“Survivor”'s 50 best challenges ever

Dalton RossTue, February 24, 2026 at 4:15 PM UTC

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'Survivor' challenges

CBS(2); Monty Brinton/CBS

From deep underwater to high up on four-story platforms, Survivor has put its contestants through over 1,000 insane challenges through the years. Before season 35 — Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers — we asked challenge producer John Kirhoffer (who has been with the show since the very first episode) to pick his 35 favorite challenges ever. And now, on the eve of Survivor 50 (premiering Feb. 25 on CBS), we asked him to update the list to an even 50.

But Kirhoffer did more than that. He also shared the stories behind the competitions. Check out Kirhoffer's best challenges ever list (in chronological order, by season) and all the insider intel that comes with it. But first, a message from the man about his selections and the team who put them all together for the show.

This has been such a fun project rewatching so many challenges. My right-hand man and creative partner for the past 15 years Chris “Milhouse” Marchand and I went through and chose these together, regaling each other with stories on our trip down memory lane. Unbelievable that part of our job is to re-watch Survivor!

I must preface this list with how very nice it is to be recognized as making significant contributions to this show I love so much, and I get an awful lot of credit for “creating the challenges on Survivor,” but with no false humility, it is truly a huge team effort. The third member of our challenge producing team is Anthony “AB” Britton who has had an immense creative impact for the past 10 years in the challenge department.

Also, there would be no challenges without the enormous role our art department plays not only in the building of the challenges, but they are our creative counterparts in this process. Zach Jensen and Simon “Simmo” Ross, our production designers, are incredibly integral in not only making the challenges spectacular, but in the creation of so many elements, puzzles, and innovations. Milhouse and I share at least every day what a blessing it is to work so closely, for so many years, with colleagues who are also some of our closest friends.

1. Quest for Fire, Survivor: Borneo (Season 1)

"The original, first Survivor challenge ever! Tribes work together carrying one lit torch, and race from the ocean to the land, lighting, I believe, 20 fires, and finish by lighting a wok high up on a 'Burning Man.' I was soooooo nervous, as our pyrotechnic prowess had not yet been perfected. It was barely considered actually, and it was the cause of much of my anxiety. With something like 40 little fires to light, we didn't have propane or waterproof flame technology. We had kerosene rags in cans, a sunset start (very time sensitive), and as Jeff proclaimed in iconic fashion at the start of the challenge, 'A storm is approaching, waterproof matches and immunity at stake... Go!' we could see rain clouds surrounding us and coming in from the horizon — the enemy of fire challenges! My extra prayers that day paid off, the challenge went on to be a classic, and we learned a valuable lesson: Always have a backup challenge ready on days scheduled for fire challenges!"

2. In From the Deep, Survivor: Borneo (Season 1)

"This is merely an element in a challenge today. But back in the very beginning, it was the entire challenge. Where the tribe swims out into fairly deep water and takes turns diving down to move a very heavy chest along the floor of the ocean. When they run out of breath, they swim to the surface to get air and rest. In that first season, we had no Dream Team. The producers, myself, and even Jeff and Mark Burnett would test these challenges. For this one, I was on Mark's team, and I consider myself a strong water guy. On 'Go,' we swim out, Mark and I go down together and grab the chest and begin moving it towards shore. As I run out of breath, I go to the surface. Mark pops up after me and looks at me in shock, 'John! What happened?' 'I ran out of breath,' I replied, to which Mark responded, 'What?!?! Don't be a wussy, we need to win this thing!' From that point on, my head would have turned six different colors and exploded rather than me surfacing before Mark for the rest of that challenge! And yes... we won!"

3. Rescue Mission, Survivor: Borneo (Season 1)

"A player from each team was hanging from trees in the jungle by parachutes. And the rest of the tribe races through the jungle with a stretcher, retrieves them from the tree, places them on the stretcher, and races back to the start. It is memorable for me because we were thinking that former Navy SEAL Rudy is 72 years old. It may be a bit overly aggressive, so we should have a less physical spot for a 'caller.' When informed of this position, Rudy said in his classic style, 'Well, we better give that spot to a woman,' and he went on to race through the jungle and rescue his tribemate!"

