The Stair Hopper is an obstacle, first introduced as the ninth obstacle on American Ninja Warrior 8 during Philadelphia finals. On this obstacle, competitors must:
- Place a 4-foot (1.22-meter) free-moving bar on a set of rails (3.5 feet/1.04 meters apart). Each piece of rail is 2.5 feet (76.2 centimeters) long.
- Move the bar down four drops with alternate heights of 5 or 10 inches (12.7 or 25.4 centimeters).
- This includes a small gap to clear when attempting the second and fourth drops.
- After that, they must jump the pipe up four times with also alternate heights of either 5 and 12 inches (12.7 or 30.48 centimeters), to keep on the tracks.
- Similar to going down the drops, there are two gaps (over the first and third jump), in which competitors must avoid falling through.
- The gaps make jumping the bar much harder, because they must jump it from a greater distance and have no rail to help keep the bar in place.
- After completing the jumps, they must slide the bar along a slightly longer set of rails and drop to a landing platform.
There is only a 3-inch (7.62-centimeter) margin-of-error on each side on the bar. Hence, in its debut, the obstacle proved to be incredibly difficult, taking out many top competitors: Ryan Stratis, Jamie Rahn, Mike Bernardo, Jon Alexis Jr., Jesse Labreck, Najee Richardson, Michael Torres, and most notably, Geoff Britten. Out of the 10 competitors who reached this obstacle, only two competitors could complete it: Joe Moravsky and Chris Wilczewski. Ultimately, both of them gassed out at the final obstacle (the Invisible Ladder), making Philadelphia finals on that season the first time in American Ninja Warrior history that no competitor could complete the city finals course.
Other Season Appearances[]
American Ninja Warrior 9[]
The Stair Hopper returned as the ninth obstacle on American Ninja Warrior 9 during Los Angeles finals, which had the same specification from the previous season.
Once again, 10 competitors reached this obstacle. However, unlike during Philadelphia finals on the previous season, six competitors could complete it. On the contrary, Kevin Bull, Robin Pietschmann, Jackson Meyer, and Brian Wilczewski fell on this obstacle.
American Ninja Warrior 10[]
On American Ninja Warrior 10, the Stair Hopper appeared as the ninth obstacle during Miami finals, and the obstacle remained unchanged from the past two American Ninja Warrior seasons.
This time, only 5 competitors attempted the obstacle. This was due to the brutality of the previous obstacles, especially the Cannonball Drop and Crazy Clocks. Only three completed the obstacle: Ryan Stratis (who failed on this obstacle during American Ninja Warrior 8's Philadelphia finals), Brett Sims, and Kenny Niemitalo. On the flipside, the Stair Hopper shockingly wiped out Drew Drechsel and Jessie Graff. In fact, both of them fell at the exact same spot (at the third step).
Just like during Los Angeles finals on American Ninja Warrior 9, it had a 60% completion rate. In fact, the number of clears and attempts during Miami finals on American Ninja Warrior 10 were exactly half of the numbers of clears and attempts on the obstacle during Los Angeles finals.
Other Appearances[]
Unlike American Ninja Warrior, in most versions, the bar was directly put onto the track.
Australian Ninja Warrior[]
On Australian Ninja Warrior 5, the Stair Hopper appeared as the seventh obstacle in Stage One. However, compared to the one used on American Ninja Warrior:
- The obstacle was preceded by the Salmon Ladder and combined as one obstacle. Thus, the obstacle was renamed as the Salmon Ladder to Stair Hopper.
- The obstacle featured a shorter track, with only five descending steps, in a similar fashion to the Pipe Slider in American Ninja Warrior 1.
The three competitors that failed on this obstacle failed at the Salmon Ladder portion, with everyone else that attempted the Stair Hopper portion clearing.
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
On Ninja Warrior Germany, the Stair Hopper (Stangen-Treppe, literally Bar Stairs) first appeared in the Semi-finals of Ninja Warrior Germany 4, serving as the eighth and penultimate obstacle of the Semi-finals of said season. The obstacle proved to be brutal, with only four competitors (Joel Mattli, Alexander Wurm, Benjamin Reichmann and Renรฉ Casselly) out of the 17 competitors completing this obstacle.
