The Iron Maiden is an obstacle, firstly introduced on American Ninja Warrior 9 as the ninth obstacle during Kansas City finals. The obstacle is named after the band of the same name. On this obstacle:
- Competitors have to hold on to a bar, then to a pair of hollow-shaped pegs and must place them to 10 peg-shaped spikes (five evenly spread out on the left and five on the right, with four evenly spaced pegs and another peg at the same level of the left bottom-most peg) while going down in the first 65° angled panel.
- Then, they must go up on the second angled panel using the 10 spikes (five evenly spread out on the right and five on the left, with four evenly spaced spikes and one more spike at the same level of the right bottom-most spike) already placed in the panel.
- Then, they must repeat the process in the third panel angled 45°, just as they did in the first panel and must swing to the landing platform to advance. This board now has eight pegs: four pegs evenly spread out on the left and four on the right, with three evenly spaced pegs and another peg at the same level of the left bottom-most peg.
Only two competitors attempted the obstacle (Mitch VeDepo and Tyler Yamauchi), with Mitch VeDepo being the only one who could complete it and later failed on the Elevator Climb, making Kansas City finals on American Ninja Warrior 9 just became the second city finals course in American Ninja Warrior history to have zero finishers.
Other Season Appearances[]
American Ninja Warrior 10[]
On American Ninja Warrior 10, the Iron Maiden appeared as the ninth obstacle during Minneapolis finals, and the obstacle remained unchanged from the previous season, except the dismount being further down.
This time, the obstacle got to show its true potential, as a total of 16 competitors attempted the obstacle. Because of this, the obstacle became more brutal, as only 5 competitors could complete it (Joe Moravsky, Ian Dory, Jon Alexis Jr., Jake Murray, and Jonathan Stevens). Since 16 competitors could reach the obstacle, the Iron Maiden became the cut-off for the top 15 competitors to advance to Las Vegas national finals, with the competitor in 16th place, Meagan Martin, still advancing due to placing first in the top 2 women's leaderboard.
Interestingly, three of its victims on this season (Lance Pekus, Hunter Guerard, and Eric Middleton) barely missed out on attempting the obstacle during Kansas City finals on the previous season. This was due to the fact that all three of them failed on one obstacle before the Iron Maiden (the Floating Monkey Bars).
Northwest Passage[]
A variation of the Iron Maiden first appeared as the ninth obstacle during Seattle-Tacoma finals on American Ninja Warrior 11 and was named as the Northwest Passage. It was very similar in appearance and function, except for the fact that the obstacle's pegs had hooks going up that competitors had to use to climb up and down the panels by inserting them into slots. Each board has six slots, with three of which evenly-spaced both on the left and on the right. For the first and third board, the bottom-most slot is on the right, while for the second board, it is on the left.
During Seattle/Tacoma finals, the obstacle proved to be unforgiving, as it took out all three competitors who attempted it, which included Karson Voiles, Jessie Graff, and Dan Yager. The small number of competitors to attempt the obstacle was due to the brutality of both the Lightning Bolts and the previous obstacle, the Floating Monkey Bars, which knocked out more than 80% of the city finalists field. As such, Seattle-Tacoma finals ended up with zero finishers, making it the third instance in American Ninja Warrior history where no competitor was able to complete the city finals course (after American Ninja Warrior 8's Philadelphia finals and American Ninja Warrior 9's Kansas City finals).
Iron Summit[]
Another variation of the Iron Maiden (called as the Iron Summit) appeared as the second obstacle in Stage Three on American Ninja Warrior 11, replacing the En Garde from the previous season.
Upon closer inspection, the obstacle was considered as a hybrid of the Iron Maiden and the Northwest Passage, as there were similar specifications from those obstacles appeared. However, Iron Summit consists of two curved boards, each with four slots from Northwest Passage (two on the left and right each) on the top part and five pegs from Iron Maiden (For the left board: two on the left, one on the right, and then another peg on each side at the end of the board; For the right board: one on the left, two on right, and then another one on each side at the end of the board) at the bottom part.