4. Hand on a Hard Idol, Survivor: Borneo (Season 1)

Richard Hatch, Kelly Wiglesworth, and Rudy Boesch on 'Survivor: Borneo' MONTY BRINTON/CBS

"This is the original, quintessential, endurance challenge where the final three players stand on a block and keep one hand on a totem pole. As Jeff Probst says, 'This challenge was the perfect final immunity challenge.' It provoked a stunning revelation from Richard Hatch that would have changed the game—and possibly the course of Survivor—if only Rudy had been able to hang on."

5. Butch Cassidy, Survivor: Australia (Season 2)

MONTY BRINTON/CBS

"What makes a great home... or challenge? Location, location, location. This was one of those epic challenge spots that we created the challenge around the location. Tribes gathered at the top of a very tall cliff, one at a time players leaped off into the water below, swam downstream, and raced across the beach to their reward. I remember it was early in my relationship with Mark Burnett, and I was concerned that one of our contestants, Roger, was a weak swimmer. I suggested to Mark that we could have Roger wear a wetsuit under his clothing for floatation, and Mark looked at me in shock at the thought: 'Absolutely not,' Mark said. 'He has a tribe of strong, fit people. They can work it out, have a stronger swimmer jump in first and wait for him to give assistance if needed!' That philosophy has been what has kept Survivor pure."

6. Rock-n-Roll (a.k.a. The Boulder Dash), Survivor: Africa (Season 3)

MONTY BRINTON/CBS

"Soooo iconic in such an epic season. This is the one where the tribe rolled huge rebar and fiberglass boulders across the African Savanna. We originally called it 'The Boulder Dash,' and someone in production was concerned that the board game Balderdash might have an issue with the name, so we changed it. I can see how the similarities could confuse people!"

7. When It Rains, It Pours, Survivor: Africa (Season 3)

MONTY BRINTON/CBS

"Here is a true Survivor classic, where players are situated under a tall structure with a large bucket of colored water overhead. The players' hands are extended up, tied to a rope, which is attached to the bucket. When their arm fatigues and lowers, even just half an inch, the water cascades down onto their heads."

8. Rock Bottom, Survivor: Marquesas (Season 4)

MONTY BRINTON/CBS

"In this contest, players dove from a platform to retrieve shells and rocks from the floor of the ocean. This challenge—as well as 'In from the Deep'—were both inspired from a surfer training regime in the classic film called In God's Hands."

9. Pilfering Pirates, Survivor: Thailand (Season 5)

MONTY BRINTON/CBS

"This was our first ever, head-to-head, physical battle challenge. Players raced across floating balance beams to collect a series of baskets from the opposing tribe's boat and bring it to theirs. When they met at a common intersection, they would grapple to knock an opponent into the water. Lots of choking, cheating, and battling! It set the tone for future physical challenges."

10. Breathing Room, Survivor: Thailand (Season 5)

MONTY BRINTON/CBS

"Players are stuck under a steel cage during a rising tide. When they run out of breathing room, they bail out of the challenge by swimming out from under it. This classic is one of my absolute favorites but requires perfect shallow lagoon settings to make it happen. This is where staying calm in a stressful situation really pays off."

11. Jail Break, Survivor: Thailand (Season 5)

MONTY BRINTON/CBS

"This was inspired by all the old cowboy movies I'd watch as a kid. Seeing a prisoner tying sticks together to reach out and grab a key. Like so many others, this was once the entire challenge, and now it is a segment to a bigger picture."

12. Keel Hauling, Survivor: Pearl Islands (Season 7)

"When we came up with the pirate theme for Pearl Islands, the creative floodgates opened. So fun! It meant I could read pirate books and watch lots of pirate movies and call it work! In this particular competition, players race across a long floating platform, and then jump in the water, and pull themselves under water back to the beginning using a rope. In one book, they spoke of the punishment called 'keelhauling' where they punished a criminal by dragging them under the barnacle-infested keel of the boat as torture. Mark wouldn't let me use barnacles!"

