Hourglass Drop

American Ninja Warrior 7's Hourglass Drop in Venice Beach

The Hourglass Drop is an obstacle, firstly introduced on American Ninja Warrior 7, as the fifth obstacle in Venice Beach.

The obstacle was essentially a redesign of the Unstable Bridge, with a mini trampoline in the middle of the boards. It is arguably one of the hardest obstacles in American Ninja Warrior history.

Competitors must traverse through an hourglass-shaped board. Then, they must drop onto a mini trampoline, and if they had enough power from the mini trampoline, they would grab the second board, which was a wavy-shaped board and looked like an 'S'. Both boards were supported by a metal structure (one at each end), which would force the board to lop-side to either left or right (similar to the Unstable Bridge's second board).

In its debut during Venice Beach qualifiers, the obstacle was proven to be a very difficult obstacle, as competitors not only found it hard to get bounce from the mini trampoline, but were even disqualified for not grabbing the second board or grabbing the support structure. It had been able to eliminate 29 out of 36 competitors who attemped it, including David Campbell, Brian Kretsch (due to injury from the Tilting Table), Dustin Rocho, Jessie Graff, Ben Melick, Nick Hanson, Jackson Meyer, Theo Agu, and Travis Weinand. The 7 competitors who could complete the obstacle, later became the only finishers, setting a record for the lowest amount of finishers during city qualifiers in American Ninja Warrior history.  

The Hourglass Drop still became a hard obstacle during Venice Beach finals, as among the 23 competitors who attempted the obstacle, only 10 of them could complete it. Because of this, the five fastest competitors who failed on this obstacle were able earn the spots in Las Vegas national finals. As such, this became only the second time where competitors who didn't reach the back half of the city finals course (i.e. the obstacles after the Warped Wall), still advanced to Las Vegas national finals, after during Northeast region finals on American Ninja Warrior 4.

Several top competitors who failed on this obstacle during Venice Beach qualifiers (e.g. David Campbell, Dustin Rocho, Ben Melick, and Jessie Graff) were able to complete it during Venice Beach finals. However, in an ironic twist, Alan Connealy (who completed this obstacle during Venice Beach qualifiers) failed on this obstacle during Venice Beach finals, and his failure made him finish in 16th place, i.e. one spot short from Las Vegas national finals.

Other Season Appearances

American Ninja Warrior 8

American Ninja Warrior 8's Hourglass Drop in Indianapolis

The Hourglass Drop made its second appearance on American Ninja Warrior 8, as the eighth obstacle during Indianapolis finals. However, the trampoline was placed before both boards. Therefore, competitors had to drop from a waiting bar after the Salmon Ladder, and landed on the mini trampoline, attempted to grab the first board, and then transferred to the second board, in a similar fashion to the Unstable Bridge, and then make a dismount to the landing platform to advance.

Naturally, the difficulty in this version of the Hourglass Drop came from the drop to the trampoline and the transition from the first board to the second board. The drop was higher than the Hourglass Drop in Venice Beach (at 11 feet), which could create higher force for competitors to bounce.

The Hourglass Drop was still the toughest obstacle during Indianapolis finals, taking out several competitors like Matt Wilder, Andrew Yori, Tyler Yamauchi, Eric Middleton, and Dan Banura, but a total of 8 competitors could get past it (including Brian Arnold, Ian Dory, Dan Polizzi, Meagan Martin, Adam Arnold, Ethan Swanson, and Jake Murray). With 8 out of 16 competitors being able to complete it, the Hourglass Drop during American Ninja Warrior 8's Indianapolis finals had a decent 50% knockout rate.

Later on the same season, a modified version of this obstacle (called as the Wave Runner) appeared as the third obstacle in Stage Two, immediately after the Down Up Salmon Ladder and replacing the Unstable Bridge from the past four American Ninja Warrior seasons, except there was no trampoline and the second board was replaced with the pyramid-shaped one.

American Ninja Warrior 9

American Ninja Warrior 9's Hourglass Drop in San Antonio

The Hourglass Drop returned on American Ninja Warrior 9 during San Antonio finals, once again as the eighth obstacle, with the similar specification from Indianapolis finals on the previous season, except with the addition of one waiting bar after the Salmon Ladder for a total of two waiting bars, and the boards were shorter.

During San Antonio finals, the obstacle was proven to be just as deadly as ever, taking out 18 out of 24 competitors who attempted it, including Abel Gonzalez, Barclay Stockett, Cass Clawson, Grant Clinton, Kevin Klein, Kenny Niemitalo, Tremayne Dortch, Brandon Pannell, Jody Avila, Josh Salinas, Nate Burkhalter, Matt Holt, Jonathan Parr, and Jonathan Horton. Only 6 competitors could complete the obstacle the obstacle, including Daniel Gil, Brent Steffensen, Karsten Williams, Andrew Lowes, and Nicholas Coolridge (who also completed the original version of the Hourglass Drop during American Ninja Warrior 7's Venice Beach qualifiers and finals).

A unique and risky completion of this obstacle occurred during San Antonio finals, when Thomas Stillings made an early dismount by skipping the second board entirely, and was allowed to continue his run (unlike on the Wave Runner, where competitors would be disqualified if they skipped the second board entirely, as was shown during Flip Rodriguez's run on American Ninja Warrior 8). Although Stillings almost lost his balance at the dismount, he was able to hang on and save himself from disqualification.

Other Appearances

On Australian Ninja Warrior 2, the Hourglass Drop appeared as the eighth obstacle during the semifinals, which was similar to the one used on American Ninja Warrior 7.

However, unlike on American Ninja Warrior 7, instead of grabbing the second board after bouncing from the trampoline, competitors must grab several objects, which were different between each semifinal:

Australian Ninja Warrior 2's Hourglass to Tramp to Rope

• In Semifinal 1, the second board was replaced with a laché bar and 4 ropes, with the fourth rope being placed at the landing platform. Therefore, after bouncing from the trampoline, competitors must grab a laché bar, then traversed the ropes to reach the landing platform. Because of those modifications, the obstacle was called as the Hourglass to Tramp to Rope.

Australian Ninja Warrior 2's Hourglass to Tramp to Pole Clinger

• In Semifinal 2, the the second board was replaced with a rope and a long pipe placed in a downward-angle. Therefore, after bouncing from the trampoline, competitors must grab a rope, then traversed the pipe to reach the landing platform. Because of those modifications, the obstacle was called as the Hourglass to Tramp to Pole Clinger.

Australian Ninja Warrior 2's Hourglass to Tramp to Bungee

• In Semifinal 3, the second board was replaced with a laché bar and 3 bungee cords. Therefore, after bouncing from the trampoline, competitors must grab a laché bar, then traversed the bungee cords to reach the landing platform. Because of those modifications, the obstacle was called as the Hourglass to Tramp to Bungee.

Australian Ninja Warrior 2's Hourglass to Tramp to Cargo Net

• In Semifinal 4, the second board was replaced with a cargo net and a rope at the landing platform. Therefore, after bouncing from the trampoline, competitors must grab the cargo net, then traversed it to reach the landing platform. Because of those modifications, the obstacle was called as the Hourglass to Tramp to Cargo Net.

Competitors' Success Rate

• All results based on the NBC broadcast and external information found

ANW	Clears	Attempts	Percentage
ANW7 (qualifiers)	7	36	19.44%
ANW7 (finals)	10	23	43.48%
ANW8	8	16	50%
ANW9	6	24	25%
Total	31	99	31.31%