The 14th edition of the reality series begins with 11 teams departing from the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, Cal., and flying to Switzerland, where they must bungee jump off the Verzasca Dam. Later, each team receives a clue by transporting 200 pounds of cheese down a steep hill using wooden cheese racks.
When the 10 remaining teams leave Switzerland in the darkness of the early morning and head to Germany, it's unlikely that some expected to finish their challenges late in the day and again in the absence of light. Though paragliding, riding a Segway and even pie throwing sound like fun challenges, it's a good sense of direction that again proves to a valuable skill. Let's see how our contenders complete in the second leg of the race.
Traveling to Bucharest, Romania is more than a hop, skip and a jump when team members are told to walk like an Olympian and become world class gymnasts. But when they arrive in Transylvania, sibling tension shifted teams and someone deserved to have his neck bitten off. On to the recap for more on this batty tale.
A variety of physical and mental skills were required to finish the fourth leg of the race, including home repair, bobsledding and familiarity with Russian literature. But while the teams jockey for first place, a new twist in the game leaves one team wondering who would be devious enough to turn on them. Let's break it down.
The action continues in Siberia, and the seven remaining teams battle for first place as they drive a snowplow, escort a bride to her groom, and run a mini-marathon in their skivvies — in frigid temperatures. Oh, and one team attempts to ditch two others. Want to find out who it is? Read on.
On the sixth leg of the race, the seven remaining teams travel to India, where roaming animals presented no problems but taxis did. And while some teams are dancing in the streets, it isn't all fun and games for the teams hauling a supply of camel food and decorating an elephant.
On the seventh leg of the race, the six remaining teams go bananas looking for a gorilla statue, giving their partners a ride in a rickshaw and performing stunts with elephants. But while the intense heat causes one player to faint, a team incurs not one but two penalties at the finish line. Read on to follow the action.
When the five remaining teams travel to Thailand on the eighth leg of the race, they quickly transform into boat mechanics, denture fitters and karaoke singers. But the world is not an oyster for the two teams racing onward and leaving their backpacks behind.
In normal circumstances, ballroom dancing and learning to write calligraphy are leisure activities. But since this is The Amazing Race, it's a frantic fight to finish the tasks in the quickest amount of time, and the tension accelerates as two racers replicate something close to a WWE SmackDown match. Read on to find out how push comes to shove.
The action remains in China for the tenth leg of the race, and a member of each team is subjected to torture! Well, sort of. Let's just say the challenge gives new meaning to playing footsie. Challenges at the site of last summer's Olympic Games go swimmingly well for some, while others drown in their tears. And the first team at the Pit Stop is not first. Are you riddled with confusion? Read on as we sort this out.