13. Face Off (a.k.a. Touchy Subjects), Survivor: All-Stars (Season 8)

MONTY BRINTON/CBS

"This classic challenge of social politics forced players to answer a series of questions using only the names of their current tribemates. First, they would answer a questionnaire asking, 'Who on your tribe is under the false impression that they are smart?' or 'Who on your tribe does not deserve to be called an all-star?' All loaded questions, because whether you believe the question truly doesn't apply to anyone, you have to select one name. Then you had to guess whom the majority of the tribe chose for the answer. This challenge was designed to hurt players' feelings and get them feisty, and Alicia took the bait—and the lion's share of the abuse—and exploded in anger and frustration back at camp!"

14. Get a Grip, Survivor: Vanuatu (Season 9)

Survivor 'Get a Grip' challenge CBS

"Players wrap themselves around a tall pole and cling on for as long as they can until gravity and exhaustion bring them to the ground. For a large part of the early days, our production designer/producer Dan Munday was the fire in the challenges' engine, responsible for the creation of many classics on this list. I remember vividly wanting, needing, to come up with a compelling, fun, fair immunity challenge before Dan did, and while I was sitting on a log, watching local guys climbing coconut trees in Vanuatu, it hit me!"

15. Supply Dump, Survivor: Palau (Season 10)

MONTY BRINTON/CBS

"Perhaps not the most memorable of our opening immunity challenges for some. But it is for me. In this season, Mark Burnett wanted to stress the consequences of bad decisions very vividly. So in this opening obstacle course, the tribes would reach stations where the group had to make decisions to take or leave cumbersome, essential survival supplies to carry along the course with them. They only got to keep the supplies if they won, and could only win immunity if they were the fastest. It worked perfectly as spontaneous arguments erupted, fingers were pointed, and a bad decision cost the first player voted out a potential million bucks. We have played with this decision-making dilemma many times since."

16. Anchor Management, Survivor: Panama — Exile Island (Season 12)

Jeffrey R. Staab /CBS

"There is one reason, and one reason only that this challenge is on my list of favorites. It's when Jeff instructs the tribes to transport 'A GIANT ZOMBIE HEAD from the ocean to the beach!' This was our Exile Island season and we were going for a spooky, horror movie kind of theme—shrunken heads, a huge driftwood skull on Exile Island—so zombies seemed to fit in. So whenever someone pitches a crazy idea that makes no apparent sense, we can say, 'You will retrieve a giant zombie head…"

17. Smash and Grab, Survivor: Cook Islands (Season 13)

"This is another classic water challenge element. Often when creating challenges I say to the guys, 'What would a bunch of 12-year-old kids want to do for fun in this environment?' One answer is always true: Jump from a high platform into water! And smashing a tile to retrieve a key, forcing the player to dive down, in crystal clear water, adds to the fun!"

18. Kicking and Screaming, Survivor: Cook Islands (Season 13)

Candice Woodcock and Parvati Shallow on 'Survivor: Cook Islands' Bill Inoshita/CBS

"I will never forget the morning of this challenge's inception. I was out surfing with Dan Munday, and he paddled up next to me and said, 'Hey, mate, what if we had poles buried in the ground, and one player from each team has to hug onto it for dear life, as two players from the other tribe battle to pull them off the pole, and drag them across a finish line?' Just then a wave came through, Dan caught it and surfed away... I sat there thinking: Genius! He's done it again! I loved it. We knew it was a future classic while we were testing it with the Dream Team!"

19. Crate Idea, Survivor: Tocantins (Season 18)

Monty Brinton/CBS

"One of our mantras that Jeff established years ago is, Simple in concept, difficult in execution. My friend, and regular challenge consultant, Myles Nye took this mantra to heart and had a 'Crate Idea.' Players race out and roll massive, heavy boxes across a field, then stack them to form a staircase, with a puzzle design on all sides! You see that one pop up every few seasons."

20. Simmotion, Survivor: Tocantins (Season 18)

Monty Brinton/CBS

"This is maybe the most perfect immunity challenge we have ever done. This is the challenge where the players drop billiard balls into a downward spiraling series of tracks and catch them at the bottom. Named after its creator, our art director, Simon Ross."

