‘ Ninja Warrior’ Season 9 boasts hardest course yet

More women are expected to compete for $ 1 million prize

Looks can be deceiving: For those considering tackling NBC’s American Ninja Warrior, the obstacle course is even more challenging than it appears.

I speak from firsthand experience, because when the Los Angeles auditions were taped for the athletic competition series — which has its Season 9 premiere Monday ( NBC, 8 p. m. ET/ PT) — I ran the course.

Or tried. I lasted about 15 seconds on it last March, mounting one Floating Step. Then, as I went for a second, I crashed into the platform with a loud thump, heard the crowd gasp, latched onto the step as my feet dangled into the water and let go. It was pathetic. But as I toweled off, American Ninja Warrior executive producer Arthur Smith assured me I shouldn’t be embarrassed about my short stint under the blue lights.

“Every obstacle has its share of casualties, even the one that you fell on,” he said.

Of course, most ninjas pass through the first phase and make it to harder challenges, like the new Battering Ram. That obstacle — inspired by a fan— requires athletes to grab onto a foam tube, shimmy across a horizontal pipe and transition onto another sliding foam tube. It’s one of about two dozen new obstacles that make the new courses the most challenging yet on the show, which premiered in 2009 and is based on a Japanese TV series.

For the uninitiated, athletes, or “ninjas,” strive to complete four rounds of increasingly difficult obstacles, from the infamous Warped Wall ( which grew 6 inches last year) and the Salmon Ladder ( ascending pull- ups) to a final timed 75- foot rope climb. If you fall, you’re out.

Make it through every stage faster than anyone else? You win the $ 1 million prize.

Producers look for “an overall success rate between 10 and 15%” on the courses, says co- executive producer Kent Weed. “Dialing in that specific balance between success and failure is what I spend a lot of my energy doing.”

Weed’s job has proved challenging this season.

Despite the fact only one participant has ever won the milliondollar prize ( Isaac Caldiero in 2015), competitors are increasingly numerous and skillful every year, after joining Ninja gyms and building replica Warped Walls in their backyards.

“Season 9 will be the most exciting season we’ve ever had, because the level that the athletes have attained now, especially women,” is astounding, Weed says.

Yes, let’s talk about those women.

Maybe you’ve heard of “Mighty” Kacy Catanzaro, who, at barely 5 feet tall, became the first woman to qualify for the American Ninja Warrior finals in 2014.

Or perhaps you saw stuntwoman Jessie Graff, who, in a Green Lantern outfit last summer, became the first woman to make it past Stage 1 and also made it through Stage 2 on a recent Ninja Warrior special. Videos of their performances have gone viral and encouraged more women to compete.

“Last year we were up in women about 35%, ( and) I think we’re up more this year, too,” Smith says.

That’s all well and good, but I don’t think I’m ready to join next season’s pool of applicants just yet.

FELICIA GRAHAM, NBC Kacy Catanzaro competes in the 2014 American Ninja Warrior qualifier, becoming the first woman to advance to the finals.

TYLER GOLDEN, NBC Contestant Liam Buell tackles the Floating Steps, an obstacle that comes before tougher ones like the Battering Ram.