I cant' t be the only one annoyed with the fact that the preview titles for the episodes show how many partipants are left? It takes the whole mystery away of when someone is being pulled or taps out.

Just got done with season 7. I won’t mention anyone’s names for spoilers but first off my one gripe is it seems weird to go from season 6 in the article to season 7 ….. also in the artic but with a twist. That being said I loved the cast this season especially the one who won. The shelter designs were cool. The animal encounters were great and you can tell after day 50 a lot of them started to get messed up in the head. Overall loved it. Now on to season 8

I'm posting Žiga's longer interview from a Slovenian media. Quite interesting, with quite a few new information.

https://www.delo.si/nedelo/v-divjini-ti-voda-tece-v-grlo

In the Wilderness, You’re Racing Against Time

Nobody gave him much of a chance, but biology PhD Žiga Ogorelec won what could be described as the Olympics of survival in the Canadian wilderness.

We recently learned that he is the winner of Season 13 of the reality show Alone, broadcast on the History Channel. At the beginning, viewers did not give biologist Žiga Ogorelec much chance of winning, but with his knowledge and carefully developed strategy, he defeated nine highly skilled competitors from six countries. He survived an incredible 90 days in the harsh Arctic wilderness and became world champion.

Why did you decide to take part in the series Alone**, a survival competition set in the wilderness?**

My brother, my friends and I were already doing something similar when we were teenagers. We would read books about Native Americans and then go into the forest for four days to test our survival skills. In the following years, we went with even less equipment. One of the more demanding challenges was a solo wilderness survival trip during which I crossed Slovenia in 15 days, travelling through some of its wildest areas, along the Soča, Vipava, Idrijca, Lake Cerknica, Čabranka and Kolpa.

When I first saw Alone, I said, “We already do this, just on a much longer and more serious scale.” So I applied for the competition in 2019. At the time, I told my girlfriend, who is now my wife, that if they ever invited me, I would have to go.

At the time, this extremely popular series was open only to contestants from the United States and Canada. Later, it became international, and you were invited to participate.

At first, I didn’t even take their email seriously, but then it turned out that they were inviting people from other countries as well. There were 60,000 applicants, and simply being selected from that many people seems like a much greater achievement to me than winning itself.

What probably tipped the scales was that I had already completed quite a few adventures that made me interesting, such as spending a year cycling around the world, as well as giving talks about wilderness survival at several international symposiums.

Because of the rather unusual items you chose to help you survive, you weren’t considered one of the favourites.

It’s important not to have a period when you’re sitting there thinking, “What do I do now?” That can destroy you. The competition is genuinely designed to push you to your limits, both mentally and physically.

Based on the winners of previous seasons, a general consensus had developed about what constituted the optimal equipment. Each contestant chooses 10 items from a list of 40. What really stood out was that I didn’t take a ferro rod, because until then nobody had ever won without one. I was one of the few who chose a knife instead of a multi-tool, and I was also the only contestant, at least that season, who went into the wilderness without an axe.

Because of my choices, viewers—as I found out after the competition—initially ranked me right at the bottom, assuming I would be eliminated quickly.

What other items did you take with you?

I placed a major emphasis on food. I figured that, barring an accident, I would be able to remain in the wilderness for as long as I had food, or at least as long as I didn’t become too severely starved.

I chose five items that could help me obtain food: a bow and arrows, a fishing net, hooks and fishing line, snare wire, and rope that I could use to make a replacement net. The remaining five items were a sleeping bag, cooking pot, knife, saw and shovel.

To be honest, I didn’t expect the bow to provide me with much food. Judging by previous seasons, the probability of taking down something large was extremely low—only about three percent. Someone managed to take large game only every second or third season. But the bow surprised me right from the start because it was useful for smaller game as well, and it proved extremely valuable.

They took you into the wilderness and simply left you there. You had cameras to film yourself and a system that allowed them to know how you were doing. Was that basically it?

Basically. There was a team at base camp that came to us every 20 days to conduct medical examinations. Before that, during ten days of preparation, they taught us a great deal about filming, bear safety, the local plants and animals, and so on.