21. Battle Dig, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (Season 20)

Robert Voets/CBS

"Longtime collaborator Kevin Hodder devised this classic battle, made iconic on day one of the legendary Heroes vs. Villains season. Within moments of landing on the shores of Samoa in military helicopters, the tribes faced off in pairs to find, dig up, and race back bundles to their tribe mat. Along the way, the other tribe would tackle, wrestle, battle to get the bundle and get it to their own mat. In one short challenge, Rupert broke a toe, Stephanie dislocated her shoulder, Coach rode Colby like a small pony, and Sandra removed Sugar's top—yet undeterred Sugar scored, flashed the crowd and 'saluted' her foe using only two fingers!"

22. Spit It Out, Survivor: Nicaragua (Season 21)

Spit it Out challenge on 'Survivor' Monty Brinton/CBS

"This has to be the winner of the challenge causing me the most anxiety ever. We built these massive, three-bladed windmills. A tribemate is attached to each blade, and the rest of the tribe turns the blades clockwise, through a huge tank of water below. When the player is upside-down and submerged, they grab a mouthful of water, then when they are spun upright, they spit the water into a bucket. When the bucket is filled with water, the water tips, releasing puzzle pieces. So fun to watch, so stressful to produce!"

23. Gulliver's Travels, Survivor: Nicaragua (Season 21)

"I love this challenge. Another in the school of, let's watch the tribes work together to carry an extremely big, heavy, and awkward prop through an obstacle course! We were helping to promote the movie Gulliver's Travels, and each tribe carried a 10-foot tall, 400-pound stuffed Gulliver. What made this even more meaningful for us was that for some reason, we weren't legally allowed to replicate Jack Black's face, so the faces of the two Gullivers were based from two different bearded superheroes:our production designer Dax and scenic artist Burny!"

24. Teeter Tower, Survivor: South Pacific (Season 23)

"In this challenge, players stacked cards with one hand while balancing with the other. We had another, very large water challenge idea, 'Bird on a Wire,' slated for our penultimate immunity challenge, but after exhaustive testing and tweaking, we just couldn't make it immunity worthy… or safe enough! So with only a couple days to go, art director Dax Pointon and I walked through our graveyard of previously used challenges to see what elements we could use for inspiration… and Teeter Tower was born."

25. Losing Face, Survivor: South Pacific (Season 23)

Monty Brinton/CBS

"As so many are, this one was inspired by watching local people in everyday life. I saw some Samoan guys racing around the coconut grove picking up coconuts in a wheelbarrow and I had just watched the Transformers movie. It's the one where they race to assemble a wheelbarrow, then race to a variety of stations in a field to collect coconuts, then dump the coconuts in a bin at the end, then disassemble the wheelbarrow and RE-assemble it, Transformers-style, to become a slingshot. The tribe would then race to fire coconuts at five large wooden masks. And it lived up to its hype! Before this challenge started, Jeff told the players that I had already predicted this would be 'the greatest challenge ever!' Thanks, no pressure, Jeff! The challenge itself was great, as were the tribe and social dynamics between Ozzy and Cochran, as well as Coach and Michaela—and the shootout at the end with Jim Rice on a hot streak to come from behind and win!"

26. Operation Balance Build, Survivor: One World (Season 24)

"This is the challenge where you thread the saucers through the wire structure using a long fork while balancing on a wobbly beam. This is also the challenge where I bonded with Christopher (Millhouse) Marchand as a creative partnership. It was his first season and we needed a killer final immunity challenge and we were struggling. So we had the first of our now traditional 'cigar and wine' meetings—after work, of course. Only a couple glasses into it, we came up with a new classic!"

27. Long Way to the Top, Survivor: Caramoan (Season 26)

Monty Brinton/CBS

"This is the first immunity challenge of the season where players race to the top of a four-story structure and throw off fragile crates filled with sandbags, shattering upon impact. When all of the crates have been smashed, other players use the sandbags inside to toss into a series of targets. As you know, Dalton, I am a huge classic rock fan. This challenge was inspired as I was reading a Rolling Stone article about the notorious antics of bands like Led Zeppelin and the Who throwing TVs from their hotel room windows to see them smash below!"

