Take a closer look at each step of the new Power Tower

Season 13 of American Ninja Warrior debuted a nicely revamped Power Tower. The 40-foot tall vertical obstacle course comes into play at the end of each Semifinals episode.

The two fastest competitors of each night race side by side for the chance to take a Safety Pass with them to the National Finals. The Safety Pass allows one do-over on Stage One or Stage Two of the National Finals, should a Ninja fall or run out of time.

But these Ninjas are so good, the Power Tower races go by in the blink of an eye. It’s hard to appreciate what they’re actually accomplishing. Below, we’ve broken down the new Power Tower step by step so you get a better picture of what’s going on.

First, check out this race from night two of the Semifinals between Joe Moravsky and Jay Lewis.

Once the start bell rings, the Ninjas climb a set of rails. In this case, Joe used his feet, while Jay used just his hands. It made a difference in giving Joe an initial lead.

Then the Ninjas jump to and climb a rope.

At the top of the rope, they grab a ring, hop it out of its cradle, slide down the track, and hop the ring back into another cradle.

When the ring is locked, they can start on the slanted Salmon Ladder.

The Salmon Ladder leads to an angled pole they must climb next.

The pole leads them to the set of four dropping shelves. (Looking back on this really helped us acknowledge the moves Jay made to close the gap with Joe. Look at how close Jay got! Even Joe is glancing back like, “Oh snap, he came out of nowhere.”)

Then, of course, you have to hit the buzzer.

Followed by the very important congratulatory/please-hold-me-up-I’m-so-tired hug.

And that’s your season 13 Power Tower. We’ll only get to see it twice more this season on nights three and four of the Semifinals. Savor it!