The World's Craziest Contests

The Challenge: Who can sit still the longest? Sounds easy until you learn that the temperature will be 230 degrees. “This is what hell must feel like,” the organizers boast. The contest takes place annually in August.

The Scene: Finland is a land of 5 million people and an estimated 1.7 million saunas, so it’s assumed that Finns are good at taking the heat. The competition involves five rounds for men (over a two-day period) and three rounds for women (to be completed in one day), with a 2.5-hour break between rounds. Challengers must wear bathing suits, maintain good posture, and be able to walk (as opposed to being carried) out of the sauna. A doctor’s note is required for entry.

The Challenge: Do you have what it takes to earn the title of “Papa” in the world’s leading Ernest Hemingway doppelgänger contest? The contest is usually held around the late author’s birthday, July 21.

The Scene: The bearded hopefuls parade at Sloppy Joe’s, a legendary Key West watering hole that officially opened the day Prohibition ended (although it was said to serve drinks illegally before that date), and is said to have been named by Papa himself. “A mature, heavy-set man with a full beard” is what the judges say they usually look for, but younger contestants have made it to the final round in past years.

The Challenge: Speed-walk half a mile and bring home the $10,000 prize. That’s it. Oh, and you’ll be 80 feet in the air on a 1.5-inch-wide wire.

The Scene: These high times take place above Seoul’s Han River (the next competition is in 2010), with medics on hand in case a contestant ends up in the drink. There’s a 20-minute time limit; the world record-holder made it across in less than 11 minutes. Would-be walkers must submit evidence of prior high-wire experience to the organizers for review.

The Challenge: If you throw the right symbol you could take home $10,000 in the RPS. This is not a game of luck—strategies and skills are applied, and hours and hours of practice pay off for the winners.

The Scene: The Steam Whistle Brewery in Toronto is home to the championships, with the next edition set for November 2009. First-time RPS competitors don’t have to qualify by winning smaller tournaments because, says RPS Society cofounder Graham Walker, “We believe anyone should have the chance to feel what it is like to compete at the highest level that a sport has to offer.” Yes, it’s a sport.

The Challenge: Do you trust yourself enough to design a flying machine, strap yourself in, get a running start, and jump off a pier toward the horizon? Test your design skills—and your fearlessness—at this event on England’s southeast coast, held annually in August.

The Scene: Contestants take a leap of faith off a 15-foot-long platform, 35 feet above the Worthing Sea, with the hopes of flying more than 325 feet—enough to qualify for the $50,000 prize. The contest has various categories: the da Vinci class is for experts who design their own machines, while the Kingfisher class is for those who prefer to use a hang glider, but add their own touches (think yellow feathers and a chicken suit). Prizes are awarded for longest air time, furthest flight, and best entertainment.

The Challenge: It’s a good old-fashioned tug-of-war, only this one uses a 2,400-foot, 680-pound rope—which is pulled over the expanse of the Mississippi River. When one team is all wet, it’s all over.

The Scene: Every August, LeClaire tries to pull harder than Port Byron, and vice versa. The winner takes home an alabaster sculpture of an eagle, kept proudly on display until the next go-around. Each side takes the challenge very seriously and holds regular practices (though never with the game-day rope, which is reeled across the Mighty Mississippi for one day only).

The Challenge: If you’ve ever solved a Rubik’s cube (and not by peeling off the stickers and rearranging them), you can show your skills at this geeky confab. But be prepared to solve the squared puzzle blindfolded, with one hand, or with your feet (with or without socks). This is the cream of the Rubik’s crop.

The Scene: The fifth World Championship will take place in Düsseldorf in October 2009; qualification is based on the results of previous competitions, but some first-time competitors are accepted on a first-come basis. Some fleet-fingered cubist will bring home first prize, which tops $7,000.

The Challenge: This gravity-defying contest asks an athlete to kick a suspended object with one foot (sometimes as high as a basketball net), and land on the floor using that same foot, to demonstrate superior balance.

The Scene: The annual Eskimo-Indian Olympics, which the kick is a part of, features events that may seem offbeat to outsiders but implement age-old traditions that derive from surviving in a severe environment. A high kick was used by a hunter or whaler to send a visual message to villagers that an animal had been caught or that wildlife was nearby. (The Eskimo Stick Pull, another event, represents pulling a seal from the ice.) Fairbanks has been home to these Olympics (held in July) since their creation in 1961 for every year but one, when Anchorage was granted hosting rights.

The Challenge: It’s the most exciting few seconds in sports: dachshund racing. Fifty feet is a long distance if your legs are two inches tall, but that’s the distance these feisty canines travel to outrun their competition—and win the chance to ride a float in San Diego’s Holiday Bowl Parade.

The Scene: Qualifying races are held throughout the western U.S., but the final stretch of the race is in Qualcomm Stadium, on the day of the Holiday Bowl. Any dachshund is welcome, and multiple qualifying trials are held to whittle down the numbers (contestants have been known to practice throughout the year on a doggie treadmill).