Competitors have to first use the hollow-shaped pegs and transit to the hooks placed in slots to the top on the first panel and then do the opposite on the other.
In total, 20 competitors attempted the obstacle and three of them failed to complete it (Ryan Stratis, Nate Burkhalter, and R.J. Roman).
It was replaced in American Ninja Warrior 13 by the Stalactites.
Other Appearances[]
Iron Maiden[]
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
On Ninja Warrior Germany: Four Nations Special, Iron Maiden appeared as the second obstacle of Stage Two. Each board consisted of eight pegs (four on each side). For the first and third board, competitors must manouevre by using inserting pegs, while on the second board, they simply have to climb up the board with the pre-placed pegs.
Australian Ninja Warrior[]
On Australian Ninja Warrior 2, the Iron Maiden appeared as the fourth obstacle in Stage Three. However, compared to the one used on American Ninja Warrior, the obstacle featured:
- only one panel and a pair of hollow-shaped pegs were used, and
- a pole at the start of the obstacle, as a medium to reach the pegs.
Also, since no competitor was able to complete Stage Two on that season, the obstacle was unattempted.
Team Ninja Warrior Germany[]
On Team Ninja Warrior Germany 2, Iron Maiden appeared as the eighth obstacle of Seeding and Relay of Episode 4 and 5. The pegs were arranged identically as that in the Four Nations Special. But with an added lache bar at the beginning.
Ninja Warrior Poland[]
On Ninja Warrior Poland 4, Iron Maiden (left untranslated) appeared as the fifth obstacle in Heat 3 and Heat 5. Contrary to the version from the American Ninja Warrior, there was a rope in front of the three pegged panels with which participants had to get to the first pegs. The length of each panel was 2 meters.
Ninja Israel[]
On Ninja Warrior Israel 3, the Iron Maiden, locally called עצבי הברזל (literally Iron Nerves) appeared as the fifth obstacle in Heat 2, Heat 5 and Heat 9, which was very similar to the one used in American Ninja Warrior 9, except that the laché was replaced by a pole (similar to Australian Ninja Warrior 2's version). The obstacle was paired with the Wingnuts as part of Route A of the Crossroads. The obstacle was extremely brutal, as it eliminated in total 6 out of 7 competitors in Heat 2 and Heat 5 who attempted it, which influenced almost all competitors who got to the Crossroads in Heat 9 to choose Route B to avoid the Iron Maiden (except for one competitor who chose Route A but didn't make it to Iron Maiden).
Then, on Ninja Warrior Israel 4, the Iron Maiden appeared as the fourth obstacle in Semifinal 1, 4, 5 and Repechage. This time, the number of poles was increased to two, and there was a laché placed between the first and second panel. Also, similar to the once used in Ninja Warrior France 4, competitors simply had to maneuver the structure by climbing up and down the pegs. This making the obstacle was easier, as only 5 out of 32 competitors failed on it.
However, there was a special rule in which competitors would be disqualified if they skip the spikes (i.e not grabbing both spikes). This rule came into play, with Gil Marantz in Repechage Semifinal being the only victim of this rule, cause him lost the chance to advanced to the Finals.
Ninja Warrior France[]
La Montagne de Verre (literally The Glass Mountain), Ninja Warrior France's official name of the Iron Maiden, appeared in Ninja Warrior France 4 as the fifth obstacle of Stage Two. The starting lache bar had been moved to between the first and second board, and a rope was added at the end. The pegs were arranged identically as that in American Ninja Warrior 9. However, competitors simply had to maneuver the structure by climbing up and down the pegs.
Iron Maiden reappeared on Ninja Warrior France 7 as the second obstacle in Qualification 1. It was paired with The High Road as part of the Split Decision. The pegs retained the identical arrangement as Ninja Warrior France 4. This time, to get to the obstacle, competitors had a high platform and two laché bars at their disposal. In addition to dismounting from an obstacle, competitors had to swing to a rope ladder and climb up and continue from there.
Trivia[]
- The name of this obstacle is based on an ancient medieval torture device of the same name.
- Its variation, Northwest Passage, is named after the sea route of the same name.
