STREAMING SURVIVAL
Unpredictability of filming in wilderness makes outdoor reality shows TV like no other
Do you remember that time when you were camping in the snowy wilderness and you woke up to discover that a wolverine had stolen a week’s worth of smoked meat from your storage locker? I can’t either. Many outdoor enthusiasts have had run-ins with wildlife that didn’t go as planned. But Jordan Jonas, the winner of Season 6 of Alone, had quite a few encounters with wolverines. One actually discovered his stash of moose innards and turned it into his dinner.
“I woke up in the morning and a wolverine had taken all of the kidney fat,” Jonas, 36, told talk show host Joe Rogan after winning the competition in 2019.
Alone is one of many reality television shows in recent years that has put the survival skills of its contestants to the ultimate test. Winners collect a prize of $500,000. Jordan, from Lynchburg, Va., survived a jaw-dropping 77 days in the Canadian Arctic with only 10 personal items, none of which was a tub of lard or a box of hand warmers.
Temperatures plummeted below zero degrees Fahrenheit on many occasions. Contestants are isolated for the duration of the competition and are equipped with video gear, a satellite phone for emergencies and their personal items. Medics visit the contestants periodically to assess their physical and mental health.
What makes it great television is the high rate of unforeseen variables. A contestant you may be rooting for in the beginning for a brazen display of wilderness acumen could find himself or herself tapping out because, say, they lost an extremely vital piece of equipment on a scouting mission. Season 6 of Alone is currently streaming on Netflix and the History Channel app.
Here are two other survival/adventure-themed reality shows worth checking out:
◆ In World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji, Season 1 (Amazon Prime), survival expert Bear Grylls hosts an extremely brutal racing competition where 66 teams of four compete against one another to reach the finish line among the tropical conditions on the Fijian Islands. Outrigger canoeing, running, paddleboarding, hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing and swimming segments test the endurance of high-caliber athletes from around the world. The competition takes place over 11 days. Most of them may have to sleep for 11 days to recover.
◆ Team Bend Racing, based in Bend, Ore., took an early lead in the first episode of Season 1, powering their camakau outrigger into a choppy ocean, as part of the first leg of the race. However, by the time they had completed the 40-mile journey by sea and reached the shores of Leleuvia Island (the first checkpoint), they had started to show signs of fatigue. By the time they reach the jungle portion, traversing 62 miles by hiking, paddleboarding and biking, they watched with dismay and disappointment as other teams gained the upper hand.
Again, the action comes through unknown or unforeseen variables, like a flash flood in a narrow canyon, but critical decisions made at the right moment can mean all the difference. There are 22 teams representing the United States. (Spoiler alert: Team Bend Racing, despite their early setbacks, became the first American team to finish the race, coming in at No. 14).
◆ Naked and Afraid (Discovery Channel app) is yet another challenge competition that tests the survival skills and mental discipline of its contestants. But, unlike other survival shows, two competitors (one male, one female) are sent to the same remote area with no food or water, and the show creators added another element that might make some people cringe: The contestants are completely without clothes for the duration.
Their objective is to survive in the same area for 21 days before making their way to an “extraction point,” where they will be airlifted back to civilization.
Unlike Alone, where the seasons take place in colder regions of the northern hemisphere during the winter, Naked and Afraid‘s contestants are typically in hot, arid environments (though some are more akin to rainforest) where they have to fight off fatigue, heatstroke and wild beasts of any sort. Being naked means being exposed to things that bug repellent, shoes and outer layers would normally protect you from. And being in an intimate setting with someone you just met a few days ago creates some awkward moments. Contestants must harvest their food and boil their water, and all of the participants are trained wilderness survival experts.
While I would strongly guard against trying any of these challenges alone and without professional supervision, it does make for entertaining television.
Also, the breadth of knowledge that the contestants furnish about local flora and fauna, wildlife, environmental science, and hunting and ancestral practices does provide the type of education that anyone venturing into the wilderness should have in their mental toolboxes.