Amazing Race: Icy Parts

Amazing Race
We Should have Brought Gloves and Butt Pads

This was a pretty exciting leg that looked like all the parts of it were fun. No one did anything overly stupid, but it was still entertaining enough to watch. Maybe because I wanted to do everything on the leg.

Leaving the Pit Stop

Before the teams left the pit stop, they had to use all the supplies they lugged to the school the day before to fix up the school. They painted it and made it look all nice before they moved on with the leg.  The Glee guys were the first to leave the pit stop at 10:15 am.

Clue: Teams were headed to the Arctic Circle. They were going to Kiruna, Sweden. Due to limited flight options, all the teams were given tickets on the same flight, but they were under no obligation to use them. Once teams landed in Sweden, they had to find the world-famous Ice Hotel.

The Glee guys got stuck with a taxi driver who said they needed to take their time so I guess he wasn’t driving too quickly. The next team to leave was the father/daughter team at 11:19 am. Mallory was super excited about the cold. Chad & Stephanie left at 11:29 am. Stephanie commented that she hated snow. Mean volleyball girls left at 12:12 pm.  Rachel was excited about going to Sweden since she’s half Swedish. She said she didn’t speak the language, but she does know how to say “Dumb girl, dumb boy and dumb monkey in Romanian.” Shocking.

Tattoo couple headed out next at 12:23 pm. When Nick got in the cab, he asked the driver if he knew where the Arctic Circle was located. Oh boy. Vicki informed him they needed to go to the airport first. The home shopping queens left at 12:24 pm and Brook was sporting quite the ’80s bright pink sweatband on her head.

Jill & Thomas were right behind them, leaving at 12:30 pm. The Glee guys arrived at the airport between the time they left the pit stop and when the doctors left at 1:12 pm. The Glee guys saw that check in for the flight wasn’t until 4:30pm so they were just camping out until then.

Airport Fun Times

Michael & Kevin left in last place at 1:26 pm.  In the cab, Kevin borrowed the driver’s cell phone to see what was the quickest way to get to Sweden. He found out that if he checked in at the Lufthansa desk at their connection in Frankfurt, they could get on an earlier flight than the one they were scheduled to be on two hours later. That could get them ahead of the other teams and give them time to do the speed bump. When they arrived at the airport, they decided to share their information with the father/daughter team. Why? Ugg. After they shared the information, Gary wanted to see if they could get tickets right then. They put Mallory on the task and she flirted with an airline guy and got him to help her.

While that was happening, the doctors were doing some research at the Internet Cafe. The home shopping queens wondered where the doctors had wandered off and then figured out they should have been doing research themselves. The Glee guys got suspicious about why Mallory was so happy and figured she had found a better flight. The doctors found the same earlier flight that the other two teams were on. They shared that information with the home shopping queens when they showed up in the cafe. The Glee guys and mean volleyball girls asked one airline employee about any faster flights and he said all flights were fully booked so they were stuck with the later flights.

All the teams were on the same flight to Frankfurt. Then when they landed, the father/daughter, son/daughter, doctors and home shopping queens took off running to make the connecting earlier flight. They all made it in time so their flight left two hours earlier while the other teams were trying to figure out what happened.

Ice Hotel


The first plane landed in Sweden and the first four teams rushed to their cars. The father/daughter team was in the lead, but Gary missed the turn off to the Ice Hotel so the home shopping queens arrived first. Kevin decided to follow them, so they got to follow them turning around and heading back to the hotel. That made the doctors and the home shopping queens find the clue first. The clue was in a block of ice, written in Sweden. It was telling them to go to Fjellborg’s Lodge. Both teams just picked up the ice block and took it with them. I thought they would just write it down, but I guess not!

The other two teams showed up and father/son found their Speed Bump. They had to sit on the ice furniture for 10 minutes. Kevin was in soccer shorts since he obviously dressed for the cold. Michael said he wished the ice chairs had been in Ghana.

Meanwhile, the doctors were finding cute Swedish guys to ask them what their block of ice meant. The home shopping queens were there too so they heard the directions to the lodge. Gary & Mallory walked outside right around when they were finding out. They didn’t hear what the guy said, but Mallory said they could just follow them in their cars. Inside, the father/son finished their cold butt torture and took their ice block outside. They found a not-so-cute Swedish guy to give them directions to the lodge written on the block of ice and took off.

Apparently cute guy led them astray since the doctors were told to take an unmarked path so they started driving into the forest on some random dirt road. The other two cars followed them and that gave Kevin & Michael the chance to find the place to park the car and get to the clue box first. It was a road block.