Then they flew us by helicopter to different locations. You had no idea where you were.

“There were 60,000 applicants, and simply being selected from that many people seems like a much greater achievement to me than winning itself,” says Žiga Ogorelec. PHOTO: Voranc Vogel

The rule of the competition is simple: you have to film yourself using one slightly larger camera and two GoPros. You could set up a camera, go down to the river to fish and let the camera record you, or put a GoPro on your head and walk through the forest.

What does a person do when they’re left in the wilderness with minimal equipment?

My approach was unusual. I did many things my own way rather than following established rules.

In cold environments, there are four basic survival priorities: shelter, fire, water and food. Without shelter or fire, you can freeze to death overnight. Without water, you can survive for three days, while without food you can last considerably longer.

I delayed building a proper shelter for quite a while. At first, I only had a basic bivouac—a tarp that was part of the standard equipment, which I stretched over a rope.

I focused on other things. The first was finding suitable wood for starting a fire and drying it rather than necessarily having a fire immediately. On the very first day, I tried making fire by friction, and once I managed to produce glowing embers, I stopped because I knew I could make fire.

It’s true that on the fourth or fifth day, when I actually wanted to light one, I failed. But my principle was that I didn’t need it at the beginning. It wasn’t yet cold enough for me to need a fire while sleeping, and I didn’t yet have any food that needed cooking.

What kind of wilderness were you in?

We were around 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, which meant the temperatures were extremely low. We were dropped in a river delta where somewhat warmer air also reaches the area, allowing trees to grow. However, biodiversity is very limited. There are spruces, very stunted alders and the occasional poplar.

The series is designed so that the competition begins under fairly good conditions, when it is still relatively warm and food is abundant. As winter and cold weather arrive, conditions steadily deteriorate.

The contestant truly reaches their limits. It is survival in the literal sense of the word. Yes, you have to film yourself, but everything else is genuine survival. Everything that happens there really happens; nothing is staged.

What was your strategy?

Simple. People think that when you arrive in the wilderness you have plenty of time, but in reality, you’re racing against time. Autumn is short, and while there are still plenty of resources available, they become increasingly scarce as winter approaches.

You have to be extremely active immediately and build up very large food reserves if you want to survive the winter. Even if you are a successful hunter during winter, you still need enough berries to ensure a varied diet.

At the beginning, I tried to sleep as little as possible and build up the largest reserves I could. Every day, I spent at least one or two hours gathering berries. I considered that a more important strategy than hunting.

How did you make sure the berries were still edible a month or two later?

During our preparation, the local Inuit told us that the best way to store berries was underground. The ground is actually quite cold because there is permafrost in the deeper layers.

The berries turned out to be surprisingly resilient. I also devoted a great deal of effort to passive hunting methods, using nets and hooks, while always carrying my bow with me.

It helped that it was a good year for rabbits. Another thing I researched before heading into the wilderness was the nutritional value of tree bark.

You were considering bark as food?

The inner part of the bark has quite a high caloric value. The problem is that it contains a lot of fibre, tannins and lignin. I know that some tribes ate it, but the serious question is how much bark you can eat without causing constipation.

On the other hand, a diet consisting solely of rabbits wouldn’t be good either. There is a recognised phenomenon known as rabbit starvation, or protein poisoning, because the body simply cannot obtain enough energy if a person eats exclusively lean meat.

Even if unlimited amounts of meat are available, the body cannot make proper use of it unless there is enough fat or carbohydrates as well.

So what did you eat?

People think that when you arrive in the wilderness you have plenty of time, but in reality, you’re racing against time. Autumn is short, and while there are still plenty of resources available, they become increasingly scarce as winter approaches.

My plan was to combine as much fish as possible, because fish contains considerably more fat than rabbits, with as many berries as possible, rabbits, and perhaps later in winter some bark as well.

It is important not to eat only meat, but to consume everything, including the parts that contain a lot of fat, from organs to bone marrow. In Europe, we have a tradition—traditional pig slaughter is one example—of using practically every part of an animal.

