Season 38 of The Challenge recently finished filming, leaving fans wondering how difficult next season’s final will be for challengers. As the show’s host, TJ Lavin, always says, “this season’s final is the hardest yet,” but long-time fans of the show know that statement does not always appear true based on what past competitors have been through.
Reddit users have spent years debating which finals truly can be considered the most difficult compared to others and figuring out where the newest Challenge final fits on the difficulty scale.
Battle Of The Exes II
This season put together the most iconic aspects of a Challenge final, and lizzyK6 argues, “Exes 2 should at least get honorable mention.” They go on to say, “sleep deprivation is underrated…on top of that, it had swimming, kayaking, 2 eating portions, elevation, and was continuous without a break.”
Usually, one eating portion is bad enough, but two on top of having to sleep in the fetal position on a bed of wood pallets, and a continual race, made for a rough final. This final had some of the strongest players competing against each other and their own bodies through intense physical exertion and sleep deprivation.
Total Madness
This final had some of the best players on The Challenge competing with Bananas, Kyle, Corey, Jenny, and Kaycee, among others. Redditor NineteenAD9 says this final “got a raw deal because of bad editing, but what they were doing actually looked pretty hard.”
With the altitude from climbing an active volcano covered in snow, this final was no joke. However, because of the way it was edited, fans had a difficult time getting the feel for the final and just how hard it was, whereas other finals made it clearer.
Battle Of The Bloodlines
Because Bloodlines, as a season, left much to be desired from the audience, this final is overlooked as a difficult one. On top of running all around Berlin, Tmacafisto7 emphasizes how challengers had to “chug non alcoholic beer (which can really make you lethargic), random obstacles, kayak a great distance, stand up overnight in an underground tunnel.”
Not to mention, the majority of this final had to be completed while wearing a tuxedo. In an outfit unfit for the physical challenge of any final, the season ended with a test of challengers’ endurance, ability to fight lethargy, sleep deprivation, and possible claustrophobia, solidifying it as one of the most devious finals in The Challenge‘s history.
Rivals II
Often, if a competitor struggles with one particular part of a final, it will stand out to the audience. Redditor Gunzbrah described that perfectly when giving a “shout out to Rivals II final because the eating portion honestly looked like hell.”
The eating portion is a prime example of why the audience is so torn about whether it is necessary for The Challenge to show players throwing up because there was a lot of that happening at this checkpoint. This final was filled with some of the toughest challengers, who made it through the swimming, puzzles, running and heavy lifting, but nobody made it through the eating portion unscathed.
Double Agents
This two-day final was tough on challengers, and as physically demanding as it was, Jac1596 highlighted the additional pressure of the weather conditions saying, “DA had really difficult terrain and in the middle of a storm.”
It started with a five-mile run on rocky terrain that led to Kaycee’s medical disqualification. From there, the eating portion included a liter of blood, ram testicles, and sheep faces as a few of the things to fuel players for more running, puzzles, and an overnight stay in an ice cave. This final was intense all-around and was even more surprising as Amber Borzotra became one of the female players who unexpectedly won The Challenge.
Rivals
Nobody is ever ready for the final last two days. Redditor Autoamerican14 says, “Imagine after completing the hardest first day of a final ever to go and learn you have to stay awake almost all night and it continues the next day.”
Day one saw a kayak race, campsite recreation from memory as a puzzle, eating, and a mountain climb with next to no sleep in the overnight portion. The following day, challengers were expected to scale another mountain. This final was so tough that two teams quit and refused to finish, with competitors admitting this was one of the roughest finals ever.
Free Agents
As one of the highest-rated Challenge seasons, there were high expectations for the final to follow the same trajectory, and it did not disappoint. Akblackgold writes, “The rafting trip that almost claimed Zach’s life followed by running a 10k, rock climbing, and 25 miles on a stationary bicycle all within the first day.”
It is no exaggeration that Zach’s life was endangered on the rafting trip. This final was brutal on challengers from day one, and after all that, they had to summit an active volcano in the snow.
Battle Of The Exes
This season set the tone for strenuous finals in “Battle of the Exes” seasons. AcceptableCare insists, “The falling in and out of the deep snow (not even the climb or altitude) is what I think makes Exes 1 up there as the hardest.”
This final saw a dogsled race, a freezing river plunge, and an even colder overnight before a snowshoe race and digging ice tunnels the next day. CT, one of the most successful challengers, struggled through the snow to scale a mountain as Diem encouraged him. The audience seeing many strong competitors struggle through the cold of the final solidified this in their minds as one of the worst.
Cutthroat
For a final that was only one day, it is still considered one of the toughest. Taking place in the middle of summer in the Czech Republic, heat largely impacted this final.
Redditor Mtvchallengestats underlines this fact as challengers were on “concrete the entire time, and it was a very hot day…Plus the cast didn’t have a backpack with water with them.” Dehydration from the heat and physical exertion ended up medically disqualifying Abram and Sarah from finishing the final, showing how performing well given the conditions of this final was not easy. Just because this final was a single day does not automatically make it easier than other seasons’ two-day finals.
War Of The Worlds
This season is nearly unanimously considered one of the most dangerous finals by fans, as players competed in extremely warm weather. Logfromrenandstimpy notes the environment lead showrunners to “put in an eating challenge with food that would actually refuel them because basically forcing them to vomit would be close to life threatening at that point.”
This final was so arduous that there were built-in safety aspects to keep challengers able to compete. This final was not only about the physical endurance expected of challengers but also about their ability to perform well when their bodies were not at their peak ability. It’s no wonder that Turabi “Turbo” Çamkıran from Survivor won the season.