- The Iron Maiden was one of the eight obstacles that won the first edition of American Ninja Warrior: Obstacle Design Challenge, and designed by American Ninja Warrior veteran, Brett Sims.
- The obstacle's function was the same as the ones used in a pegboard. But unlike a pegboard, competitors must use hollow-shaped pegs instead of regular pegs.
- The Iron Maiden during American Ninja Warrior 10's Minneapolis finals became the fourth instance where the ninth obstacle became the cut off for the top 15 competitors to advance to Las Vegas national finals (meaning the previous obstacle, i.e., the eighth obstacle, had at least 15 competitors completed it). The other instances were during American Ninja Warrior 5's Baltimore finals (where the Body Prop became the cut off), American Ninja Warrior 7's Kansas City finals (where the Body Prop became the cut off once again), and American Ninja Warrior 10's Los Angeles finals (where the Baton Pass became the cut off).
- It happened to be that in the first appearance of the Iron Maiden during American Ninja Warrior 9's Kansas City finals and the Northwest Passage during American Ninja Warrior 11's Seattle-Tacoma finals, both city finals courses had zero finishers and the Floating Monkey Bars was served as the previous obstacle.
- The Iron Maiden during American Ninja Warrior 10's Minneapolis finals also shared several similarities with The Wedge during American Ninja Warrior 9's Denver finals:
- Each of those two obstacles had 16 competitors attempted it, meaning both of the obstacles became the cut off for the top 15 competitors to advance to Las Vegas national finals.
- Every competitor who attempted either of those two obstacles advanced to Las Vegas national finals. This was due to the fact that Meagan Martin attempted both obstacles and later finished in 16th place during both city finals rounds. However, she still advanced to Las Vegas national finals via the top 2 female competitors.
- Both obstacles were in a course that had a ring-oriented obstacle in the course (the Ring Swing in Denver, and the Sky Hooks during Minneapolis finals, coincidentally replacing the Ring Jump, which was used during Minneapolis qualifiers), as well a balance or lower-body oriented obstacle in the fourth spot.
- Both obstacles also wiped out Karson Voiles and Drew Knapp.
- With Karson Voiles, Jessie Graff, and Dan Yager all attempting and falling on the Northwest Passage during American Ninja Warrior 11's Seattle-Tacoma finals, this marked the first time that the ninth obstacle during city finals round had a 0% completion rate, since American Ninja Warrior fully featured 10 obstacles in every city finals course (starting on American Ninja Warrior 5).
- This also marked the first time ever that the final obstacle in a city finals course was left unattempted.
- The Northwest Passage is one of only three obstacles in American Ninja Warrior history to never be completed once, along with Time Bomb and Angry Birds.
- Northwest Passage is also the only obstacle out of the three to not have appeared in an international Ninja Warrior format.
Competitors' Success Rate[]
- All results based on the NBC/Keshet 12 broadcast and external information found
American Ninja Warrior[]
Iron Maiden | |||
---|---|---|---|
ANW | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
ANW9 | 1 | 2 | 50% |
ANW10 | 5 | 16 | 31.25% |
Total | 6 | 18 | 33.33% |
Northwest Passage | |||
---|---|---|---|
ANW | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
ANW11 | 0 | 3 | 0% |
Total | 0 | 3 | 0% |
Iron Summit | |||
---|---|---|---|
ANW | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
ANW11 | 17 | 20 | 85% |
USA vs. The World 6 | 3 | 3 | 100% |
Total | 20 | 23 | 86.96% |
Ninja Israel[]
Iron Maiden | |||
---|---|---|---|
NWI | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
NWI3 (Heat 2) | 1 | 3 | 33.33% |
NWI3 (Heat 5) | 0 | 4 | 0% |
NWI3 (Heat 9) | 0 | 0 | N/A |
NWI4 (Semifinal 1) | 4 | 4 | 100% |
NWI4 (Semifinal 4) | 17 | 18 | 94.44% |
NWI4 (Semifinal 5) | 4 | 6 | 66.67% |
NWI4 (Repechage Semifinal) | 2 | 4 | 50% |
Total | 28 | 39 | 71.79% |