Fitness
Obstacle Course Racing
Climbing a giant Ferris wheel: The story behind Ida's wild obstacle course
Imagine telling your mom you’re turning a Ferris wheel into an obstacle course – and then climbing it. Ida Mathilde Steensgaard did exactly that.
Most people see a Ferris wheel. Ida Mathilde Steensgaard saw an obstacle course waiting to be conquered. The Danish two-time Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) world champion and HYROX E15 athlete turned a 30-metre Ferris wheel at Odense Harbour in Denmark into a one-of-a-kind fitness challenge, completing six obstacles while the structure rotated.
A project 18 months in the making, Steensgaard didn’t just dream up the challenge. She designed it, helped build it – and became the first to climb it.
“I wonder how I get these crazy ideas," Steensgaard laughs. "Then I’m so glad I do. If it was somebody else coming up with this stuff, I’d probably be like, ‘Hey, I want to do that!’ So I’m probably in the right place.”
From HYROX to another extreme playground
It’s all the more impressive coming just one month after Steensgaard placed eighth in the Elite Doubles race at the HYROX World Championships 2026. The stamina and focus required to complete both back to back is immense, and the Ferris wheel project proves that Steensgaard is an athlete who isn’t afraid to test herself in new and unusual ways.
“I'm very much an optimist on my own abilities,” she says of the pressure of balancing so many sporting goals. “I tell myself pressure is a privilege. It means you're like seeking out areas of your life that you never thought were possible.”
From HYROX to OCR to yet another extreme playground, this elite athlete is taking obstacle-course racing into an entirely new setting, testing endurance, strength, balance, and composure high above the ground.
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It started with a Ferris wheel and a simple question
Ida Mathilde Steensgaard had to keep her composure high above the ground
© Mihai Stetcu/Red Bull Content Pool
For the Ferris wheel project, the idea first came to Steensgaard, naturally enough, at a fair. “It was around New Year’s Eve in Budapest. I saw the Ferris wheel and started wondering if I could climb one,” she recalls. “This was at the end of 2024, and I’d just finished World’s Toughest Playground, so I was in a really creative mindset!”
For Steensgaard, planning a feat like this is as much about visualisation as it is in-depth planning. “I always have pictures in my mind,” she says. “I like the idea of having a white Ferris wheel and these blue obstacles."
Getting the design from Steensgaard’s head into reality was a different task in and of itself. She pulled a team together in January 2025, and they began brainstorming obstacles, using a 3D animation programme to provide virtual mock-ups of what each might look like.
“Obstacle racing is just really fun. I've always loved the flow and the challenge of doing it,” she says. The fun extended to the design process. “Being creative, sitting in the drawing room with the construction team and actually figuring out ‘Okay, how can we make obstacles that can be turned upside down and still function when in movement?’ has been great.”
The first six months of 2026 were the “final push” with the construction team working full pelt to bring Steensgaard’s idea to fruition. “Brainstorming about the different obstacles, actually finding a wheel, finding a location – all of these things that also need to be taken into account,” Steensgaard says. “There’s been a lot of best-guessing. This is a project that hasn’t been done before."
Steensgaard loves tackling extreme challenges head-on
© Mihai Stetcu/Red Bull Content Pool
I’ve had so many moments when I questioned why I was doing this
Despite creating the Ferris wheel obstacle course herself, Steensgaard admits there were moments when she wondered if it could be done.
“I’ve had so many moments when I questioned why I was doing this,” she says. “How would I train for it? How can you complete an obstacle when everything is rotating? Is it impossible to complete this project?”
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Why Ida Mathilde Steensgaard's mom didn't want to hear about Ferris Wheel
Not all of those close to Steensgaard were as enthused about her Ferris wheel project when they found out. “My mom was like, ‘I don't want to hear about it.’ My dad said, ‘Well, that sounds interesting,’ and my brother was like, ‘Of course, you have to freaking climb a Ferris wheel!’” Steensgaard recalls of the reactions to her latest undertaking.
The tricky thing is that as the family of an extreme athlete like Steensgaard, it’s difficult to get used to what they do, because what they do is always changing. Steensgaard ranked Ferris wheel “probably a 9.5” out of ten on the terrifying scale. The pressure was so immense that the morning after she first saw the actual obstacles being assembled, she woke up and had a panic attack.
Getting in the zone before attempting the daunting obstacle course
© Mihai Stetcu/Red Bull Content Pool
“I’d been awake all night worrying,” she says. “If I fall in some places, I will break my back. Maybe I won’t die, but there’s a very high risk of something going wrong. I told myself, ‘You need to feel OK with that fear, and tell yourself it’s a risk you’re willing to take'.”