28. Vertigo, Survivor: Cagayan (Season 28)

"In this one, players stand atop a tall, narrow pole in the ocean and throw down a bucket attached to a rope and pull up water, then pour it into a tube to raise a key. They then leap off the pole into the ocean, swim to shore, and unlock puzzle pieces and solve the puzzle. This was the Loved Ones challenge in Cagayan, and Kass was out of it—scared to death up on that tall pole. It felt like she would never get enough water to retrieve the key. The other players had been working on their puzzle for quite a while by the time Kass got her key. And in one of our biggest come-from-behind victories ever, she quickly solved one of our most difficult puzzles ever to win the challenge! Great example of how often you NEVER GIVE UP on Survivor... or in life!"

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29. Austin's EOC, Survivor: San Juan del Sur (Season 29)

Monty Brinton/CBS

"This is the one created by our friend Austin Russell. It is called the Elemental Obstacle Course. Austin came to location in Nicaragua as a visit from the Make-A-Wish program. Austin and his family attended several rehearsals and shoots, then they stopped by my office and he pitched me a few challenges, and this one popped! It's the one where teams race from a mat, crash through a massive pile of hay, scoop water in a bucket, carry it up and over a huge teeter-totter, pour it into a trough until a gate drops, then race to solve a very large Survivor puzzle. Austin still remains a close friend and a legit member of our Survivor family."

30. Final Fortitude, Survivor: Worlds Apart (Season 30)

"I loved this season. Great location, great characters, and great stories. Blue Collar Mike found himself behind the 8-ball all alone without an alliance early into the individual portion of the game, and he had to fight to win every challenge, or find idols, to stay alive in the game. And with his grit and faith, he made it to this final four challenge where they had to race up a very tall staircase, grab a bag of puzzle pieces and launch themselves over a wall, careening down the biggest waterslide we have ever done! Mike pulled it out, and the final four had a genuine, beautiful bonding moment as Mike went on to win the season."

31. This Much, Survivor: Kaoh Rong (Season 32)

"This is one of my favorite new-school endurance challenges. Players stand on a platform and outstretch their arms as far as they can, applying pressure to a pair of wooden discs. When they fatigue, the disc drops and they lose. Again, looks so easy and is so excruciating! I loved the battle of good vs. (sort of) evil with Aubry against Jason in Kaoh Rong—where Jason won and saved himself once again."

32. A Bit Tipsy, Survivor: Kaoh Rong (Season 32)

"In this challenge, players balance a very wobbly table with a long rope, while walking back and forth collecting, placing, and eventually stacking. Dan Munday had left the show a few years earlier, and his role as 'idea generator' in the challenge team was replaced by Christopher (Millhouse) Marchand. This was one of the first big ideas from Millhouse that opened the floodgates of many innovations to come!"

33. Slither Me Timbers, Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X (Season 33)

"Players are bound by their arms and legs and slither on their bellies through the sand. I LOVE this challenge! And as a sneak peek, I'll tease that an epic new version of this may just be coming up in the very near future!"

34. Serpent Turf, Survivor: Game Changers (Season 34)

Timothy Kuratek/CBS

"I love this one so much! It's the one where the tribes race out into the ocean, climb up and over a tall cage wall, and retrieve a massive 30-foot-long, 400-pound canvas snake, return it to the beach, remove five number discs to release metal rings, then toss the rings onto eight paddles to spell IMMUNITY. The showdown between Malcolm and JT was darn good, but not as epic as the rehearsal with the press where Team Dalton just narrowly beat Team Scott Porter!" (Editor's note: I still have nightmares about getting that submerged snake out of the cage. It has become my personal Vietnam.)

35. You Shook Me, Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers (Season 35)

"At the time I hailed this as the greatest Survivor challenge ever, and I still think it is...top five! Milhouse came up with this nerve-wracking concept which was brought to life by production designer Zach Jensen and his welder I only remember as “The Wizard.” It was Zach’s idea to make the lock-in mechanism, which went through many iterations, trials, and tests. When you look at the intricacies of how much incredibly precise metal work was involved, you’ll realize on a wizard could conjure up four of these identical builds. The emotional spike of this challenge is when Ben, who had been public enemy #1 since the merge, kept saving himself by finding idols and winning challenges, had finished stacking all the blocks only to discover he had put the “U” in Hustlers in upside down, and then knocked most of his blocks off in an effort to fix it, giving time for Chrissy to come from behind and clinch the challenge and put her in the pantheon of elite women challenge winners.

