Ultimate Survival Alaska

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Ultimate Survival Alaska
Genre Reality competition
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 37 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Brian Catalina
Kristina Wood
John Magennis
Claire Kosloff
Victoria Levy
Peter Goest
Running time 60 minutes
Production company(s) Brian Catalina Productions
Release
Original network National Geographic Channel
Picture format <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Original release May 12, 2013 (2013-05-12) –
March 22, 2015 (2015-03-22)
External links
Website

Ultimate Survival Alaska was an American television reality competition series produced by Brian Catalina Productions that premiered on the National Geographic Channel on May 12, 2013.[1] The series was executive produced by Brian Catalina, Kristina Wood, John Magennis, Claire Kosloff, Victoria Levy, and Peter Goest.[2]

Ultimate Survival Alaska focused on survivalist men and women who were dropped off in the Alaskan wilderness where they compete with each other in various wilderness races.[3] The survivalists were dropped off by aircraft in the Alaskan wilderness where they compete in races through Alaska's unpredictable weather, barren landscapes, and hostile predators.[3][4] The series was cancelled after season 3.[5]

Series overview

Season 1 (2013)

In the first season, 10 episodes document the survivalists' experiences at specific location points during the 3,000-mile (4,800 km) race.[6] The main goal in each episode is to survive using minimal gear, and to reach a certain destination point within 72 hours.[7]

Cast

Season 2 (2013/14)

The second season had 13 episodes and focused on four teams of survivalists with different areas of expertise: woodsmen, mountaineers, military veterans, and endurance athletes. Each team had the task of reaching an extraction point faster than the other teams. There were multiple drop off and extraction points with different terrain for each leg of the contest. In Season 2, the time limit to reach the end of each leg was reduced down to 60 hours.[3]

Teams

The contestants were divided into four teams of three.[8]

Contestant Team Placing
Dallas Seavey Endurance 1st
Eddie Ahyakak
Sean Burch
Grady Powell Military 2nd
Jared Ogden
Rodolfo Reyes
Marty Raney Mountaineers 3rd
Tyler Johnson
Thomas Ginn
Yote Robertson Woodsmen 4th
Tina "Timber Tina" Scheer
Jimmy Gaydos


Results

Team Contestants Position (by leg)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 111
Endurance Dallas Seavey, Eddie Ahyakak, Sean Burch 2nd 3rd 3rd 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st
Military Grady Powell, Jared Ogden, Rudy Reyes2 1st 4th 1st 3rd 3rd 3rd 1st2 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 2nd
Mountaineers Marty Raney, Tyler Johnson, Thomas Ginn 3rd 2nd 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 3rd 1st 3rd 2nd 3rd 3rd
Woodsmen Yote Robertson, Tina "Timber Tina" Scheer, Jimmy Gaydos 4th 1st 4th1
  1. ^ The Woodsmen Team was eliminated after missing Extraction due to Jimmy's injury.
  2. a b Rudy left the competition after Episode 7 due to an injury.
  3. ^ Leg 11 was double-length, shown over two episodes. The placements listed in the first column reflect the order teams arrived at the leg's halfway point.

Season 3 (2015)

Teams

For season 3 the series remains with the format of four teams of three. Italicized contestants are returning contestants from previous seasons.

Contestant Team Placing
Ben Johns Endurance 1st
Dallas Seavey
Lel Tone
Scott "Cluck" McCleskey Lower 48 2nd1
Kasha Rigby
James Sweeney
Daniel Dean Military 3rd1
Jared Ogden
Grady Powell
Tyler Johnson Alaskans 4th
Marty Raney
Vern Tejas
  1. ^ Lower 48 & Military finished tied with 3 points each. However Lower 48 took 2nd place based on 2nd-place finishes: 4-3.

Results

Team Contestants Position (by leg)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 131 Number of points
Endurance Ben Johns, Dallas Seavey, Lel Tone 1st 1st 3rd 3rd 2nd 4th 2nd 2nd 1st 4th 1st 4th 1st 6
Lower 48 Scott "Cluck" McCleskey, Kasha Rigby, James Sweeney2 4th 4th 2nd 1st 3rd 3rd 3rd2 1st 2nd 2nd 4th 1st 2nd 3
Military Daniel Dean, Jared Ogden, Grady Powell 2nd 2nd 4th 2nd 1st 1st 4th 4th 3rd 1st 3rd 3rd 4th 3
Alaskans Tyler Johnson, Marty Raney, Vern Tejas 3rd 3rd 1st 4th 4th 2nd 1st 3rd 4th 3rd 2nd 2nd 3rd 2
  1. ^ Leg 13 was worth 2 points.
  2. ^ James Sweeney withdrew from the competition after Leg 7 due to pain in his back and worry that he had damaged his artificial hip.

