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American Ninja Warrior 6's Silk Slider in Stage One
The Silk Slider was the third obstacle in the Las Vegas finals on American Ninja Warrior 6, replacing the Rope Glider from last season. Competitors must grab a long hanging curtain with both hands, then slide the curtain down the track and time their landing on to the platform below.
Competitors normally got tangled in the curtains or either timed their landing wrong. Also, some competitors disqualified for touching the water with their foot or hand. There are times when competitors did not hold the silk at the same time, the end of the silk with the most weight distributed will lengthen while the other will shorten, forcing the competitor into the water.
This obstacle proved to be much harder than its predecessor (the Rope Glider), eliminating top competitors such as James McGrath, David Campbell, Kevin Bull, Dustin Rocho, and Derek Nakamoto.
A total of 28 competitors failed it, in addition to Elet Hall on USA vs. The World competition.
For some reason, it was really tough for Venice Beach finalists, as it eliminated 9 of the 16 finalists from that region, leading the entire Venice Beach finalists to go out in Stage One. This made the first time in American Ninja Warrior history, that the entire city finalists from the same region went out in Stage One.
On American Ninja Warrior 7, it returned as the third obstacle. However, the landing pad was bigger and less slick, so it proved to be much easier as only four competitors failed it, particularly competitors like Dillon Gates and Josh Cook.
On American Ninja Warrior 8, it was replaced by the Giant Log Grip.
Mini Silk Slider
American Ninja Warrior 7's Mini Silk Slider in Venice Beach
The second version of the Silk Slider, the Mini Silk Slider, first appeared in Venice Beach qualifiers on American Ninja Warrior 7. The obstacle began just like the Silk Slider, but when competitors reached the end of a shorter track, they must jump to a rope and swing to the landing mat ahead of them.
The Mini Silk Slider retained the difficulty from its original version, eliminating 48 competitors during Venice Beach qualifiers, including Rob Moravsky and Kyle Cochran.
This version of the Silk Slider was also used in several Ninja Warrior international format (e.g. Ninja Warrior UK and Australian Ninja Warrior), although it was called as the Silk Slider (without the word 'Mini').