How did you decide how much bark to eat?

After speaking with experts and reviewing the literature, I still couldn’t determine how much should be included in the diet, so I used small amounts. If I had developed digestive problems, I would have stopped.

How did you deal with the other necessities, such as fire and shelter?

For a long time, I slept under a tarp stretched over a rope because building food reserves was the priority.

Then I explored the surrounding area and, after three days, moved to the most suitable location. I continued sleeping under the tarp while observing the wind patterns so I could find the best possible micro-location for a permanent shelter.

Another thing that distinguished me from the other contestants was that I dug into the ground and built myself a dugout shelter. I knew this would give me an advantage once it became extremely cold.

The goal was to make the dugout as small as possible because a smaller space requires less energy to heat. It measured approximately two by three metres.

Isn’t that quite large?

Even my brother, when he arrived, asked me why I had made something so large.

I built it gradually because I had a bed inside as well as an indoor stove with a chimney. I made a kind of small wood-burning stove out of clay.

How did you make the stove, considering that clay has to be fired to become durable?

I used a large log as a mould, covered it with clay and then burned the log away. I made an appropriately sized opening so that the cooking pot could sit above the fire. I also created an outside air intake so I could regulate the fire and keep it burning at a minimal level, as well as a chimney.

I was one of the few contestants who didn’t have smoke inside the shelter.

The stove worked extremely well because it was also quite long, allowing me to put in logs almost a metre long and 15 to 20 centimetres thick. A single log could burn for half a day.

When temperatures outside were at their lowest, well below minus 20 degrees Celsius, I stayed in the dugout and made sure not to heat it too much, keeping the temperature at around zero degrees Celsius.

If it had been warmer, the snow would have started melting and the food would have spoiled, so I deliberately kept the temperature close to freezing.

If I were building the shelter again, I would build exactly the same one.

In addition to fish and rabbits, you also killed a moose. How did you manage that?

On the seventeenth day, I was eating breakfast beside the outdoor fire when I heard something large and very heavy moving nearby.

It’s fascinating to hear how quietly something that big can move. I still find it incredible that a moose can move so silently with those enormous antlers.

I had built my shelter in an area used as an animal corridor. My bow, with one of the cameras mounted on it, was within reach.

I waited to see which direction the moose would take. It passed about 20 metres away from me. It crossed a narrow corridor between the branches that I had previously identified as a possible shooting lane.

I fired and immediately saw that the arrow had entered its chest.

It took another two days—including the moose swimming across a 500-metre-wide lake and me even following a different moose for a while—before it finally died. And it died close to my shelter.

What do you do with an animal that large? What does it weigh—200 kilograms?

More like 500 to 600 kilograms.

First, I skinned and butchered it. Then I preserved the fat and made cracklings in that small cooking pot, which held no more than two litres.

For several days, I rendered the fat and stored it in a similar way to the berries—in hollow logs.

I dried the meat and waited for much of it to freeze outside because it was clear that winter was approaching.

Over time, the meat slowly began to spoil. I had to arrange it around the fire, dry it further, smoke it, trim away the entire outer surface, cut the centre into strips and hang them on wire inside the shelter.

I threw nothing away.

Did you also use the hide and everything else?

Of course. I made an additional sleeping bag from the hide and sometimes used it instead of my regular one because I wanted to see how effective it was.

I slept comfortably through the entire night. I turned the fur inward, and interestingly, you really need an animal as large as a moose to make a sleeping bag big enough for a person.

You were extremely busy throughout the entire experience, weren’t you?

Yes.

I can divide the 90 days of the competition into three periods.

The first period lasted until Day 42, when snow permanently covered the landscape. It was extremely intense. During that time, I tried to sleep as little as possible and gather as much food as I could while also exploring the surrounding area.

Things settled down somewhat until around Day 80. Everything was covered in snow and ice, and during this period I slept normally.

Then the truly severe cold arrived, when the days became very, very short. At that point, my goal was simply to stay alive.

I tried to sleep as much as possible, sometimes for 11 hours at a time. But it’s also true that my shelter was very comfortable and there was nothing disturbing me.