36. Always On The Run, Survivor: Ghost Island (Season 36)

"This was such a fun, visually exciting, high-energy challenge. The concept was simple, make a team version of 'Simmotion' on a massive scale. Run up a set of stairs, drop balls (which became spools) down huge ramps, and don’t let them hit the ground. During the very extensive, testing and development process the priority was to make each of the three builds EXACTLY the same, as timing was critical. The guys in the Art department tested, tweaked, and trouble shot until it was perfect, Swiss watchmakers would be proud of the precision. We haven’t done it since, as it was such a massive undertaking, but I’d love to bring it back."

37. Dishwalla, Survivor: David vs. Goliath (Season 37)

"The inspiration: Carrying a giant bowl of soup from the kitchen to the living room without spilling it! Tribes carry a huge, cumbersome saucer filled with water over a series of obstacles and dump enough water into a well until they can retrieve puzzle pieces. Remember, this challenge was scheduled a month before the players arrived, so we had no idea how the tribes would look by then. I recall the pregame chat with my buddies saying, 'Oof, the poor Jabeni tribe is going to struggle!' And did they ever! They fell apart and lost... then the tribes merged, and Mike, Angelina, and Nick made it to final three...what a story of triumph from tragedy!"

38. Driving Wheel, Survivor: David vs. Goliath (Season 37)

"This is another challenge we are so proud of, it was created by Ponderosa casting associate,Beth Gardner. I must admit, I was initially a tad dismissive when she said, 'I have an idea for a challenge...' Alrighty then, let’s hear it, I thought. Then she pitched, “What if one player was sitting in a wheelbarrow, and they had to verbally guide a blind-folded tribemate to get them through a series of obstacles?” Milhouse and I looked at each other. 'Well, well, well,' we said. 'This could be fun!' The art boys were not about to let us use real wheelbarrows so they designed our now iconic, Flintstones-esque, 'Driving Wheels.'"

39. Beyond the Wheel, Survivor: Edge of Extinction (Season 38)

This epic challenge is quite multi-faceted, but the crux of it was swimmers pulling boats with tribemates in them. Then, of course, they collect puzzle pieces and race to solve a ships wheel puzzle. The impetus came from when I was a child watching the fitness guru of the time, Jack LaLanne, with my grandmother 'Goggy.' She loved Jack, and on my visits with her we would spend all day in her apartment watching old game shows and whatever was on the only three network TV stations. I recall watching Jack LaLanne swimming across the Long Beach Harbor on his 70th birthday, pulling 70 boats, with 70 people in them to display his age-defying fitness prowess. That image stayed with me ever since. The lesson: Watch more TV, kids!"

40. Running Down a Dream, Survivor: Edge of Extinction (Season 38)

"While our friend and boss Jeff Probst always has significant contributions to every challenge, this one is all his. We had pitched him some wacky 'push balls UP a track and shoot them into nets' thing, which was just... not fun. This ill-conceived element was saved by Jeff when he said, 'Why don’t they throw the ball up, roll it DOWN the track, and race under it through obstacles and then try to catch it? Jeff turned what could have been a failed challenge idea into an iconic Survivor staple! We have used this element in many different challenges over the years."

41. Cage Against the Machine, Survivor: Island of the Idols (Season 39) and Turn The Cage, Survivor 45

"We will take advantage of getting two favorite challenges into one spot, I’m sure Dalton won’t mind! This idea came from one of my close friends and longtime challenge producers, Erin Dean (she started as a Dream Teamer in Samoa!). On 'Go!' have the tribe dig under a huge bamboo cage, once inside, lift it, and carry it along a course collecting balls, then shoot those balls, from inside the cage, into a series of baskets. In season 45 we moved the challenge into the water, and it made it much more grueling and even more fun!"