Episode list

Season One

No. in
series
No. in
season
Title Original air date
1 1 "Arctic Hell" May 12, 2013 (2013-05-12)
2 2 "River of no Return" May 19, 2013 (2013-05-19)
3 3 "Into the Void" May 26, 2013 (2013-05-26)
4 4 "Sink or Swim" June 2, 2013 (2013-06-02)
5 5 "Belly of the Beast" June 9, 2013 (2013-06-09)
6 6 "Desolation Island" June 16, 2013 (2013-06-16)
7 7 "Desperate Measures" June 30, 2013 (2013-06-30)
8 8 "Ice Cold Gamble" July 7, 2013 (2013-07-07)
9 9 "Beasts of Prey" July 14, 2013 (2013-07-14)
10 10 "Vertical Hell" July 21, 2013 (2013-07-21)

Season Two

No. in
series
No. in
season
Title Original air date
11 1 "Arctic Battleground" December 15, 2013 (2013-12-15)
12 2 "Savage Beasts" December 22, 2013 (2013-12-22)
13 3 "Over the Falls" December 29, 2013 (2013-12-29)
14 4 "Climb From Hell" January 5, 2014 (2014-01-05)
15 5 "River of Fury" January 12, 2014 (2014-01-12)
16 6 "Hell Hole" January 19, 2014 (2014-01-19)
17 7 "Vice Grip" January 26, 2014 (2014-01-26)
18 8 "Guts & Glory" February 9, 2014 (2014-02-09)
A recap episode covering the main events from the first seven episodes of the season. It also contains some sneak peeks of events that will occur in the final 5 episodes of the season.
19 9 "River of Doom" February 9, 2014 (2014-02-09)
20 10 "Bear Kingdom" February 16, 2014 (2014-02-16)
21 11 "Deep Dark Woods" February 23, 2014 (2014-02-23)
22 12 "The Last Battle" March 2, 2014 (2014-03-02)
23 13 "Fight to the Finish" March 9, 2014 (2014-03-09)
24 14 "Game On" December 28, 2014 (2014-12-28)
A recap episode covering all of the main events from season 2. It also contains a preview of the new teams in season 3.

Season Three

No. in
series
No. in
season
Title Original air date
25 1 "Back for Blood" January 4, 2015 (2015-01-04)
26 2 "Deadly Descent" January 4, 2015 (2015-01-04)
27 3 "Crash Course" January 11, 2015 (2015-01-11)
28 4 "Deadly Tide" January 18, 2015 (2015-01-18)
29 5 "Devil's Due" January 25, 2015 (2015-01-25)
30 6 "Rogue Warrior" February 8, 2015 (2015-02-08)
31 7 "Live Before You Die" February 8, 2015 (2015-02-08)
32 8 "Savage Waters" February 15, 2015 (2015-02-15)
33 9 "Kodiak Killers" February 22, 2015 (2015-02-22)
34 10 "Covert Ops" March 1, 2015 (2015-03-01)
35 11 "Long Way Down" March 8, 2015 (2015-03-08)
36 12 "Knockout Punch" March 15, 2015 (2015-03-15)
37 13 "Final Gauntlet" March 22, 2015 (2015-03-22)

Critical reception

David Hinckley of the Daily News gave the second season a satisfactory review, saying "things do look consistently harsh and cold, which should satisfy most people who would watch a show about Alaska. The only thing that really looks warm is that big old bear in the brown coat, and he doesn’t look like he’s interested in sharing any of the insulation."[9]

Controversy

The show has been accused by critics of being staged. Craig Medred of Alaska Dispatch called the series "the most unreal of reality shows. National Geographic Channel has taken fictional reality, or real fiction, or whatever you call this 21st-century blend of true and phony, to places the founders of the National Geographic Society could never imagine."[10]

References

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External links