Loudbmw
Florida Retiree Wannabe
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2000
Actually my son won and I was runner-up.
My son (19) made it to the semi-finals last year and wanted to try again. Best chance to be selected for the show is to audition for the first show when it's not crowded. About 75 minutes before a show they do a casting call.
My son begged me to try out with him but I'm 55 yrs old and I was hurt from a fall from my roof a year ago (now fully recovered). Heights are not fun for me anymore!
Well my engineer logic kicks in and I figure if I get selected for the show, that's one less person my son has to beat to get to the semi-finals.
We are both selected for the show along with two young ladies and two other men. It's off to the backstage area where we are given disposable underwear and a spandex outfit. The Fear Factor staff was great and explained everything very carefully. They had a medic who job was to look out for our well being and monitored us after every stunt.
The six of us were led up to the roof of the stadium which holds about 2,000 people. The first stunt is to hang the longest 40 feet up from a T-bar. They drop the small platform you stand on and the first two contestants to fall are eliminated. I look over the edge of the platform and say no way! But I just stare at the T-bar and walk out without looking down. I give a tug on my safety harness to make sure it's really connected (the staff made sure too).
The support platforms drop and I'm relieved I haven't dropped in the first couple of seconds and embarrased myself. Shortly thereafter one of the young ladies drops. I feel OK and now think all I have to do is outlast one other person. It seems like a long time (maybe 30 seconds) and I'm starting to get real tired. I continue to hold on and say to myself, if one more contestant drops I'm going also a second later.
Finally the second young lady drops, I'm tired and want to let go. I'm still not happy about the impending fall but there is no other way down. I let go and the safety harness does a fine job. I was never so happy to have my feet touch the ground. To my surprise, my son goes next. That's bad because the person who holds on the longest gets to choose their partner in the next two stunts and has an advantange in case of a tie.
The winner of the first stunt picks the other gentleman for his partner so my son & I can be a team (really nice gesture I thought but he should have picked my son who did this before). The next stunt is simple, grab bean bags from an eel tank and throw them to your partner on a platform for 30 seconds. They spray you with water cannons for effect but it feels so good as we're hot.
I can't see to well how the other team is doing but I notice they are getting to the eel tank before me so I figure we are behind. We nail 4 for 4 shots, they missed one so now the advantage now goes to our team. The next stunt they swing my son from a rope from the ceiling and he tosses squids to me to catch in a bucket. I'm teathered so I can only be so close. We get an extra squid to toss as we had won the previous stunt.
His first two tosses are perfect to me, but by now, my son has begun to rotate on the rope. The next pass he's not facing me but manages to sidearm it to me for another catch. One more and we both make it to the finals. Now he's facing completely the wrong direction! He throws the squid between his legs like a football center to a punter. It's a perfect snap, it hits me square in the chest and drops into the bucket. Off to the final stunt with me against my son.
The anouncer asks me how I feel about my chances and I say "He's got 35 years on me and is a black belt - I think I'm in trouble!"
The last stunt you climb a building up a vertical ladder (no rungs, just small shallow steps). You have to grab flags alongs the way but you can't reach them without stepping off the ladder onto window sills. Next you grab a car key about two stories up, slide down a pole, jump into a car that they hoist to the ceiling (great - more heights). Finally you climb onto the hood of the car, grab 3 more flags and shoot at a target to win.
I have no problem with the climbing part but am not looking forward to climbing out on the hood of a wet car hoisted to the roof. We start and I'm a little slow as to not loose my footing on the ladder and window sills. Water is pouring down and my goggles are filling with water. It's off the ladder completely to grab the car keys and fire pole but I leap for it knowing I have a safety harness. I have only an arm around the pole but I figured correctly that the safety harness would bring me to a controlled decent.
I get to the car and thankfully my son is about five seconds ahead of me. He clears the hood of flags quickly and shoots the target to win just as I have to climb out on the hood. I sit back and relax as they lower the car.
For the win he received (4) two-park single day admission tickets that never expire and a tee shirt. I get (2) tickets and a fear factor hat I will wear proudly. For an old guy who didn't want to enter in the first place - it was the highlight of our trip.
