In the 11th episode of Alone Season 7, we go from 3 very tough survivalist to just one, who WINS 1 MILLION DOLLARS.
Before we get to the conclusion, you might want some background on what they carried in their packs, and what happened during the first 10 Episodes; if so, click HERE. You might want to read a summary of the Lessons Learned from mistakes made on the Alone Survival Show; if so, click HERE. Read on to hear about the 3 hour Episode 11, which concluded with a Million Dollar prize for staying 100 days.
Episode 11 (Final)
Day 64 – 3 Remain in pursuit of the Million Dollar Prize.
10:32 AM – 16 F
Callie is remarking about the volume of snow that has been falling for several days. She heads out for fire wood as she checks her trap line. She is expected to burn 400 calories per hour walking. Her traps are all buried with snow, with nothing caught in them. She has lost 10 pounds in the past 2 weeks.
She has not decided whether to eat the diseased porcupine meat or not. Freezing the meet, followed by thorough cooking (well done) should minimize the risk.
Day 65
12:11 AM
We see Kielyn digging and transporting gravel out of her shelter, as it acts an obstruction in draft tubes causing fire pits to draw air poorly. It seems much better afterward.
9:12 AM
Kielyn has a nose pain, likely from inflammation after smelling all the smoke. Then she heads out on the ice to fish when she sees fox tracks and the fox out on the ice. She is determined to push on, so that a woman will win.
10:55 and she is fishing.
11:26, she catches a large fish (6 lb) with her hand fishing line. We don’t see her trying to catch any more. It appears she stopped fishing, and didn’t try to catch fish again until this fish was fully consumed, although we don’t know for sure. IF so, this would be a huge mistake on her part, although it is very cold out on the ice.
Day 66
9:22 AM
Roland is talking about hot and rare and rock house & singing a song. He is screaming like rock fans… He goes out for rose hips which is rich in vitamin C and sees a large porcupine.
11:57 AM
Roland clubs the 25 pound porcupine to death in a single stroke. His stick has quills stuck in it.
Day 67
5:07 PM and it dark out.
Kielyn is in her shelter eating her fish, and then making snow shoes. The first one really looks good.
Day 68
8:27 PM
Callie is in her shelter working with a hide.
Day 69
10:01 AM
Callie is having a fashion show with her rabbit hides. She checked her trap lines and caught nothing. She decides to eat the diseased porcupine cooked very well, which is probably ok. She cooks it in her pan to capture all the fluids. It really tastes good as she eats a chunk of fat, and feels energized.
Day 72
9:29 AM
Roland is eating and snarling, again raising questions about his sanity. He starts a fire and burns the porcupine quills off to preserve trap the fat inside, vs skinning which looses a lot of it.
5:22 PM
Roland is eating Porcupine for Thanksgiving; it has a tremendous amount of fat which he relishes.
Day 73
7:11 PM
Callie is sewing it appears, or working with porcupine quills.
Day 74
10:24 AM
Callie is showing porcupine quills in her boots. She is feeling no problems from eating the porcupine and is feeling strong. Gathering firewood, her shoulder is hurting. It looks as if there is a quill in her skin.
1:04 PM
Callie is examining her injured shoulder and there is in fact a quill, which she is trying to cut out, which is very difficult to do. But she is determined and gets about a 1” quill out. At this point we don’t know how it got in her shoulder.
Day 75
11:10 AM
Roland is at the icy lake shore to get a pot full of water. It is frozen and very hazardous, but he manages. We see his camera lens is iced over. Getting water is becoming a problem he says.
He is planning to cook a brisket and finds mice have been eating the fat, so he checks his fat store. He could kill and eat this mouse, but thinks better of it, as killing this bachelor mouse could allow a whole family to move it. He puts his fat in his musk ox head pouch and stores it in his shelter.
Day 76
9:55 AM
Kielyn is eating the last of her fish and dreaming about being home. She plans on going to try and catch another fish. She should have been fishing every day, if she wasn’t. She has lost 50 pounds since day 1. She can fish for 2 hours max before she must go warm up.
12:16
Kielyn is pulling a fish in, but looses it and starts crying. Despite the best fishing location now, I expect she will be the next to tap out. We see her back at her cabin talking about quitting.
6:21 PM – very dark out
Roland is out listening to the ice freezing which can make loud noise at times. He enjoys the music of the wilderness.