42. Beam Me Up, Survivor: Island of the Idols (Season 39)

"We LOVE this challenge. Players race in the ocean to a massive teeter-totter and must distribute their weight in a way to get one player high enough to retrieve bags of puzzle pieces, and then race to solve a hanging 'tuna puzzle' (my all-time favorite puzzle!). I recall pitching a land version of this and our executive producer Matt Van Wagenen seemed quite... underwhelmed saying, 'That would be really fun if it was over the water.' He says that about most challenges, and he’s always right! The reality is that everything is exponentially more difficult to build and film when it’s on the water, still Zach Jensen said, 'Yeah, mate, sounds cool. I think I know the perfect spot for that, leave it with us.' I love when he does that!"

43. Rolling Stones, Survivor 41

It was in 2001 when my friend Steve Graziani pitched me the idea of rolling massive, heavy (fiberglass) 'boulders' across the savannah for Survivor: Africa...and we have been rolling massive boulders ever since. Easily the most epic version for us was in season 41, for our very first 'Earn the merge' challenge. EVERY moment from 'Go' until they reached the puzzle at the end of the course was grueling. It was the first time we buried the boulders in the sand, which was quite the mission as we tested many various depths to ensure it was difficult, but achievable.

"During the challenge, Jeff called it 'One of the most amazing displays of teamwork in the history of this game!' Both teams were comprised of stalwart warriors. When teams reached the final ramp to the top deck, I remember feeling almost guilty as Danny and Zander heroically sacrificed their bodies while tribemates climbed over them. This became the challenge indicative of how tough the New Era of Survivor was going to be."

44. Super-ramp, Survivor 43

"Looks like we have back-to-back 'earn the merge' challenges on our list! I don’t recall what our original idea for this was, but Jeff’s vision was resolute and his mandate daunting: 'Let’s make it like 41, incredibly grueling teamwork... with a huge ending on the very edge of impossible... but achievable.' ON THE EDGE OF IMPOSSIBLE... but achievable? Eh, sure...no worries, mate. We’re on it.

"It was AB who suggested the quarter pipe, and the discussions began about how big to make it, as many were dubious our players could get to the top of a 4-meter-tall ramp. Our decision was to make it huge and imposing, if it was too easy, it would be disastrous, but if it’s too big we can use some cargo net at the top and adjust the distance. And so, we tested, and tested, and tested, making many adjustments with the cargo net, tweaks with the top rail, until we were finally happy with it... and it surpassed all our expectations for epic drama.

"A hero emerged as Ryan locked his legs into the cargo net and hung upside down, and with a massive team effort, they got everyone to the top to the puzzle, and THEN they had to solve a huge puzzle with incredibly heavy pieces, keeping the pedal to the metal until the very end. The icing on the cake for me is always a come from behind victory. This was another challenge where I was just so impressed with the determination of every player in that game."

45. Put a ring on it, Survivor 43

"This challenge started with an awesome spinning mechanism in which players stood and used centrifugal force to spin dozens of times winding a buoy towards them. Now dizzy (always funny seeing the temporary drunken stumbling of our players), navigate over a circus net, pick up a sandbag on a zig-zag balance beam and then race to toss and land that sandbag on top of a 15-foot-tall pole. It was a close race until the players got to the balance beam. Noelle had an amputated leg and was wearing a prosthetic blade, and really struggled on the balance beam.

"Watching from the sidelines, I was so bummed for her, she was left behind frustrated, struggling, slipping, and falling off the beam time after time as the other seven players had several minutes of tossing their sandbags to the top of the tall poles. There were many very close shots, bags landing on the edge then falling. Noelle finally made it across the beam with her sandbag, and on her second toss NAILED IT, landing it on top and winning the biggest reward of the season. This was so emblematic of Jeff’s mantra: 'You NEVER give up on Survivor!' As Noelle sat down and sobbed... I became filled with an intense joy and felt so proud of, and so happy for Noelle."

46. Gimme One Step, Survivor 45

"We did a classic challenge in the past called 'A Leg Up' where players stand behind a hinged beam and apply pressure to one end of the beam while balancing a ceramic pot on the other, and when a player fatigues and lifts their leg too high or pushes it too low the pot would drop. It was a great challenge in its day, but a concern from our challenges editor and constant creative partner Dave Armstrong was that too often there was very little movement from the players and the pot would just suddenly fall off the beam with very little to no suspense.

