Demi Bagby gives us the lowdown on her obstacle for Red Bull Ibiza Royale
When you first heard about this competition, what did you think?
Obstacles in the middle of a castle in an old city – that’s cool in itself. But also, I love the initial opportunity that’s happening with Step 1 of the application process, where people are calling their friends to find a team-mate and get excited about doing something together. A cool trip with a friend to somewhere you’ve never been, and taking on never-before-seen obstacles… This is the memory of a lifetime.
And what about those obstacles?
I think the whole setup, from all the obstacles that I’ve seen, is really awesome. I don’t think anyone has ever made obstacles like this before.
I don’t think anyone has ever made obstacles like this before
To design your obstacles, you creators all got together for a workshop. Did you have your own obstacle planned out beforehand?
It all happened at the workshop. The presenter gave us prompts and activations to open our minds – one was giving us a bag of toys to see what they sparked for us. So we were able to begin with crazy ideas, seeing how far we could go in our imaginations, and then gradually, we made refinements to be realistic. Finally, someone drew what we described – it was amazing to see it come to life! From there, the plan went to the builders.
I took a lot from it. Not only did we get to be creative for other people, we also took home creative learnings that we can apply for ourselves and our own projects.
Demi Bagby engages with her fellow obstacle designers at the workshop
© Leo Rosas / Red Bull Ibiza Royale
Can you describe your obstacle, The Glass Wall?
Part of the fun of the workshop was being able to brainstorm ideas on multiple obstacles. But the one that is mine is designed to be all about teamwork. It’s impossible to get through unless the two team-mates work together.
Imagine a clear plexiglass wall in the form of a pegboard, with six pegs all on one side along the top and a foam pit underneath. One team-mate will start moving along the top of the wall using the pegs, and as they advance they’re going to have to push the pegs to the other side of the wall for their team-mate to also move along. Essentially, the challenge is for the team-mates to mirror each other from opposite sides of the wall. So they’ll need to talk to each other, like, “This one! Higher, lower!”
And because they’re mirroring movements, I think it’s maybe the only obstacle where the difficulty is the same for both team-mates.
Sketch of The Glass Wall
© Samuele Cocchiaro / Red Bull Ibiza Royale
At the workshop, you and Ida Mathilde Steensgaard seemed to be sparking ideas off each other quite a bit.
Ida is amazing, I’ve known her for a while. I understand her sport and obstacles, so we were thinking of stuff that is a little more advanced while still being creative. She’s one of the strongest females I’ve ever met, and it was cool to know the tradition of obstacle racing as we put our brains together to bring the creativity.
Discover more Red Bull Ibiza Royale obstacle designers
But the participants in Ibiza won’t need to be professional athletes like Ida, will they?
No! Anyone can do it. There’s some uphill running to get through the course, but it’s not your typical race where strictly the fittest and fastest wins.
This is the memory of a lifetime
So what will the teams need instead?
You have to work with your team-mate and you have to enjoy the ride. You’re going to get wet, slippery, slimy, messy… so you’ve got to enjoy the process. I think whoever can work as a team the best, and who can just have fun and move through it, they’re going to win.
Have you spent much time in Ibiza yourself?
I’ve never been there! So it’ll be very cool to finally see it, and all of us obstacle designers are excited to see each other again, too.
Finally, for those teams who make it to Ibiza, do you have a top tip for how to succeed on your obstacle?
I think it would be: “Communicate.” That’s going to be the biggest thing because you literally cannot do it without your partner. So, even when the adrenaline’s flowing, you’re trying to rush, and maybe one partner might be more physically fit than the other – you just have to slow down and say, “Hey, we’ve got to do this together."