Day 78
9:38 AM
Callie is thinking about buttered popcorn.
Temperature is -17 F, as she goes down to the lake for water, which will require busting the ice. You can hear the ice creaking as it rises and falls with the water.
Between 0 and -20 F, ice can grow 1-4 inches thicker in 24 hours.
She is happy the ice is forming as she will be needing to ice fish for food soon. She fills her rain boot with lake water and carries it back to camp. And her toe is hurting, so she takes her boots off. Frost bite is a hazard that will get your toes first and it looks like she has it on her big toe. This could take her out of the competition.
4:26 PM and it is totally dark as the days are short
Callie continues examining her right big toe, which is purple and is likely frost bite, but it could have been burned from being hear the fire. She is tough, but struggling to stay warm, so it sounds like she is considering tapping out. Staying warm is becoming a challenge for everyone.
Day 80
10:01 AM
Kielyn is tying to figure out what she wants from this experience…. To win. She is talking about her family. Sounds like she is going to tap out. She is walking in her fine snow shoes toward the lake and begins crying again. Glad to see the lake one more time from here. She calls to tap out on day 80. After as hard as she worked to get here, it is hard to imagine tapping out 20 days before winning a million dollars.
Day 81 – 2 Remain
8:59 AM very dark outside
Roland is working with a multi-tool to make a fishing lure.
9:52
Roland puts on his black bear mitts and an artic wolf parka as he goes to the lake with a long pole. The pole helps if he falls through the ice which is frozen over now. He begins to chop through the ice so he can fish. He begins fishing using a hand line.
Day 82
11:54 AM – 29 F The days are short.
Callie is happy the lake has iced up as she heads out to go ice fishing. She has made her own lure and clay weight
1:01 PM and she is fishing. It is cold and windy out on the ice.
2:23, no fish and her toe is cold. She walks around to warm up her feet.
Day 83
10:12 AM – 26 F
Roland is putting on his heavy clothing and going down to the ice to get water.
1:27 PM (average 5 hours of daylight in the artic)
Callie is warming her feet back at her shelter. The frost bite on her toe is hampering her.
She heads to the lake at -28 F for water.
Day 84
9:47 AM and still dark
Roland is working to keep enough fire wood
10:21 PM -27
Callie is gathering fire wood, but has to stop and warm her toe,
Day 85
1:06 PM
Roland is fighting the cold and can’t get ahead on fire wood. He works all day light to get enough fire wood to last the night.
3:02 PM
Callie is cold and trying to keep dry & warm
8:47 -31 F
Roland is by the fire trying to stay warm. He doesn’t know why he keeps trying.
Day 86
10:06 AM
Roland is eating the last of his berries, and craving carbs.
His berries are more than a little moldy. He may have lost the berries as they were in his ceiling and never froze. He decides to eat the stomach contents from the musk ox, which is mostly grass.
The sour smell tells him it is a nutritious meal. We see him eating it.
Day 87
10:23 AM
Callie is still in good spirits it seems. She has maintained a positive attitude through out the event, which has been an advantage for her. She heads off to check her trap lines as her porcupine will not last forever. She finds a 5 lb rabbit in her snare trap that will provide over 3,500 calories. She is tough and could make 100 days if her frost bit toe doesn’t prevent her.
Day 87 – 2 contestants remaining and 13 days to go.
1:07 PM and a calm -33 F day at hand.
Roland is sitting by the fire after sleeping short spells and waking up every few hours to put wood on the fire and keep the shelter warm. The battle is at hand. He heads out for water as the snow starts to fall with a -52 wind chill factor, getting 7.5 inches per day of snow on average. It is becoming a full blown white out. He seems lost.
2:23 PM
Roland is trying to find his way back to his shelter in white out conditions. Following his tracks before the snow covers them, he makes it back to the timber, where it is easier to see, with more landmarks to show the way.
Day 88
10:10
Callie is facing -32 degrees and going out to set her gill net below the ice. Even her camera screen is frozen. She chops her fishing hole open. She needs 1 fish to stay 12 more days.
12:39 she is fishing, but nothing.
1:54 her frost bit toe is getting cold so she has to walk and get some circulation.
Back at camp she cooks bone broth for dinner and is hungry as she drinks from a pot full of bones.
Day 89
10:39 AM
Callie said her feet were cold most of the night. She gets an alert that its time for a medical check, which is early indicating they are worried about something. They arrive and examine her feet. They walk off to discuss their findings as we go to a commercial break.