"Dave suggested if we had a ball at the end, on a shallow paddle, we would have consistent rolling and wobbling which would build in intensity as the fatigue increased. He was so right. I recall quite vividly our first test of the new version didn’t live up to our expectations and so this was another one of those we spent many, many, hours massaging and tweaking; the height of the ridges around the paddle, creating a short, open track at the back of the paddle area that would allow for more saves, and our art/welding guys made modifications to the swivel and tilt mechanism. By the time we got to rehearsal, my heart swelled with joy seeing the smiles on Matt and Jeffs faces digging the modifications."

47. The Lizard King, Survivor 46

"The challenge was straight forward; work together to get this 500 pound Gecko up, over, and through obstacles, then climb a tower and solve a puzzle. What I love so much about our giant lizard is the incredible amount of detail and artistry to make it. The Gecko was Simmo’s idea and design. A gentleman named Rohit is the Art Department tailor, he makes all the tribe bags, mats, flags etc... and this was his Mona Lisa.

"He was cutting and sewing the intricate canvas design around toes, feet, legs, bulging eyes and then stuffing it with a combination of fishing nets and foam. Again, the testing process was intensive, then all three geckos had to be made exactly the same ...down to the ounce. It also needed to be strong enough to withstand six people yanking, dragging, and carrying it through the course... several times. We all just loved, loved, loved the painting by our scenic artists Dave and Junjun, just incredible. Jeff mentioned their bloodshot eyes in the challenge explanation. It’s simply visually epic and super fun."

48. Plinko Puzzle, Survivor 46

"Plinko Puzzle is such an epic final four challenge. Players roll billiard balls to the top of a very tall ramp and then assemble a Survivor puzzle. But they can only work on the puzzle as the ball makes its way down the face of the ramp, bouncing around a myriad of wooden blocks. They then must run back to the ramp and catch the ball before it falls into the metal gutter system, throw the ball back up, and continue working on the puzzle. If the ball lands in the gutter system, they must wait until it makes its way through the layers of gutters before they can grab the ball and continue.

"After 24 long days, players were forced to split their concentration between the falling ball and the growing puzzle. Ben had not won a challenge all season, and when he showed up to the beach, he was quite loopy from the exhaustion of the elements and lack of sleep... and he went on to victoriously rock the challenge."

49. 48 Jump Street, Survivor 48

This was a fun enough race in from the ocean with a large heavy chest, unbraid three long ropes and get a key, dig under a log and then all four players were responsible to get a ball through a table maze. It had several lead changes and a very exciting very close finish at the end.

"But the reason this challenge is in the top 50 favorites is what organically transpired between Eva and Joe. Earlier in the season, Eva confided only in Joe that she has autism, and explained how to help her should she become over stimulated and have an episode, and that’s exactly what happened at the end of the challenge. The tribes had just swapped, and Joe and Eva were on different tribes. Jeff could see Eva was in need and gave the greenlight to Joe to give her a hug. And we all witnessed the most beautiful moment of compassion with Joe giving Eva some much needed paternal love and care.

"Then they both explained what happened and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. I have been behind the cameras for every 'loved ones' segment we have ever done and have never gotten at all emotional, but this got to me, and then the moment when Jeffs voice cracked talking about his kids, I welled up with tears — first time ever. And rewatching it just now... dang it, they got me again!"

50. Debby Spoons, Survivor 49

"Well, appropriately enough our final pick for the top 50 challenges is the last challenge seen on Survivor to date. While stacking challenges and one-beat 'delicate touch' games make great final four showdowns, I really enjoyed this little obstacle course. Race in from the ocean, dig under a log, collect two long 'spoons', use those spoons (for a brand-new element) by reaching into a large metal cage and maneuver a ball up and out through a hold in the top of the cage. Then race to assemble a table maze puzzle, then finally race to get the two balls through to the end of the table maze.

"A lot of elements, and each fun to watch. Soph was trailing the entire challenge, she was cussing herself out for not being good at each stage, until the very end when she underwent some Zen transformation and magically focused in on the puzzle table and then seemingly effortlessly maneuvered her two balls into their end targets before anyone else even landed one. Another epic come from behind challenge victory. Again; You never give up on Survivor!

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