Alone in the wilderness

IN THE groundbreaking series Alone, 10 competitors are dropped off at different locations on the northern Vancouver Island of British Columbia.
They each have to fend for themselves in the wilderness, hunting and foraging for their own food, building their own shelter, and fending off predators.
Most important of all, they have to cope with being all alone – because there are no camera crews. The participants are given a camera to document their ­experiences themselves.
The one who lasts the ­longest without any help wins the US$500,000 (RM1.96 ­million) prize money.
Alone season one premiered on Astro’s History channel last year. Back then, I asked producer Russ ­McCaroll why there were no women contestants.
He said they really wanted a female contestant but it did not work out at that time as the particular female contestant they badly wanted could not be reached. Her voicemail had informed them: “I am in the woods.”
However, in season two this year (which is currently showing on History), the show has not one, but three female competitors.
One of them, Nicole Apelian, 45, is a former game ­warden with the US Peace Corps.
During a recent ­teleconference ­interview, I asked ­Apelian whether she was the one that ­McCarroll tried to rope in for season one.
“They did try to contact me for ­season one,” she said. “[But] I wasn’t able to do season one.
“They asked me back for season two, and I am thrilled to be here.”
­Apelian was first exposed to true ­wilderness living while working as a field ­biologist in ­Botswana. She also learned from the ­local Bushmen many of the primitive skills that she practises and teaches today.
Diagnosed with ­multiple sclerosis in 2000, she now resides in the American Pacific Northwest. She founded her own ­tracking and wildlife ­safari ­company and is an adjunct ­professor at Prescott College in Arizona.
“First of all, I love being alone in the woods,” she ­explained. “I feel ­happiest and healthiest when I am with nature. I feel ­connected to all that is around me.
“I teach traditional skills and ­wilderness living skills, so it is important for me to test these skills. I have had many mentors over the years and it is ­wonderful to be able to put what they taught me to the test.
“And also I wanted to be a role model for women, which is very important to me.”
Apelian had already signed on for season two by the time the first season aired. She tuned in to see what ­strategies the ­contestants were using to survive.
“I live in ­Oregon and our weather is similar to that of Vancouver Island. [But] it is much ­wetter in ­Vancouver Island and it has more ­predators. I definitely got to know the island well before we got dropped off, ­mostly through books and ­research.”
Getting by without ­smartphones or WiFi is ­unfathomable for some people but not so for Apelian. “I think we are too tied to our ­smartphones and computers these days.
“I think the opportunity to live in a ­timeless zone when we are not looking at our watches and to really disconnect from the world of social media that is ­being blasted at us all the time give us the ­opportunity to rediscover who we are as a person.”
Apelian said the show really tests a person both physically and mentally.
She also likes the show’s concept because it does not pit ­people against each other, and there is no back-biting since the contestants do not come into contact with each other.
“It is an excellent show. It puts men and women on an equal playing field. You don’t have anyone telling you what to do. You ­really are alone.”
At the end of it, the winner is the ­person who lasts out there the longest.
“I set a target but I can’t say what it was,” Apelian said. “I can’t say whether or not I reached it. You will have to tune in and find out.”
Alone airs on Thursdays at 11pm on History and History HD (Astro channels 555 and 575).