Monday, January 19, 2015

Viper Challenge 2014


A couple of months ago, I completed my second Viper Challenge. This post is long delayed and I considered not writing it at all. But for some insane reason, I had impulsively brought my phone along for the ride and since I went through the trouble of getting some shots, it would be a waste not to use it.

This round, it was definitely more difficult than 2013's event - the obstacles were higher, longer and more challenging. And while this made most of the obstacles a heck of a lot more fun than the previous year, there were areas which made it less enjoyable for me as well.

The 20km run was a real pain this round because a large part of the route was covered in slick, sticky mud which was unavoidable and made the distance all the more tedious. Even worse, one of my team members triggered an old knee injury which wasn't really helped by the running conditions.

The mud hills (I'm not sure if that's the name of this obstacle) were really overkill this time - with the rain, slippery mud and higher hills, the obstacle just made you feel like you were swimming in mud pointlessly and there must have been around 10 hills to get through.

On the whole, it was a well-planned and executed event and I had a blast other than the minor issues above. I didn't manage to capture a lot on my phone because I had to wait for moments when we could clean our hands enough to take it out of the plastic bag, but here are a few pictures and videos to give a bit of a feel of what we experienced.


This obstacle was pretty pointless but I heard that they changed it because someone cracked their ankle the day before - previously, it had people jumping over the fire into a pit filled with water and mud.


Behind us is the wall rope climb. We saw a TON of people fall on this obstacle because the ropes were very slippery and the knots were quite far from each other, meaning the moment you missed a knot, you'd probably slip down. One of my team members fell as well and we heard that another person had a spinal fracture the day before...


The quarter pipe obstacle was the only one I didn't complete because my shoes were still dripping wet and I slipped before I had the chance to get any traction.


We didn't get to take a picture as a team because we were rushing to wash up so that I wouldn't miss my daughter's first school concert later that day...

Now for some videos.


This was one of the first obstacles and it's harder than it looks because you have to shuffle across for a reasonable distance using only your finger tips. People who do rock climbing would find it easy but my fingers felt like they were going to tear off...


I have a confession to make: I failed my first two tries on this wall. But I finally got a firm kick off on the small ridge on the wall - I'm glad this was an obstacle I could try again without causing any sort of bottleneck...


I had fun on these rings because I managed to figure out the momentum and didn't have to use brute strength like a lot of other people did. It was also one of the last obstacles so you wouldn't be as fresh as the first half of the event.


I must have tried this one four times and I feel it's impossible. I did hear that only one guy in the entire two days made it and he had people helping to steady the coasters along the way. But by the far, the funnest obstacle!


I think this was the second last obstacle! They really kept the most challenging ones for the end when you are at your most fatigued. When I caught my legs on the cargo net, both quads cramped badly and I had to rely fully on my hands instead which was really tough. Out of all the obstacles, this is the one I'm most glad I hung on to complete because I was cramping, knackered and just wanted to drop down and crawl across.

Some friends asked me to join them at the upcoming March event but I declined. It's not that I regret going for it at all - I truly had fun and was ready for the physical demands of the event. It just felt too close to the one which just passed.

If they launch another event at the end of this year, I'll sign up with no hesitation.

Anyone want to join me?

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