Out of the Wild

***Out of the Wild*** (known during its first season as ***The Alaska Experiment***) is a reality television series produced by Ricochet for the first season and Pilgrim Films for the second and third seasons. It aired on the Discovery Channel from 2008 to 2011.

## Premise

The first two seasons follow volunteers from urbanized backgrounds as they use skills in the backcountry of Alaska during the fall and winter. The third season saw a relocation of the series to Venezuela, while keeping the general format of season 2.

## Episodes

Main article: *List of Out of the Wild episodes*

## Season 1: "The Alaska Experiment"

In the first season, four volunteers of ten urban professionals are dropped off in the Alaskan backcountry with directions to shelters they would spend the next few weeks in. The series follows these groups through the weeks as they struggle to live off the land at their shelters. Paul Clauss starred as the wilderness survival expert and Neil Webster helped guide several of the participants on a moose hunt which included training in firing .338 Winchester Magnum and .22 rifles for mountain goat hunting (which Claus and his son separately took participants to do).

Locations include Camp Riou Point and Back Bay (both in Ice Bay), Flower Lake (in the Upper Chitina River Valley), and Hawkins Glacier.

### Volunteers

* Dennis Wise: Camping and Canoeing department at Bass Pro Shops, Olathe, KA.
* Jennifer Wise: Outdoor expert,
* Carolyn Wise: College student,
* Jeff Frederick: Mountain Rescue Volunteer and Environmental Consultant, New York City, NY.
* Elizabeth Windmeyer: Process Wastewater Engineer, NY.
* Tim Wagner: IT Technician, Los Angeles, CA.
* Allan Aujero: Computer Executive, Wall Street, NJ.
* Jasmine Kung: Master Adventure Organizer, San Diego, CA.
* Bernice Pierson: Personal Clothier.
* Greg Pierson: Concrete Mason.

## Season 2: "Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment"

In the second season, the series was retooled and renamed, with nine volunteers working together as one team travelling across the wilderness rather than staying in one place. Due to the greater difficulty of survival and large and inexperienced groups backpacking so remotely, each participant had an emergency GPS unit that could summon a rescue team to evacuate them from the experiment. After the first few days, almost half the participants leave the show via these GPS units. Four people finally finish the experiment after almost a month. They are rescued by a train.

### Volunteers

* Penny Jo Johnson: Body Piercer and Landlord, Burnside, KY - First evacuated because of hunger.
* Joe Harner: Fishing Outfitter, Ashland, WI - Second evacuated because of how frustrated he was with everyone having no experience.
* Frederic Birt: Customer Service Rep, Chicago, IL - Third evacuated because of tiredness and multiple accounts of passing out.
* Dan Rac: Police Officer, Brick, NJ - Fourth evacuated because of not getting enough food and his body wearing down.
* Carolyn Yamazaki: Lawyer, Chicago, IL - Fifth evacuated because of depression from not getting enough food and having low serotonin levels. The evacuation occurred the day before the other teammates reached civilization.
* **Trish Bulinsky: School Bus Driver, Middletown, NJ - Survived the Wild**
* **Jake Nodar: Horse Trainer, Darnestown, MD - Survived the Wild**
* **John Ulmer: Assistant Director of Housing, Bronx, NY - Survived the Wild**
* **Kimberly Wise: Personal Trainer, Chula Vista, CA - Survived the Wild**

### Special Guests

* Billy Fitzgerald: Taught the crew how to correctly hunt bear. Came on days 17, 18, 20, 21, and 22.

## Season 3: "Out of the Wild: Venezuela"

The format was similar to the second season with nine volunteers being dropped off on the remote Mount Roraima in the southern wilderness of Venezuela. The volunteers were given a map, compass and a variety of modern and native survival gear. They were tasked with finding civilization without any other outsider assistance. Along the way, they were directed to a designated camps as indicated on the map. Some camps provided prebuilt huts and at other locations the volunteers had to construct their own shelters. Just as in the second season, each volunteer could activate a GPS beacon to summon a rescue team via helicopter to remove them from the experience. The series followed the group through jungle, savannah, swamp, scrubland and finally a river portion for which the group had to build a raft. Four volunteers were evacuated and five reached civilization after twenty-six days.

### Volunteers

* Caroline Dellepiane: NYC, NY - 1st evacuated (Day 8)
* Tara Filer: Grants Pass, OR - 2nd evacuated (Day 12)
* Rob Lacombe: Rocklin, CA - 3rd evacuated (Day 14)
* Samuel Ebeyer: Jefferson, LA - 4th evacuated (Day 15)
* **Nick Albini: Tarpon Springs, FL - Survived the Wild**
* **Ryan Van Duzer: Boulder, CO - Survived the Wild**
* **Brad Strand: Ironwood, MI - Survived the Wild**
* **Melissa Mahoney: San Diego, CA - Survived the Wild**
* **Michael Merchant: Hampden, ME - Survived the Wild**