In Scotts Valley, athletes prepare for “American Ninja Warrior,” a reality show that has contestants race through obstacle courses in various cities. It's fostered a subculture of athletes who love testing themselves against the quirky, daunting obstacles.
The place is hard to find. You must drive into the mountains above Santa Cruz, following a road that turns from asphalt to dirt, then park at the top of a rise and look for a path whose entrance is deliberately concealed by brush.
Ninja Warrior contestants on a break from practicing in Scotts Valley, Calif. From left: Sean Bryan, David Campbell, Jessie Graff, Verdale Benson, and Brian Kretsch. “I call it the joy of finding your limits,” Graff says. “Of hanging onto an obstacle until everything is trembling and still refusing to let go.”The idea came from Japan, from a game show called “Sasuke” that debuted in the late 1990s with a mammoth course dubbed “Mt. Midoriyama.” Arthur Smith heard about it from a friend.For ‘American Ninja Warriors,’ the course is a common enemy, drawing them together and compelling them to train year-round.
Then, Kretsch worked at a door company that went out of business. Built tall and lanky, a swimmer and soccer player in his youth, he stumbled upon the show by chance.Campbell tells a similar story. His house had burned down and he was staying with his brother, who had cable. He says: “There was a void in my life.”None of the early contestants guessed “American Ninja Warrior” would become a network success, picked up by NBC where it is now a staple of the summer lineup.
Ninja Warriors discuss technique while they train for the finals of American Ninja Warrior at Apex gym in Concord, Calif. Courses often include a “balance” element that requires sprinting across uneven steps, an unsteady bridge or a series of spinning blocks. Though no real strength or speed is required, these finicky obstacles can be the scariest.Ninja Warrior contestant Jessie Graff reaches for the top of the warped wall while practicing for the Finals of American Ninja Warrior.It figures that Akbar Gbajabiamila had an attitude.
“What would the runs be without the stories?” Smith asks. “We’ve had so many great people overcoming things or changing their lives … you have to make viewers care.” Ninja Warrior contestants discuss technique for the Salmon Ladder while they train for the finals of American Ninja Warrior at Apex gym.It is warm June evening, a week after Campbell and his friends trained in Northern California. All the finalists have traveled to Las Vegas, where they gather beside a vacant lot surrounded by covered fencing.
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