Velika Heathcote, Food Services Director at Dana Hospitality, hit us up Wednesday morning about their first-ever Hot Wing Challenge happening at 1pm. We showed up to the Winter Garden, and honestly? It was absolute madness.
Hosted by UNBC Food Services and sponsored by Dana Hospitality, the event had twelve UNBC students sign up to torture themselves with six rounds of progressively hotter wings. What was supposed to be a quick competition turned into a 90-minute endurance test that had people literally shaking and a large crowd was witnessing the contest.
The heat breakdown for the challenge starts with Round 1, a mild “warm up” using HeartBeat Dill Pickle Serrano at about 1,200 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Round 2 moves into medium heat with Cholula Extra Hot at over 5,000 SHU. Round 3 ramps things up to hot with MESHUGGAH, coming in at over 50,000 SHU. In Round 4, the sauces jump to very hot territory with Ghost Pepper “SPOOKY Sauce” at around 850,000 SHU. Round 5 is labeled very, very hot, featuring Da Bomb and The Last Dab, at approximately 135,000 and 2.6 million SHU respectively. Finally, Round 6 is the Extreme/Inferno round, using FAFO Carolina Reaper sauce, which clocks in at roughly 1.5 million SHU.
And if that wasn’t enough: If more than one person finishes all six rounds, they make two more sauces hotter than the Carolina Reaper for a sudden death challenge.
Chef Andrew Tassie made two of the sauces homemade, then made them even hotter with extra ingredients. I tried just a tiny bit of one on a spoon (not even the final level, thanks Chef Andrew and team) and immediately regretted it, instant stomach ache and my mouth was on fire. Pro tip: if you want to try it, don’t do it on an empty stomach or you will pay for it lol.
Everyone had to sign a waiver before competing, and once the challenge started, there was no milk, water, napkins, or bread allowed during the rounds—relief items only came after you were eliminated or finished, though contestants could have whatever they wanted during the short 1–2 minute breaks between rounds. There were strict safety rules: no touching your face or eyes until you washed your hands, with gloves provided to help. If someone wanted out, they just had to raise their hand, but the moment they drank or ate any relief item, they were officially out. The last person standing won the challenge, and if multiple people survived all six rounds (which they did), they went into overtime with either a bonus round or a timed endurance test. No taunting or spitting out food was allowed—everyone had to respect other participants and staff, and all judges’ decisions were final.
What made them join?
For Ben, this was a lifelong dream. His friend sent him the challenge and asked if he wanted to sign up. “Honestly, my whole life I’ve been wanting to do this,” he said. It wasn’t about the free cafeteria food (he’s on meal plan anyway) – this was about finally doing something he’d always wanted to try.
Cairo seemed in it for the experience and said “it was pretty fun.”
Zavier, who took second place, was honest about his motivation: “I was just motivated by the prizes. I like a challenge, so I just went for it. I didn’t think I’d get this far.”
Li Guowei, a postdoc and recent PhD graduate from UNBC who took first place, is a self-described foodie who didn’t hesitate to sign up. “It was pretty awesome,” he said. When asked if he’d done this before, he casually mentioned, “I’ve done this before, but not in Canada. In China, everyone eats spicy.”
How did the participants feel?
Dryden, who gave up mid-challenge, said “it was really easy all the way up to round five. Round five was actually spicier than round six, but the problem is the quantity, we just had so much hot sauce on there. My stomach just really hurts.”
Ben described the physical toll by the fifth round as well: “My body just got to a point where every arm and leg muscle were twitching. I can still feel it in my hand.”
Cairo, who lasted about an hour before tapping out, said “the biggest jump was from round three to four. After that, I started shaking. It was real serious.” He mentioned they’d already had three overtimes at that point.
Zavier who got the 2nd place, summed up his experience simply: “I didnt think I would finish 2nd and I never eat spicy really,” so it’s the spiciest thing he’s ever and probably ever will consume.
The challenge ended up having three overtimes because multiple people kept surviving all six rounds.
First place won a $50 gift basket. Second place got a bottle of hot sauce. First aid was available, and after completion or elimination, participants got milk or yogurt for cooling plus napkins and hand wipes.
What’s next?
After watching students suffer for 90 minutes, Velika had one reaction: “I think next time we’re going to have to make the sauce hotter.”
“We had 12 spots and filled them up right away. Everybody seemed to really enjoy it,” she said. “We’re thinking about doing one for faculty next, and then maybe having the winner from faculty face off against the winner from this one.”
Dana Hospitality plans to sponsor UNBC Food Services to host this every semester since there are new students each term.
Want to catch the next challenge? Follow @unbc_eats on socials for updates. Just maybe start building your spice tolerance now.
