Adventure TV: Nat Geo’s ‘Alone in the Wild’
Ed Wardle
So the National Geographic Channel has gotten into the adventure TV thing. Seriously, it’s about time! Photos and essays from National Geographic have long stoked my imagination for adventure. So their late entry is puzzling yet welcome.
Anyway, I checked out what might be described as a teaser show that aired Saturday called “Alone in the Wild.” The show is pretty much what you get if you were to cross “Survivorman” with “The Alaska Experiment.”
The host and sole cast member of the show is filmmaker/adventurer Ed Wardle. He has some outdoor chops: He’s summited Mount Everest twice (once as producer for “Everest Beyond the Limit”) and has diving, mountaineering and ice climbing expertise. The show’s producers, however, are quick to point out that he’s not a survival expert.
So that makes the premise of the show pretty interesting. Ed’s goal is to fly into the backcountry of the Canadian Yukon (just east of Alaska) and survive there for three months. He’s got the basic stuff you’d have if you were backpacking, including a gun and fishing gear. But for food, he’s going to have to hunt, fish or gather it wherever he can. And he’ll have to be careful not to tangle with bears and moose that are common in the Yukon Territory. All the while, he’ll be filming the entire adventure by himself. No cameramen, no support crew, no one else around him. His only rescue will come if he fails to check in twice a day.
Saturday’s episode was a preview of sorts. It chronicles him making a “test run” in the Yukon. His initial foray was six days long, and gratefully, he made it out OK and learned a few things about hunting and trapping. He also later got some good advice on what wild plants he could and could not eat.
This sets up the series, which is to air in September. And the most interesting thing about it now is that he’s filming as we speak. That’s right, Ed Wardle is in the Yukon now (has been since July 3) and will be there for a couple more months. Nat Geo has a Web site up that allows people to track his progress, read blog posts and otherwise see how he’s doing.
The not-so-subtle implication is that there’s no guarantee he’ll finish the task or even survive.
As for this weekend’s ep: Pretty interesting. I just figured it was another rip-off of “Survivorman” or “Man vs. Wild.” But it is different, and I like the fact that he is truly by himself. It’s cool that viewers can keep up with him online as his stay in Canada progresses. I just hope this turns out well and doesn’t end up in some sort of tragedy. During the program, he struggles with the things you’d expect — finding food, dealing with the elements, worrying about bears. But there’s an interesting human component that arises as the isolation, fear and stress of being marooned in the wilderness sets in. And it sets in fast.
I’ll be watching the show when it comes out this fall. If you want to follow Ed or learn more about the show, go to this link here: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/alone-in-the-wild
Bob Doucette
bdoucette@opubco.com
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8/17/2009
Hi Ed Wardle,
I hope this makes it’s way to you, odd as it might seem I really enjoyed living in the jungle/mountain range of Vietnam 1965/1967. Reason being it was like a cat and mouse rountine, who could out wit who, me or the elements, now something I learned after a night of getting soaking wet in the rain and that is if you are slightly downhill in the rain, in a angle of lesser degree, that is slightly downhill you are going to get wet, so my good friend always remember to dig a horse shoe around your sleeping quarters, a simple stick or shovel if handy and the draw a horse shoe diagram around your sleeping area, and if it rains at night or even in the day, the water will travel around you and if the horse shoe hole is about 2 to 3 inches or deeper the water will travel inside the horse shoe you have dug and you are dry at least your back and legs will be dry, but you still need to cover yourself with dry branches leaves poncho or raincoat. Another thing if you have any fishing line or wire, string, long thing tree limbs anything thing and if you have any can goods, don’t peel off the can top leave about quarter inch of tin on the top of the can, after a couple of cans are saved up put a couple of rocks small ones inside the cans, using the top of the can lid that has about quarter inch still on the can, peel back the top of the can lid and twist the can lid over the fishing line wire or whater you use, put a couple of strong twiggs into the ground and make a cirle aroung your sleep area up to about 20 to 25 feet or more from your camping area, at night if any bears or mountains lions walk and bump into the cans they will rattle, and wake you up as a shave guard against bears, mountain lions, and for us Marines in Vietnam the bad guys from sneaking up on us at night. Good luck, drop me a line to my email address: Sierraknowledge@sbcglobal.net if you can!