The beautiful Okanagan was on full display during Tuesday night’s episode of The Amazing Race Canada.
The fifth episode of the season, called “I’m A Human Kite,” aired and it saw contestants land in Kelowna and complete a number of challenges throughout the region.
To begin the episode, which was filmed in May, seven teams arrived at Kelowna International Airport and raced up to Lumby Flight School for their first Roadblock.
It was a fairly straightforward challenge, although potentially not for those afraid of heights, as one team member had to paraglide down to the field below while attached to a guide.
Once complete, teams drove to Sovereign Lake Nordic Club where the second team member would complete the second Roadblock.
It was a biathlon challenge where the other team member had to cross-country ski a full lap of the course before trying their luck on the rifle shooting side of the sport.
If the competitor didn’t shoot all five targets down with five shots, they had to do another lap before trying five more shots to complete their goal.
One of the competitors, Jesse, was a two-time winter Olympian in cross-country skiing and was just training at Sovereign Lake Nordic Club a month before the episode was filmed, so it was safe to say he had a significant advantage.
There was a small disadvantageous twist for one team at Sovereign Lake Nordic Club, however, as the last-place duo that escaped elimination on the previous leg had to complete a Speedbump.
That meant Cassie and Jahmeek had to sort through a massive pile of ski boots and sort them in order on the shelves before continuing on to the biathlon challenge.
Once teams completed the second Roadblock, it was time for the Detour, which gives them a choice between two challenges.
One option was Davison Orchards, where teams had to make a set of small apple pies from scratch and present them to the judge before continuing on.
The other option was taking on the locals at the Vernon Lawn Bowling Club, which may sound easy to the casual bocce player, but was no simple task.
Locals like Betty, featured in the episode, were tough opponents and it took some teams quite a while to figure out their strategy well enough to score the five points needed against their gracious hosts.
The final challenge of the Okanagan leg of the race took place at the Jealous Fruits orchard, where teams had to count the exact number of cherry trees in a marked off section of the property.
Once they counted all 548 trees, they had to multiply that number by 31 to figure out how many cherries those trees would yield in a year and submit the right answer before moving on.
It was this section of the race that saw the last place team dip into their bag of tricks and check a previous team’s chalkboard for the answer.
While it saved them the time of having to count the trees themselves, Tychon and Cedric were assessed a two-hour penalty and had to wait at the pit stop to see if it would cost them.
Fortunately for them, the other team that was struggling at the orchard also took a two-hour penalty, albeit unintentionally, which meant they were the ones who finished last and were eliminated.
The pit stop for this leg of the race was at Predator Ridge on the resort’s large yoga pad and the first team to arrive was Marika and Jesse, where they were greeted by host Jon Montgomery and a member of the Syilx First Nation.
It was the first leg of the race they won and it earned them a trip for two to London, England, along with a $2,000 gift card to Marshalls.
While they will be heading to England in the future, the next leg of the race will be in London, Ont. and that episode airs next week.
Although the field is temporarily down to six teams, the preview for next week’s episode teased that the three teams who were forced to bow out due to COVID-19 reasons would be making a surprising return.
You can catch all that action on CTV next Tuesday at 9 pm PT. If you want to watch Tuesday night’s Okanagan episode, click this link.