Although she was attached by a safety rope on the day, it was the very elements that made the Ferris wheel project so appealing to Steensgaard. “People might underestimate the high alertness, fear, and panic your body is in when you’re at those heights in a super high-risk environment,” she says. “If you fall, you can get tangled in the spokes of the Ferris wheel, or crushed beneath the wheel." Her mum’s reaction suddenly seems more reasonable.
Learn more about Ida Mathilde Steensgaard
Ida Mathilde Steensgaard on allowing fear "to be there"
Steensgaard says that she “never tries to run away from fear”, whether she’s competing in HYROX or dreaming up a new OCR challenge. “I allow fear to be there, and after time, I can be analytic and calm about it,” she says. The key is to let go of the thoughts of what could go wrong and focus on the present moment, the present obstacle.
“When competing in OCR, or on the Ferris wheel, you have to be really specific and on point with your movements, while also believing you have the endurance and stamina to pace it well and get the timing right,” she says. “On the Ferris wheel, the wheel was turning so fast that it was like an all-out sprint for three minutes and ten seconds.”
Steensgaard needed stamina and strength to overcome the obstacles
© Mihai Stetcu/Red Bull Content Pool
Rather than push her moments of panic away, Steensgaard tries to sit with the discomfort and to question why her fears are arising. “I speak out loud and ask myself, ’Is this thought actually the truth?’” she says. Decoding fear and learning to reassure her anxious brain has been a seven-year process, with a mental trainer helping her take a puzzle-solving mindset to even the most impossible of tasks.
Now, she says this is second nature. “It’s important to push your limits and not be afraid of putting yourself in uncomfortable situations, whether that’s in training or personal situations,” she says. “Like a puzzle, you need to find the missing pieces and keep working hard, and then you will be able to do it.”
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How HYROX training helped Ida Mathilde Steensgaard prepare for the Ferris wheel project
Steensgaard continues saying ‘Yes’ to difficult challenges because she’s curious about her body’s capabilities. “I like to demonstrate that women can do crazy things, and that we like adrenaline!” she says. “We can go through hard things, get to the other side and keep looking for solutions even if they’re difficult to see.”
Training for the Ferris wheel project, one of the hardest things was that the obstacles were being constructed up to the last moment, and because this had never been attempted before, there was no physical apparatus for Steensgaard to actually train on until the very last moment when everything was put together.
“It’s a very high-risk project,” she says. She had an idea of how the obstacles could work, but the rotation element was difficult to predict. “I tried weird training where I spin around, and other things with moving elements, but it wasn’t the same."
All she could do was double down on what she knew and keep training in the gym. Stamina was there from her HYROX training, but there were some gaps. “Physically, I had to integrate more sessions. It was a lot of obstacle-specific training, which was sort of like muscle memory because I’ve done OCR for so many years, but it’s been some time since I competed, so it was a confidence booster!”
With HYROX demanding solid upper body strength, Steensgaard was able to translate that into heavy pulling, grip, and balance sessions for her Ferris wheel training.
On the mental side of things, Steensgaard had to overcome doubts around an old shoulder injury. She underwent tests looking at symmetry and lingering weaknesses. “There were times when my hand would open of its own accord while I was holding obstacles, due to pain radiating down my arm,” she remembers.
Steensgaard had to prepare physically and mentally for the challenge
© Mihai Stetcu/Red Bull Content Pool
I was really trying to break through the limits with the Ferris wheel project. This was a whole different level. I’m so much prouder of this than anything I’ve ever done
All of what had to be dealt with before she scaled the heights of a Ferris wheel. This meant rehab to get her body to a place where she could trust it, and to where she knew she still had the flair and flow required for obstacle racing.
“The most important thing for me is pushing myself to my uttermost level,” she says. “There were times when I was scared to death, high up on the Ferris wheel, with this crazy additional element of everything moving.”
Her event-specific training, as well as her background in HYROX and OCR gave her the confidence to overcome her fears and keep moving.
“I was really trying to break through the limits with the Ferris wheel project,” Steensgaard says. “I’m so proud of both the performance elements, but also how I was able to have this vision in my head a year and a half ago and then to complete this insane challenge. This was a whole different level. I’m so much prouder of this than anything I’ve ever done.”
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What’s next for Ida Mathilde Steensgaard?
Steensgaard has found a renewed love for Obstacle Course Racing
© Mihai Stetcu/Red Bull Content Pool
Although Steensgaard stepped away from OCR in 2024 after years at the top of the sport, the Ferris wheel project has reignited her passion for it. “I will say I have been missing OCR more and more during this project,” she says. However, a full return remains unlikely. “Because I’ve done so well and kind of been the GOAT of obstacle racing for many years, it is going to be really hard for me to transfer back into OCR unless I know that I’m going to be able to compete and have the best have a possibility to win.”
Her focus remains on HYROX, where she aims to compete at the highest level in the Doubles category. “I think I’ll continue pushing for Doubles all of next year,” she says.
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