Clue: It asked, “Who is feeling kind of mushy?” The dogs that pulled the dog sleds had to be exercised in the summer when there isn’t that much snow. The team member would be using a summer exercise sled to mush the dogs down a forest trail. Along the way, they would have to grab five different flags hanging down to trade in for fur pelts. If they miss any flags, they had to perform a penalty lap around the hunter’s camp for each missed flag. Finally, they had to take the dogs back to the start of the course, where they can exchange the pelts for the next clue.

Dog Mushing


Michael decided to do it, which is good since he never seemed to want to do anything remotely athletic. He was having a ball going down the trail. He thought he saw a bear at some point, but it was some fake bear. WAT! The other three teams showed up at the clue box. They must have taken the long way there. Mallory, Kat and Claire decided to do it.

While the other three groups took off, Kevin arrived at the hunter’s camp with all five flags. He took off to head back. Around that time, the second airplane arrived with the last five teams. Mallory was having difficulty grabbing the flags. She was too short. Mallory did pass Kat on the trail. Then Claire passed Kat too. Mallory arrived at the hunter’s camp first, but had to do one penalty lap for missing the first flag. While she did that, Claire showed up, turned her flags in, got her pelts, kissed the guy since that’s what the home shopping queens do and she was off. Mallory finished her lap and got her pelts before Kat showed up. What was she doing? Being slow, but she did show up with all her flags.

The last five teams showed up to the ice hotel. They all wrote down the clue and didn’t take the block of ice with them. The Glee guys found some directions from a neighbor lady. The mean volleyball girls got some directions from a passerby. The tattoo couple, Chad & Stephanie & Jill & Thomas actually took the clue with them, but they all put it in their cars and took off after the first two teams.

Michael finished the road block and they got the next clue. He told Kevin he missed all the fun.

Clue: Drive through the Swedish countryside to the Vassijaure Train Station.

Soon after, the other three teams finished up and headed to the train station. The other teams showed up at the road block except for Jill & Thomas. They arrived shortly after the other teams, but once they got the clue, they missed the route marker and started running in the wrong direction. While they were running off into the forest, Connor, Nick, Katie & Stephanie took off with the dogs. Jill & Thomas were wondering if they had missed an arrow and were running the wrong direction, while they continued to run the wrong direction. While they stopped and decided to run back, Jill wondered if they should use the express pass, but Thomas didn’t want them to panic just yet. They finally got back and Jill went off to do the roadblock.

Snow Tasks

The father/son team arrived at the train station first and found the clue box, which was a detour.

Detour: In Sleds, teams had to make their way to top of a mountain and then ride some weird sleds down the hill. The sleds looked like mini BMX bikes on skis. Both teams members had to make it down the mountain and reach the finish line in less than 1 minute and 58 seconds. Not two minutes? If they don’t make it in time, they had to go back up and do it again. In Beds, teams had to go build a tent-like structure using what looks like a bunch of sticks to hold it up. Once it was up, they had to put some fur pelts and get a fire going inside. Then they would get their next clue.

They decided to do the beds since Kevin didn’t think that his dad could do the sleds. The doctors wanted to do the sleds. The father/son kept having the tent fall on top of them while they were trying to put it up. Meanwhile, the other teams were finishing up the roadblock. Chad & Stephanie said they considered themselves in last place since they knew the one team behind them was Jill & Thomas and they had an express pass. The father/daughter arrived at the trains and wanted to do the sleds. The home shopping queens decided on the sleds too.

The doctors road the sleds first. They said the turns were icy and sharp. Pulling on the brakes didn’t do much to slow them down. Nat seemed to be doing fine, but Kat went off course and got stuck in the netting on the side of the course. Nat missed all of this so she wondered where she was when she got to the bottom of the hill. Someone had to come get Nat out of the net since she couldn’t get unstuck herself. Gary & Mallory took off at the top of the hill. Nat finally made it down, but it was over three minutes. They would have to go up and try again. Gary & Mallory finished in exactly 1:58. They were excited but the person was shaking their head saying they had to beat that time so they missed it by one second. Doh! They would have to try again.

Meanwhile, it looked like Michael & Kevin finished putting up the tent. They just had to fix up the inside. While they were dragging things into the tent and Kevin was wondering why he was wearing ankle socks in the snow (good question!), the doctors made it down the hill in 1:55. They got the pit stop clue.

Clue: Teams had to drive themselves to the Norwegian border.

They got into their car and took off. The home shopping queens were making their first attempt on the sleds. They cruised down the hill and were finished in 1:43. They finished on their first attempt!  Right behind them, the father/daughter were on their second attempt on the hill. Mallory almost fell off but they finished in 1:24. Both teams got the pit stop clue.