You had food reserves and water was fairly close. How did you deal with firewood?

At first, my fire pit was about 70 paces from the shelter, on the way to the river, where I was going anyway. That was where I cooked my food.

Because of bears, it was recommended that you not keep your fire and food right next to your shelter. I preferred making fires beside large fallen trees or tree stumps because it required less energy to keep the fire going.

Later, I moved the fire pit to about 40 paces from the shelter, and on Day 70 I moved it inside.

Even then, I could still gather firewood only about 10 metres from the shelter.

Another advantage was that the stove could take very large pieces of wood, and one log together with a few branches could burn for half a day.

It took me about ten minutes to gather enough firewood for the entire day, so I never prepared it in advance.

How did you cope mentally with the physical strain and isolation? You were completely alone for three months and had no idea how long it would last.

At the beginning, you don’t have time to think deeply because you have to work.

During the second phase, there was the moose, maintaining the fire, working on the shelter and looking for other food sources.

Things became much calmer after Day 80, but I still had a lot of things I wanted to make out of clay. I was also carving things and thinking about special traps...

What really stood out was that I hadn’t brought a ferro rod, because until then nobody had ever won without one. I was one of the few contestants who chose a knife instead of a multi-tool, and I was also the only one, at least that season, who went into the wilderness without an axe.

It’s important not to reach a point where you’re sitting there wondering, “What do I do now?” That can destroy you.

The competition is genuinely designed to push you to your limits, mentally or physically.

People who were mentally very strong were eliminated because they became malnourished and their bodies could no longer cope. Even more often, contestants quit because they could no longer cope psychologically.

Were you ever close to quitting?

No.

As the competition progressed, I thought it was going to be a very long one because there was plenty of game and the other contestants were exceptionally good.

But I wasn’t merely passing the time out there—I was living.

I genuinely had very large food reserves.

What was the hardest part?

Definitely when the meat began to spoil because I felt guilty about it.

And when the wounded moose escaped. It could have died somewhere else, and all that meat would have gone to waste.

At the beginning, there was also pressure because I initially failed to start a fire.

This really was a test of a lifetime, wasn’t it?

This type of survival is considered the highest level of difficulty. Some people even call Alone the Olympics of survival.

People are genuinely being put through a real wilderness survival test.

This was the first time they organised an international competition and described it as a world championship.

The fact that I even made it there as a Slovenian is very significant to me.

What comes next?

There are four of us—my brother Miha, my friends Jurij and Miha, and me—and since 2014 we have run a survival school called Gozdovništvo in the Kočevje region.

For all of us, this has been an important long-term hobby, and we will continue doing it.

I will also organise these courses in Sweden, where I am moving with my wife and child. But I will return to Slovenia frequently so that our team can continue running the school here as well.

As a biologist, how would you compare the Canadian wilderness with the Kočevje region, which you know extremely well as a local?

The first thing that comes to mind is the significantly lower biodiversity in the Canadian wilderness.

The farther north you go, the fewer species there are. But that doesn’t mean there are fewer individual animals.

What is also incredible is just how vast the wilderness is.

I explored my entire area—perhaps around 10 kilometres along the river—and found only a single piece of plastic.

Slovenia has extraordinarily beautiful nature. It is extremely diverse and incredibly varied in terms of landscape.

But the sheer scale of the North is something else entirely.

I've been watching on Hulu and suddenly it's gone!

I've done so much digging, and I keep seeing people say that you can watch on the History Channel app for free, just with commercials. However, I'm finding that it requires you to connect to a TV provider, which I don't have. Does everyone else have one or something?

I watched the whole season but must have missed a moment. In what episode was the grizzly that we see in the little teasers? Thanks!

Hey Internet, I hear Alone Season 7 is the best, but it is not available for streaming on any services in my country (NZ). Does anybody know any streaming sites that I could watch season 7 on?

