Prove yourself worthy at the OAWarrior Challenge

By Elisha Valladares-Cormier

Adventurous Arrowmen have the opportunity to bring fame and honor to their lodges at the OAWarrior Challenge, the largest challenge course ever seen at a National Order of the Arrow Conference.

The OAWarrior challenge is a physically and mentally demanding obstacle course that is similar to popular TV shows like “Wipeout” and “American Ninja Warrior,” complete with tunnel crawling, cliff jumping and watersliding.

OAWarrior Lead Mike Rosenberg explained that the challenge includes a 16-foot tall cliff and the largest water slide in the nation–a 185-foot long and 55 feet high experience known as the “The Hippo.”

“We have numerous other challenges that haven’t been seen before and that we came up with on the fly, just to make it interesting,” said Rosenberg.

The course begins with several tunnels that lead to “Spider Mountain,” an air-locking web cylinder filled with bungee cords.  After ‘escaping,’ contestants slide down and pounce over 6-foot high bales before sprinting to the tricky tire obstacles. Participants must next climb up to the top of the hippo and slide back to ground level.  Tire obstacles block the way to the “Big Ball,” followed by more tires, hay bales and the “Boot Camp Challenge,” where participants climb walls, cross water with by rope, climb through tunnel, hurdling hay bales, and jumping off a 16-feet cliff before sprinting to the finish line.

Rosenberg said Arrowmen will be doing this activity all day, every day, with a new set starting every two minutes. This is not just an individual event. Lodges will be competing in teams as well, with the overall winner receiving a trophy to take home. An OAWarrior will be chosen daily from each region and recognized for their achievement.

“If Arrowmen have a competitive spirit in them and they really want to come do something unique, this is the biggest competitive obstacle race that the Boy Scouts of America has ever put on,” said Mark Smith, lead adviser for OAWarrior. “If you want to be a part of Boy Scout history, you need to come to OAWarrior.”

Rosenberg said participants are encouraged to celebrate their achievements on social media and use the hashtag #OAWarrior!  Be sure to spark check-in via Spark at OAWarrior!