The Glee kids and Chad & Stephanie arrived at the train stations. They both picked the sleds. While they were heading up, the doctors were at the border and checking in with Phil for first place. They both won a trip to Belize.

The mean volleyball girls and tattoo arrived at the train station and decided to go with the sleds. The father/son team finally finished decorating the tent and got their clue. They were off to the pit stop. Around that time, the father/daughter and home shopping queens checked in with Phil for second and third place. Jill & Thomas arrived at the detour in last place. They decided to do the beds.

The Glee kids were up on the sleds and then they were off the sleds. They liked to crash, a lot. They weren’t getting stuck in any netting though. Chad & Stephanie took off next and Stephanie was not happy about it. She was pretty scared by the course. She almost ran into Chad once, but by slowing down, fell off herself. She got back on but then lost it around a turn. She got stuck in the netting. Chad became frustrated with her since she wanted to give up. The Glee guys finished just over three minutes and that was with all the falling! They had to do it again. Stephanie kept yelling that she couldn’t do it. Chad encouraged her by yelling and freaking out that other teams were arriving to the slope. When Stephanie got to the bottom, Chad said they had to go back up and Stephanie refused to do it. I think Chad was rude to yell at her, but I also think Stephanie was freaking out too much. She said she was terrified, but she was wearing a helmet and wasn’t falling too far into the snow. The sleds weren’t that tall!

Meanwhile, Jill & Thomas arrived at the tents. They thought it looked like it might take a while and decided to use their express pass. They headed off to the pit stop. After refusing to go again, Chad & Stephanie were switching. Then Stephanie started crying. I really felt no sympathy for her. Sorry!

Kevin & Michael arrived at the pit stop and checked in with Phil for fourth place.

Back on the mountain, the Glee guys were on their second attempt. Connor figured it out and made it down while Jonathan was still falling a lot. I now see why Connor did all the road blocks. Jonathan was launching himself over the side of the netting many times. At least Jonathan wasn’t crying about it! They kept trying though. Chad & Stephanie were over at the tents. He reminded her that it was going to take a while, but at least he was in the boy scouts.

The tattoo couple took off on their first attempt. They thought it would be easy for them since they loved to ski and ride motorcycles. They made it down the hill on their first attempt in 1:46. They got the pit stop clue. The mean volleyball girls were next down the hill. Rachel went over a hill and into the net. Katie jumped a hill and fell off her bike. The Glee guys went down again and they both went off the course over a hill at the same time. Katie lost her bike over a hill and it seemed to just take off without her into never never land. They decided it was time to switch to the other detour. After the fourth or fifth attempt, the Glee guys decided to switch detours.

Jill & Thomas checked in with Phil in fifth place. Chad was so excited when he saw mean volleyball girls showing up at the tents. They had finished putting up the tent and were working on the bedding. The tattoo couple checked in with Phil for sixth place. They were very pleased with their standing since they didn’t realize how many teams they had passed. The Glee guys showed up and that made Chad & Stephanie even happier to see other teams. The volleyball girls were also pleased, but hoped that the Glee guys weren’t boy scouts or something. Chad & Stephanie finished and got the pit stop clue.

Soon after they left, the volleyball girls called someone over to check their tent. I didn’t see any bedding inside of it, but they had lit a fire. They didn’t get the clue so they had to go check the sample tent to see what they missed. The Glee guys finished the tent and just had to fix up the inside. Chad & Stephanie checked in with Phil for seventh place. The volleyball girls put in more bedding and put in some rocks around their fire. They got the clue and were off. The Glee guys were finished right behind them and got the clue. They were off to the pit stop too.

The volleyball girls checked in with Phil for eighth place. That meant that the Glee guys were in last place. They sang to the mat. They were informed they were the last team to arrive and they were eliminated. They said it was their actual graduation day from Princeton so they felt they had graduated from school and from the race on the same day. They were in good spirits.

Order teams arrived at the pit stop:

  1. Nat & Kat – doctors
  2. Gary & Mallory – father/daughter
  3. Brook & Claire – home shopping queens
  4. Michael & Kevin – father/son
  5. Jill & Thomas – dating
  6. Nick & Vicki – tattoo couple
  7. Chad & Stephanie – dating
  8. Katie & Rachel – mean volleyball girls
  9. Connor & Jonathan – Glee guys

Questions

  1. What is up with Connor doing every road block? Why is Jonathan such a wuss?
  2. Did you feel bad for Stephanie? Did you think Chad was being mean? Did you not like that she gave up so quickly on the sledding or was it a smart move for the team?
  3. Were you sad to see the Glee guys go or happy that there will be no more goofy singing?
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