Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle Course
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Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle Course is a Japanese endurance game show (orig. name, Baikingu) produced by Fuji TV and Monster 9. The English version of Viking is produced by ESPN2 with two American commentators calling the action. The entire show is broadcasted from Tokyo Bay.
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[edit] Summary
The object of the show is to complete a giant obstacle course that tests the body and mind of 50 contestants for each show. Round by round, the contestants that do not get eliminated advance to the next round. There are 4 grueling stages called "1st Marine", "2nd Adventure", "3rd Fantasy" and "Final Viking". Whoever survives "Final Viking" is crowned the Ultimate Survivor. Obstacles change during each of the stages except for Final Viking at the end.
[edit] 1st Marine Stage
Each contestant has 1 minute 50 seconds (otherwise for men: 2 minutes 15 seconds; for the women: 2 minutes 22 seconds) to run from the start to stop the clock at the top by going through the obstacles.
- ODYSSEY: a tilting rotating platform.
- LOADING DOCK: a balance beam with three overhead conveyor belts. One 15 lb. bag drops from each, and the contestant must catch exactly one of them and bring it to the other side of the balance beam.
- CASTAWAY: a zipline with a ball handle that leads to a cargo net on the other side.
- ALPHABET PARLEY: an area with a stopper with a number and a letter generator. The contestant must speak out a letter in the English alphabet corresponding to the Parley board, for example if the Parley board reads "2 before X", the answer would be "V". A wrong guess drops the contestant through a trapdoor. Alternates with Math.
- 4TH-GRADE LEVEL MATH an area with a stopper with two numbers that need to be added into the generator. The contestant must punch in the number of the correct answer, for example, 76 + 45= 121, a wrong guess drops the contestant through a trapdoor. Alternates with Alphabet Parley.
- ISLAND ESCAPE: a small island platform with a rope. The contestant must jump from a ledge and onto the island and use the rope to pull himself/herself across to the next obstacle. Alternates with Main Deck.
- MAIN DECK: an area where the contestant must lay a balance beam into one of two holes. They have a choice between a wider and heavier beam requiring strength or a light thin beam that tests their balance. The contestant must pick either one to cross. Alternates with Island Escape.
- CANNONBALL RUN: a bridge of 4 cannonballs suspended over the water which the contestant must cross.
- SWING MAST: a long bar on two poles with some areas thickened for a weighted rope to loop around.
- CAPTAIN'S CABIN: a giant ship's wheel with climbing spikes with the clock stopper at the top.
[edit] 2nd Adventure Stage
The next round has the surviving contestants try to finish the course in under 2 minutes.
- GALLEON: a walk on a balance beam and a rotating Y-shaped bridge while the contestant has two 30-lb. buckets on a yoke on his/her back.
- GALLEY: a tunnel littered with spinning oars. Alternates with Color Fusion.
- COLOR FUSION: an area with a stopper that randomly makes two colors appear on a board. The contestant must then identify the color that is made when the two generated colors are mixed. Alternates with Galley.
- ROPE MAZE: a length of rope wrapped around an overhead maze as the contestant climbs and maneuvers it to cross to the other side.
Note: Sometimes, the two following obstacles will both be on the course and the contestant gets to choose which one they would like to do. In other cases, the only choice is the Survival Flag
- SURVIVAL FLAG: an area where the contestant must raise a weighted flag weighing 65lbs up a pole
- SURVIVAL JUMP: an area where the contestant must jump onto a trampoline and onto a log platform
- TACTICAL PARLEY: an area almost the same as Parley from the 1st Marine Stage, except the math problem is a subtraction problem instead of addition. An incorrect answer drops the contestant through a trapdoor. Alternates with Log Screw.
- LOG SCREW: a bridge of 1 rotating log and 2 parallel spinning logs. Contestants must cross to the other side using either parallel log. Alternates with Tactical Parley.
- HEAVENLY CLIMB: A climb up the rope near a rotating propeller towards a pipe beam where the contestant must cross and stop the clock.
[edit] 3rd Fantasy Stage
Survivors of the Adventure Stage have to complete several parts of the Fantasy Stage to make it to Final Viking. There are no time limits in any of the parts except Hawkeye.
- HAWKEYE: The contestant is shown a rotating wheel of letters with one number hidden among the characters. The contestant must identify the number in 10 seconds or be dropped through a trapdoor.
- STEADY VOYAGE: The contestant balances a long metal pole on his/her hand and maneuvers the pole through an electrified metal maze above them. If the pole touches the metal edges, sparks will fly and the contestant is eliminated.
- ULTIMATE PLANK: A giant pegboard sign that spells out VIKING and where contestants use two metal pegs and upper body strength to cross the entire word to the other side without using their legs during the run.
- HEARTBREAKER: An upside-down stair-like cliff 25 feet high is climbed to jump across 7 feet to the other side where a sword is drawn out to signify the completion.
[edit] Final Viking
The Final Viking challenge has the remaining contestants scramble across a 75-foot horizontal rope and climbing up a 30-foot vertical rope to the top. If the contestant makes it to the top in under 1 minute 40 seconds, they win. One man, Makoto Nagano, who was the only man ever to get to the Final Viking stage, came close but ran out of time when he was 5 feet away from the finish. No contestant has ever completed Final Viking; but if one does he or she will be crowned the Ultimate Viking.
