The Rolling Escargot (ローリングエスカルゴ) is an obstacle featured in the First Stage, debuting in SASUKE 26 as the third obstacle.
Much like the Body Prop was to the Spider Walk, this could be considered a cousin of the Rolling Maruta.
A competitor must latch onto a disk, facing the disk, holding onto handles and jamming their feet into toe clips. They then start down the track, which is angled to the left for safety reasons, rotating slowly four times before hitting the bottom and dismounting.
The Rolling Escargot was proven to be a deadly obstacle, as losing the grip on one of the handles or toe clips briefly is usually enough to cause failure. Throughout the three tournaments it was present, the obstacle eliminated top competitors such as:
- Yamamoto Shingo,
- Takahashi Kenji,
- Kanno Hitoshi,
- Miyazaki Daisuke,
- Kawaguchi Tomohiro,
- Takeda Toshihiro,
- Nakayama Kinnikun,
- Iketani Naoki,
- Kishimoto Shinya,
- Matachi Ryo,
- Patrick Cusic,
- Evan Dollard,
- Will Dodd, and
- Joe Lobeck.
All in all, it alone eliminated almost half of the field. Some competitors (e.g. Yamada Katsumi and Urushihara Yuuji) were forced to stop the obstacle and finished in a more energy draining way, while others (e.g. Travis Furlanic and Flip Rodriguez) have jumped for the mat early to save time.
From SASUKE 27 onward, it became the second obstacle and the toeclips became more closed in footholds. While this modification arguably made the obstacle easier, it still eliminated more people than any other obstacle did in the tournament giving it a lethal status as a feared obstacle.
Rolling Escargot, SASUKE 28
It was notably one of the few obstacles retained for the course redesign in SASUKE 28 and was almost completely unchanged, with the exception being that the landing mat was smaller and more unstable, making the strategy of jumping halfway much riskier than before. Despite its overall difficulty, the Rolling Escargot was removed in SASUKE 29 in favor of the Log Grip's return.
American Ninja Warrior Appearance
American Ninja Warrior 6's Spinning Wheel in Venice Beach
The Rolling Escargot appeared as the second obstacle on American Ninja Warrior 6 in Venice Beach. However, this obstacle was called as the Spinning Wheel, and had a similar design from SASUKE 26 version. Just like in SASUKE 26, this obstacle was proven to be deadly as usual (taking out several competitors, e.g. Kelvin Antoine, Travis Weinand, and Brian Orosco).
During Venice Beach finals, it took out one more competitor (Brennan Mejia).
Visual Design
- From SASUKE 26 to 27, the color of the disk was a mixture of light and dark brown.
- In SASUKE 28, the color of the disk was changed to a mixture of black and gray.
- On American Ninja Warrior 6, the disk was painted with American Ninja Warrior's logo (at that time, before changing its logo on the next season) and red outline on the side.
Competitor's Success Rate
- All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found
| SASUKE | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 27 | 53 | 50.94% |
| 27 | 49 | 70 | 71.01% |
| 28 | 36 | 51 | 70.58% |
| Total | 112 | 174 | 64.76% |