Lou
My son (19) made it to the semi-finals last year and wanted to try again. Best chance to be selected for the show is to audition for the first show when it's not crowded. About 75 minutes before a show they do a casting call.
My son begged me to try out with him but I'm 55 yrs old and I was hurt from a fall from my roof a year ago (now fully recovered). Heights are not fun for me anymore!
Well my engineer logic kicks in and I figure if I get selected for the show, that's one less person my son has to beat to get to the semi-finals.
We are both selected for the show along with two young ladies and two other men. It's off to the backstage area where we are given disposable underwear and a spandex outfit. The Fear Factor staff was great and explained everything very carefully. They had a medic who job was to look out for our well being and monitored us after every stunt.
The six of us were led up to the roof of the stadium which holds about 2,000 people. The first stunt is to hang the longest 40 feet up from a T-bar. They drop the small platform you stand on and the first two contestants to fall are eliminated. I look over the edge of the platform and say no way! But I just stare at the T-bar and walk out without looking down. I give a tug on my safety harness to make sure it's really connected (the staff made sure too).
The support platforms drop and I'm relieved I haven't dropped in the first couple of seconds and embarrased myself. Shortly thereafter one of the young ladies drops. I feel OK and now think all I have to do is outlast one other person. It seems like a long time (maybe 30 seconds) and I'm starting to get real tired. I continue to hold on and say to myself, if one more contestant drops I'm going also a second later.
Finally the second young lady drops, I'm tired and want to let go. I'm still not happy about the impending fall but there is no other way down. I let go and the safety harness does a fine job. I was never so happy to have my feet touch the ground. To my surprise, my son goes next. That's bad because the person who holds on the longest gets to choose their partner in the next two stunts and has an advantange in case of a tie.
The winner of the first stunt picks the other gentleman for his partner so my son & I can be a team (really nice gesture I thought but he should have picked my son who did this before). The next stunt is simple, grab bean bags from an eel tank and throw them to your partner on a platform for 30 seconds. They spray you with water cannons for effect but it feels so good as we're hot.
I can't see to well how the other team is doing but I notice they are getting to the eel tank before me so I figure we are behind. We nail 4 for 4 shots, they missed one so now the advantage now goes to our team. The next stunt they swing my son from a rope from the ceiling and he tosses squids to me to catch in a bucket. I'm teathered so I can only be so close. We get an extra squid to toss as we had won the previous stunt.
His first two tosses are perfect to me, but by now, my son has begun to rotate on the rope. The next pass he's not facing me but manages to sidearm it to me for another catch. One more and we both make it to the finals. Now he's facing completely the wrong direction! He throws the squid between his legs like a football center to a punter. It's a perfect snap, it hits me square in the chest and drops into the bucket. Off to the final stunt with me against my son.
The anouncer asks me how I feel about my chances and I say "He's got 35 years on me and is a black belt - I think I'm in trouble!"
The last stunt you climb a building up a vertical ladder (no rungs, just small shallow steps). You have to grab flags alongs the way but you can't reach them without stepping off the ladder onto window sills. Next you grab a car key about two stories up, slide down a pole, jump into a car that they hoist to the ceiling (great - more heights). Finally you climb onto the hood of the car, grab 3 more flags and shoot at a target to win.
I have no problem with the climbing part but am not looking forward to climbing out on the hood of a wet car hoisted to the roof. We start and I'm a little slow as to not loose my footing on the ladder and window sills. Water is pouring down and my goggles are filling with water. It's off the ladder completely to grab the car keys and fire pole but I leap for it knowing I have a safety harness. I have only an arm around the pole but I figured correctly that the safety harness would bring me to a controlled decent.
I get to the car and thankfully my son is about five seconds ahead of me. He clears the hood of flags quickly and shoots the target to win just as I have to climb out on the hood. I sit back and relax as they lower the car.
For the win he received (4) two-park single day admission tickets that never expire and a tee shirt. I get (2) tickets and a fear factor hat I will wear proudly. For an old guy who didn't want to enter in the first place - it was the highlight of our trip.
Lou