1:29 PM
The medical team are checking Callie’s frostbite toes and talking. There is spreading second degree frost bite, you are malnourished. She is being forced to tap out immediately for medical reasons on day 89. She loves this place and doesn’t want to leave, but also doesn’t want to lose a toe. She leaves with 5 of her 6 arrows in her quiver.
Now the question is will Roland last 100 days
Day 90 – 34 F
12:28 PM
Roland has a big fire burning and is planning to eat his musk ox hoof after cooking it in the fire. There isn’t much musk ox left and he must use every piece.
Sitting by the fire, Roland talks about not having any friends.
Day 92 and -40F
12:27 PM
Roland, the only contestant left, is going ice fishing, but nothing.
Day 94
1:24 PM
Roland talks about his recently departed mother.
Day 96
3:02 PM
Roland is still talking about his mom
Day 97
11: 41 AM
Roland is in his shelter and wants to do right by his family in the future.
Day 99 Christmas day
12:12 PM
Roland sticks a small Christmas tree in the snow and puts a wire star on it. He thought nothing could ever change him, but this did.
Day 100 - 1 Millionaire remains
12:28
He carves his initials & 100 in calendar tree, and poses beside it. He is listening to the wilderness sounds. Silence is soothing. He begins humming… he can hear his departed mother singing in church as tears comes to his eyes. He has a nice fire outside his shelter. Back in his shelter, he shows us his moms picture. His Sister, Megan, is coming to greet him. She calls for him from outside… they hug in excitement.
2:08 PM
Him and his sister celebrate and she tells him that the whole family is proud of him.
During this 3 hour episode, we went from 3 outstanding contestants, to 1 millionaire winner - Roland
Kielyn talks about not seeing the sun for a month being depressing. She was the most disappointing tap out for me, because, her ice fishing resource had the potential to get her to 100 days, but she lacked the mental toughness and cried often. Not saying I could have done it myself, as I know it is not easy, and judgement is impaired under such severe conditions. I believe her mistakes were only using one fishing hole, and not fishing every day, to build up a reserve. Fish are often territorial, and may move less in cold weather, and after catching a few from one hole, it likely becomes less productive. Using multiple holes might have improved her food harvesting advantage even further. She might also find one fishing hole that was notably more productive than the others. From what the Alone producers showed us after the lake froze over, she only went fishing when she was out of fish (probably busy getting fire wood to stay warm. She could have used set lines and left them out to catch fish, while she was cutting fire wood. There are several ways to do this, including “Tip Ups.” She also came within 20 yards of a moose and didn’t have her bow with her. With a moose, she could have easily made it 100 days, with her survival skills.
Callie talks about having ice on the inside of her fire place as the cold sets in and the difficulty in deciding to eat the porcupine which she knew was diseased. She was already exposed from butchering the animal and that was a factor in moving forward eating. She talks about finding a porcupine quill in her shoulder. It took months for her toe to get better. She might think of her right big toe, as a million dollar toe. Callie was a mentally tough participant, with a positive attitude, and good survival skills, and with warmer boots, she could have easily made it 100 days.
At the end, Roland had a huge stack of fire wood, a big rack of musk ox ribs for food. He could have lasted much longer. His survival skills were masterful, and clearly as good, or possibly even better, than any contestant so far. As a hunting guide and second generation student of survival, he didn’t exactly prosper, but survived longer than any contestant in Alone show history, in part because of the show target of 100 days. What will they do next season?
Most contestants struggled to stay warm in the Arctic, emphasizing the need for extreme clothing, and raising the question as to whether an underground den or deep cave might have proven warmer. Clearly a good supply of fire wood built up in advance was a necessity.
There is no doubt that these final three had excellent survival skills, and working together, they probably could survive indefinitely, especially in a better habitat, or living a nomadic life style.
After 100 days and a million dollar winner, we still have 703 of meat harvested with a bow, and a key factor in determining the winner in two Alone shows. Then 315 pounds with a gill net, now 113 + 5 pounds added this episode, of food captured in a snare trap, 62 + 6 pounds this episode with a fishing line, 25 pounds this episode with a stick, and 1 pound of squirrel with a rock.
I’m looking forward to the next Alone season, and to taking my own Survival Test, to see how long I can stay out.
JR
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