Stage 2

New obstacle. Contestants slide down an incline on what looks like a skateboard. At the bottom of the incline they jump off the skateboard, grab a rope and swing across the water to a floating platform.

A similar obstacle appeared in Stage 2 of Women of Ninja Warrior (Kunoichi), with some differences. In Kunoichi the contestants jumped straight from the slide to the platform, without the rope swing. Also, the platform in Kunoichi was stationery rather than floating.

New obstacle. Contestants climb a "ladder" by hanging from a pipe suspended on small supports and jumping up, catching the pipe on a series of higher supports. The distance to the top supports is significantly higher than the rest, making the last jump particularly difficult.

Granted we haven't yet seen everything, but in the course we have seen this is one of the two toughest obstacles. Of the 6 competitors who finished stage 1, half were taken out by the Salmon Ladder. Due to the extreme demands on upper body strength, and the time required to do it, the Salmon Ladder seems to belong more in Stage 3. We'll see if they remove or modify this one in future seasons.

New obstacle. After completing the Salmon Ladder, contestants jump over the top of the ladder. The pipe they used to climb the ladder now slides down an incline. At the bottom they let go of the pipe and jump to a floating platform.

This is kind of like the Pipe Slider except they don't have to hop forward since it's on an incline. When they let go of the pipe, every time it fell into the water and sank. I wonder if they have extra pipes, or if some poor production assistant has to dive in and fish it out?

New obstacle. Not much to this one: competitors climb across a rope net. Like the Wall Climb in previous versions of Stage 2, the Net Bridge seems intended to slow competitors down rather than to eliminate anyone.

The 13th obstacle this season, and the first one that's unchanged from previous seasons. Competitors jump and grab a metal chain, which spins in a circular motion across the water. The chain appears to stretch, causing many competitors to lose their grip.

This was the hardest obstacle in Stage 2 before; no surprise it's the one they kept.

New obstacle. Competitors carry a weighted bar across the shoulders, and walk along a narrow foot path. This one looks relatively easy unless the competitor fails to balance the bar properly across the shoulders.

At first glance we hoped the two boxes hanging from the bar would contain small flame jets which would light up while the competitor was carrying them. But alas, it's just barbell weights.

Contestants slide down an incline on what looks like a skateboard. At the bottom of the incline they jump off the skateboard, grab a rope and swing across the water to a floating platform.

Because no one got further than the Salmon Ladder, we didn't get to see the last 4 obstacles of stage 2. In the episode intro they showed the Metal Spin, and two others I didn't recognize. One of the two new ones looked like the Wall Lift of past seasons. It will be interesting to find out what the new obstacles are. That is, if anyone ever gets past the Salmon Ladder again.