Ninja Israel[]
On Ninja Warrior Israel 3, the Stair Hopper, locally called ืืืจืืืช ืืืจืื (literally Iron Stairs) appeared as the fifth obstacle in the Crossroads; Route B in Heat 3 and Heat 7, and Route A in Heat 15 and Heat 17. Unlike American Ninja Warrior, the obstacle featured a shorter track, with only five ascending steps (in a similar fashion to the Bar Glider in SASUKE 27), as the descending steps was replaced by two lachรฉ bars.
Despite being placed as just the fifth obstacle, as well as being half the length of the original, it was still just as relentless compared to American Ninja Warrior's version. In Heat 3, only Yosi Baland attempted the Stair Hopper but later failed, making the obstacle have a 100% knock-out rate, but Baland later advanced to the Semifinals thanks for his fast run, and he was the only Route B competitor of that heat to qualify for the Semifinals. Due to this, all competitors who made it to the Crossroads in Heat 7 were choosing Route A to avoid the Stair Hopper. Because of the avoidance issue, the producers decided to move the Stair Hopper to Route A in Heat 15 and Heat 17, making the obstacle show its true difficulties once again. In Heat 15, the obstacle eliminated all four competitors (Aviazar Tilman, Alon Doron, Dan Haiman and Yogev Yardeny) who attempted it, making the obstacle have a 100% knock-out rate once again, but all four competitors later advanced to the Semifinals thanks for their furthest run. In Heat 17, the obstacle was finally beaten by five competitors (Kfir Atzmon, Eshed Atzmon, Gil Marantz, Roi Ben Yakar, and Eli Rot) and everyone who did so advanced to the Semifinals, while three other competitors failed on it, but only Tamir Nahor advanced to the Repechage Heat.
Competitors' Success Rate[]
- All results based on the NBC/RTL/Keshet 12 broadcast and external information found.
American Ninja Warrior[]
ANW | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
---|---|---|---|
ANW8 | 2 | 10 | 20% |
ANW9 | 6 | 10 | 60% |
ANW10 | 3 | 5 | 60% |
Total | 11 | 25 | 44% |
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
NWG | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
---|---|---|---|
NWG4 | 4 | 17 | 23.52% |
Total | 4 | 17 | 23.52% |
Ninja Israel[]
NWI | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
---|---|---|---|
NWI3 (Heat 3) | 0 | 1 | 0% |
NWI3 (Heat 7) | 0 | 0 | N/A |
NWI3 (Heat 15) | 0 | 4 | 0% |
NWI3 (Heat 17) | 5 | 8 | 62.5% |
Total | 5 | 13 | 38.46% |
Trivia[]
- This obstacle is a combination of the Pipe Slider, Bar Glider and Bar Hop.
- The function of this obstacle is somewhat similar to the Pipe Slider from American Ninja Warrior 1. However, unlike the Pipe Slider (where the pipe was already onto the track), competitors must put the bar onto the track first before attempting the obstacle.
- However, in all international Ninja Warrior formats, the bar was directly put onto the track.
- The function of the ascending steps is also similar to the Bar Glider in SASUKE 27.
- The function of this obstacle is somewhat similar to the Pipe Slider from American Ninja Warrior 1. However, unlike the Pipe Slider (where the pipe was already onto the track), competitors must put the bar onto the track first before attempting the obstacle.
- The original idea for this obstacle involved competitors jumping the bar upwards, then downwards. However, the producers wanted to make this obstacle harder, so they flipped the design upside down.
- This was the first obstacle that Geoff Britten failed since the Jumping Spider in Stage One on American Ninja Warrior 6.
- Both Wilczewski brothers (Chris Wilczewski and Brian Wilczewski) attempted the Stair Hopper; Chris attempted the obstacle during American Ninja Warrior 8's Philadelphia finals, and Brian attempted it during American Ninja Warrior 9's Los Angeles finals. While Chris became one of the only two competitors who could complete it during Philadelphia finals, his younger brother Brian became one of four competitors who failed to complete it during Los Angeles finals.