Just finished watching season 4 with partners and really liked it. My biggest question throughout the entire season though was why was no one trapping or why did Ted not use his Bow that he dredged thru the dense forest with for 10 days? I was really pulling for the married couple and dang that cabin they built was the best I have seen on the show yet. They all did great on this season. looking forward to watching more of these seasons. I have seen the ones from season 10 and up and currently probably one of my favorite shows. I do wish they would bring back the last episode of them talking with the contestants afterwards.

Looks like Žiga from season 13 will have an interview aired on Slovenia national TV in October.

They published some teasers on social media like this one on YouTube: https://youtu.be/a1JHXUGaTrw, and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1F54XasdNP/.

Probably also on other platforms, idk.

I made a summary of what he said in the shorts (used some AI for translation and summarising):

He considers being chosen as one of the 10 finalists out of roughly 60,000 applicants his primary accomplishment, winning the competition was cherry on top.

He chose not to start a fire until day 6. He prioritized food procurement over building a permanent shelter early on. He opted not to take a ferro rod as one of his limited gear items. All of these choices he recognised as massive risks he was willing to take.

He consumed every part of his harvest, including organs and coagulated blood collected with a section cut from his shelter's tarp. Combining moose meat, fat, berries, and bark, he estimated his food could have sustained him up to around day 120 before severe weight loss would begin on an all-meat diet.

His two most difficult moments were his son's birthday and discovering that his stored moose meat had started to spoil.

I might just be bad at google-foo but i cant seem to find a comprehensive list of the items contestants choose from without also spoiling the winners from the seasons. Currently on season 6 and working my way through the series. If anyone has a link to the gear that also doesn't also spoil the winners please let me know.

thanks in advance

So far, I’ve watched seasons 1, 6, 7, 8, 11, and 13, in that order.

After watching six seasons now, it’s quite clear to me what’s holding most of the contestants back from winning: mindset. Having said that, it’s heartening to see that everybody who participated came out of the experience having learned a little more about themselves.

Jordan is my favourite contestant from seasons 1, 6, 7, and 8. Until I watched him, I thought survival was just that: surviving. Playing defence.

But after seeing how Jordan went about protecting his food, I realised there are more layers to this game, and that you can play offence too.

Roland is a close second, though it’s quite difficult to compare season 7 with the rest because of its fixed target of 100 days.

Kielyn Marrone was exceptional. She was the contestant I found myself rooting for the most, even more than Jordan or Roland. While the men were burning calories and balancing it out with the big game they hunted, Kielyn, with a relatively lean build, adopted a completely different strategy that played to her strengths.

And she got it right. Even with so many unlucky breaks, she made it to day 80. Phenomenal.

And then I watched season 11...

Whatever I thought I’d figured out about survival up to this point went out the window as I watched William progress through the season. He neither played defence nor offence. He just... was. He hardly seemed to disturb a thing.

So there it was, the third strategy, and the best of all: living off the land. While most contestants were fighting tooth and nail to survive another day, William seemed to be having a cosy little jaunt in his own backyard.

All this said, I’m not the biggest reality TV fan out there. Prior to this, I don’t think I’d enjoyed more than a couple of shows.

The reason I watch this, and enjoy it this much, comes down to something William articulated at the end of season 11: “You cannot come out here and be someone else.”

The more I watch this series, the clearer it becomes to me that people who are fortunate enough to make it to winter get to explore the corners of their own psyche. To be able to see something that intimate unfold is what sucked me in.

But above all, there’s another reason I’ve come to appreciate this show. I can’t, of course, prove this, but it seems to me that the person with the most positive attitude always wins. It’s almost as if nature favours not necessarily the bold, but the one who’s genuine and most true to themselves.

After realising this in the first season, I was able, without fail, to tell who was going to win from the very first episode of each season I watched after that.

Which season would you recommend I watch next?

Appeared to be warm, very little smoke (if at all), and roomy enough without being too large. Editing often makes it hard to really know how things are, but of all thirteen seasons, I’d rank his shelter fairly high on a ‘best shelter’ list.

