Braving the Arctic for a chance to win $1M
Ontario woman who lives off the grid put her survival skills to test
An Espanola, Ont., woman put her wilderness skills to the ultimate test by trying to survive 100 days in the Arctic for a chance to win $1 million.
Kielyn Marrone, who lives off the grid with her husband just west of Sudbury, participated as a contestant in the History channel’s seventh season of the extreme survival TV series “Alone.”
The first episode aired on Thursday, and it will feature 10 contestants trying to survive the Arctic’s brutal conditions to win the biggest grand prize in the show’s history.
Marrone was the season’s only Canadian contestant and she was one of only two women participants.
“I wanted to take part because of the opportunity to put my skills to the test,” said Marrone.
“I didn’t necessarily want to do it alone, because I do everything with my partner, Dave, and I am very much a familyoriented person. I like my morning hugs. So for this to be alone was a whole other ball game for me.”
Marrone is the co-owner of Lure the North with her husband, where they work as winter wilderness expedition operators.
Together, they take people into the most remote parts of Northern Ontario and Quebec, snowshoeing through the boreal forest for weeks on end while using traditional techniques and gear.
They also run skill set workshops and teach people how to make moccasins, mittens and more.
Marrone first became interested in the outdoors when she was visiting her mother’s parents in Parry Sound as a child. She moved to Sudbury when she decided that she wanted to be an outdoor instructor, and she studied in the Adventure Leadership program at Laurentian University.
“When I moved to Sudbury, I was hooked. Look at the Laurentian campus. You finish class and you can go for a twohour hike or go swimming. You are surrounded by wilderness and I never looked back,” she said.
As a contestant on “Alone,” Marrone was dropped off by a helicopter in the middle of the Arctic with nothing but a giant bag filled with batteries and cameras, and 10 survival tools of her choice.
Each individual on the show must create their own shelter, catch their own food, and overcome the harsh terrain and cold while documenting their journey on camera.
They are almost completely alone in the wilderness for up to 100 days.
The contestants’ only human contact is a production and medical crew that keep tabs on each contestant’s health with a half-hour checkup roughly every 10 days.
“The Sudbury landscape is very similar to Great Slave Lake. The trees were stunted and there’s a lot of rock, so it reminded me quite a bit of home. I think that was a great advantage for me. Being familiar with winter and knowing what to expect,” she said.
“But I don’t think anyone really knows how to prepare for an experience like that. You can have the hard skills, but you’re all alone facing the elements and whatever comes at you. It’s your mental toughness that I think gets you through or not.”
According to Marrone, participating in the challenge was an “emotional roller-coaster.”
“One of the things that made it so emotional was not knowing exactly when your next meal was going to be. You set your rabbit traps and then in the morning, you go and walk your line. If you have rabbits, you get to eat. If you don’t have rabbits, you don’t get to eat,” she said.
“I found myself getting more emotional when I would get a rabbit because when you don’t get that catch, you’re just like, OK, keep it together. Keep going. When you finally do get that item of food, then you just release all this emotion. Like, thank goodness, I can eat.”
She discovered that the only way to overcome these mental battles was just by pushing through.
“The only way you can get better is just through training and going through difficulty in life,” she said. “It was really important to me being the only Canadian and one of two women on the show because I got the chance to show how resilient and tough we can be. Hopefully, the show will inspire more women not only to try things like this, but also to be tough in their own minds and believe they can do anything.”