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 | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality competition |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 37(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Brian Catalina Kristina Wood John Magennis Claire Kosloff Victoria Levy Peter Goest |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company | Brian Catalina Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | National Geographic Channel |
| Release | May 12, 2013 (2013-05-12) – March 22, 2015 (2015-03-22) |
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]
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]
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]
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 |
| 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 | |||||||||
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 |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| 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.
| ||||
| 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) |
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]