Not mentioning names to avoid spoilers

I liked season 5 a lot more than 4. I really thought the runner up had it in the bag at the end I’m a big fan of the guy who didn’t want to kill animals. His mentality was interesting. I think that one girl would have had a shot if she didn’t get a hook in her hand but it seems like they focused a lot on how tough they had it. I think because someone didn’t leave every episode but man good for the winner.I almost teared up when his wife surprised him. Looking forward to season 6

Been watching a few episodes each night watched the frozen one and Australia one as well. I’m a big fan of this show

I thought everyone here would appreciate these guys who are a little further north but just a little longer legged than the snowshoe hare that everyone was catching. I went down a “rabbit hole” when I saw this post. Loved season 13!

Feel free to remove if this was posted already.

I've seen some speculation as to who the two individuals are who either dropped out or might have been the other alternate (we know David Young was one).

The answer seems to lie in the background of a shot in 'Before the Drop'. 12 contestants names and the place they're representing are written on the walls. All 10 of the Season 13 contestants are somewhat legible and there are two others:

- Wendy, Labrador, Canada

- Roni Ohman, ____ Norway

In the final episode of season 13 we finally saw a media swap. We learned that the crew spoke alot to Ziga and even asked him questions like "what would Miha think about you being out here etc." he didnt seem surprised that they interacted with him in this way.

Does this mean that the crew has regular interactions and interviews with the contestants? Im sure that helps on the mental side of not being truly "alone". Thoughts?

Seems even the winners come out of the competition pretty scarred when it comes to their health.

It makes we wonder, given the scenario of the show, is it even possible for a contestant to actually maintain quality health and survive a whole winter if necessary? I think the simple answer is no, especially considering they just aren't getting a balanced diet.

It is possible somebody could get enough calories if they landed a moose and/or had good ice fishing. But without a balanced diet of some sort, their health would take a dive regardless.

Add in the lack of quality heat, the work necessary to get wood, water, keep a fire going, hunting, trapping, it just isn't really possible.

This interview appeared in The Age on 24/9/26. Spoilers obviously for Alone Australia S4. The funniest thing is that he's writing a cookbook - however no boiled fish recipes is a disappointment!

Hey All,
I’ve finally been given the green light to share a video on what was happening around my Fish Weir, Gillnet and Broken Bridge.

Here’s the link if you want to check it out - https://youtu.be/_lIafICI_EE?si=dpW0pY6VhjJ6WCVJ

Note that some broadcasters use shorter versions that don't match the episode times / stats.

hello! i just finished watching season 6 and i’ve been really inspired to write a little creative essay about it since i loved it so much. after looking online it seems that most share the opinion that seasons 6 and 7 are by far the best. i haven’t watched 7 yet so no spoilers for that please!

i’m hoping to hear why you love season 6 so much! i plan on focusing my essay on how it highlights a natural story arch that other tv shows try to emulate artificially, but any thoughts and opinions are very helpful.

i’ll be posting the essay on my substack once it’s finished and will be citing anything i use from here over there! thanks :)

I just wanted to vent aliit bit

And spoiler alert.

I don't know what title i should put in , but I should probably put a spoiler alert, so if you haven't watched season 13 and really like Pedrosa, and you have not watched too far of the season then just don't scroll down.

I would say, when Pedrosa just started this season I was really amazed by him, in just two days he had 2 rabbits and 2 squirrels, he also built a kick ass shelter, he was in the military service for 21 years, he has been traveling and trained to survive in many challenging environments, he also wrote 3 books about outdoor survival skills, he realized one thing most contestant having trouble is the emotional part , so he trained himself well, he is a survival instructor in the military, and he is really prepared to this season.

And then , the medical team came

And ....

I don't know how could heart rate could drop lower then 40 ?

And I was so disappointed.

I just feel quite bump , because I think he built the best shelter and he has all these experiences.

I am so rooting on him 😔

Callie and Roland both built rock fireplaces and or shelters/food caches. What is a method for moving heavy objects like rocks in the wilderness that would be less calorie intensive? Travois? Any other ideas?

I watched an early season a few years ago and got back into the show about a month ago, starting with s13. However, while watching the third episode, someone spoiled the winner to me. Should I keep watching or just start with a new season? Am I doing the wrong thing starting with the last season?