that season, the obstacle received a major modification, as the producers had once again changed the track layout a bit. But much more importantly, the red bar was pushed much more forward, made the dismount larger than ever compared with previous seasons, making the obstacle very brutal. As the result, a very unique way to fail this obstacle was presented by two American competitors, Mike Needham and Greg Schwartz, who failed on the dismount to the landing platform after using a wrong technique to swing their body from the pole.
The transfer between Pole Maze and Swing Ladder, SASUKE Vietnam 5.
In SASUKE Vietnam 5, the obstacle was modified once again. The track layout was reverted to the one in the first three seasons. The red bar was pushed much backward, even further than the original position, matching with the end of the maze. And now instead of reaching the landing platform, competitors would have to reach the next obstacle, the Crossing the River. Because of that, no competitor failed on it again.
Competitors' Success Rate[]
- All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found.
| SASUKE | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 38 | 46 | 82.61% |
| 19 | 62 | 69 | 89.86% |
| 20 | 60 | 63 | 95.24% |
| 21 | 54 | 58 | 93.10% |
| Total | 191 | 205 | 93.17% |