Darragh Ayers Becomes the Third Man to One-Hand Lift the 203kg Mosasaurus Stone

Another name has been added to the very short list of people to successfully lift the 203kg Mosasaurus Stone with one hand.

At the end of a recent Grip Club at the Commando Temple, Darragh Ayers became only the third man to successfully complete the one-handed lift, getting the stone off the floor not once, but twice.

And neither lift came fresh.

Darragh had already completed a full Grip Club session before turning his attention to one of the most unforgiving grip challenges in the gym.

The 203kg Mosasaurus Stone

Named after the enormous prehistoric marine reptile, the Mosasaurus weighs 203kg and is one of the Ring Stones of England, as documented in the English Stone Lifting Directory.

Unlike a conventional natural stone lift, the challenge comes from the iron ring fixed to the stone. The lifter has to take the entire 203kg through one hand and break the stone clear of the floor.

That creates a very particular kind of difficulty.

It's obviously a huge test of grip strength, but simply having strong hands isn't enough. The weight bears down through one side of the body while the ring itself places enormous pressure through the fingers and flesh of the hand.

You have to be strong enough to move it — but you also have to be able to tolerate it.

There are no accidental successful lifts here.

Building the Grip — and the Tolerance

Darragh has an exceptional level of grip strength and has been specifically working towards the Mosasaurus challenge.

An important part of that preparation has simply been developing his tolerance to having such an enormous weight hanging from one hand.

That's something that's difficult to appreciate until you've tried a heavy ring stone.

Your hand is the connection between you and the entire stone. As the weight increases, it isn't just a question of whether your fingers are strong enough to stay closed. The pressure through the skin and flesh becomes part of the challenge itself.

Darragh has gradually built his ability to deal with both.

At the end of Grip Club, it was time to see whether it was enough.

The First Lift — No Hook Grip

It was.

Darragh successfully broke the 203kg Mosasaurus from the floor using one hand without a hook grip.

Unfortunately, there was one small problem.

Nobody got it on video.

When you're talking about a lift that only two other men had successfully completed, that's a fairly good reason to do it again.

The Second Lift

Despite already having a full Grip Club session in his hands and the first successful Mosasaurus lift in his body, Darragh stepped up for another attempt.

This time he used a hook grip.

And this time the cameras were rolling.

The 203kg stone left the floor again.

Two successful one-handed lifts in the same session.

A fantastic achievement — and an even more impressive one considering it came at the end of a session when his hands, grip and body were already fatigued.

The Third Man to Do It

With those lifts, Darragh Ayers became the third man to successfully one-hand lift the 203kg Mosasaurus Stone.

It's exactly the sort of challenge we love having at the Commando Temple.

On paper, the task couldn't be much simpler:

There's a 203kg stone on the floor with a ring attached to it.

Grab the ring with one hand.

Pick the stone up.

In reality, it demands an unusual combination of grip strength, whole-body tension, confidence and a fairly unpleasant tolerance for having a very large amount of weight trying to open your hand.

Darragh had all four.

Twice.

Think You've Got the Grip?

The Mosasaurus is there to be challenged.

We actively encourage other lifters to come to the Commando Temple and have a go. Whether you're a grip specialist, strongman competitor, stone lifter or simply someone with unusually strong hands, it's a brilliant test to work towards.

Just don't expect to walk in and accidentally pick it up.

Congratulations to Darragh Ayers — third man to successfully complete the one-handed 203kg Mosasaurus lift, and two successful lifts in one day.

Not a bad way to finish Grip Club.

The 203kg Mosasaurus is one of the Ring Stones of England documented in the English Stone Lifting Directory and is based at the Commando Temple in Deptford, South East London. It also forms the seventh and final challenge of the Commando Temple Stone Gauntlet.