We’ve arrived at History’s Alone season 10’s finale with episode 11, “By Any Means.” Episode 11 begins on day 53, with three survivalists – Wyatt, Mikey, and Alan – remaining in the competition. Winter has arrived in earnest, and food is much more difficult to find. Plus, the temperature has plummeted and it’s impossible to get warm.

One competitor succumbs to the cold and voluntarily taps out on day 55. On day 64, the second-place finisher realizes he’s done everything that he needed to do, including healing old wounds. Alone season 10 ends with the crowning of the winner on day 66. (I’m withholding the name of the winner until the end of this recap just in case anyone accidentally reads this prior to watching the episode.)

Mikey Hilton, Age 32, Rome, Georgia

Day 54 – Mikey eats snow and pretends it’s ice cream. He convinces himself to go outside where everything’s completely covered in snow, including the trail he cut through the woods. Mikey admits he’s exhausted but needs to bust through the ice to fetch water.

His body isn’t handling the cold well, and he’s stopped shivering. (Alone says that signals the second stage of hypothermia.) He’s worried about frostbite as he returns to his tent and gets under the covers.

Mikey catches his 21st mouse while lying in bed. He plans on cooking his store of mice later, but for now, he’s going to eat berries he collected on day 35.

His family’s sacrificed a lot for him to participate on Alone, and Mikey rates this experience as the hardest thing he’s ever done.

Day 55 – There’s ice on the inside of his tarp and he admits he’s just been hanging out in his sleeping bag. Mikey confesses he’s been in a dark place mentally.

He receives an alert that it’s time for a med check. Unfortunately, he’s got so little strength that it’s a chore just to put on his boots. The safety and survival team arrives, and he reveals that he’s freezing. They inspect his feet and toes, and then the team discusses their findings out of earshot.

He’s got cold injuries, as indicated by the loss of sensation in his toes.

Before even being told their findings, Mikey sobs in his tent, apologizing to his family for letting them down. He’s done everything he could to remain in the competition but can’t do this anymore. His body simply cannot handle the cold.

The team returns to his tent, and Mikey announces that he’s done – even if they don’t medically pull him. He’s not a quitter, but he realizes his health is at stake if he remains in the competition. He may do permanent damage and doesn’t want to return to his son broken.

Mikey’s learned there’s no point in holding back emotions. From now on, he’s going to talk through his feelings instead of holding them in.

James “Wyatt” Black, Age 51, Ontario, Canada

Day 53 – Wyatt proudly shows off his lake trout and pike fillets on his “hillbilly” smoker. He believes he can get three days out of each fillet, but he’s still planning on ice fishing when the lake’s frozen.

Wyatt gets to work chopping firewood in the snowy wonderland while confessing he has skeletons in his closet, including 30 years of drinking.

His fillets look delicious, and he’s justifiably impressed with his chimney cooking.

Day 54 – Morning arrives, and Wyatt points out the ice forming on the lake. He looks for game as he heads off to check his gill net, describing this place as adding a whole new element to cold.

Wyatt’s net is covered with ice, and he decides it’s time to remove it from the lake. He doesn’t want it to freeze with fish inside it. Wyatt’s confident he can catch fish by ice fishing once it’s safe, and he sets that as his new goal.

Everything the survivalists do at this point is getting harder.

Day 56 – Wyatt has located a few places on the lake to ice fish and builds an ice ladder to distribute his weight. He thinks the ladder’s more feasible than making snowshoes.

Wyatt’s disappointed he never needed to build a ladder to secure food and thinks all the grouse, squirrels, and big game are gone.

He takes his ladder, ax, and jigging rods out onto the ice, hoping to find a spot that’s at least 15 feet deep. Wyatt uses his line to determine the depth and learns that the spot he’s selected is 10 feet deep. That will have to do for now. He’s hoping he’ll catch some walleye since they stay closer to the shore in the winter.

Wyatt knows how dangerous the conditions are and remains diligent as he fishes. He doesn’t stay out for long and returns to his shelter without any fish.

Day 58 – Wyatt decides to cut a trough in the ice and drop his gill net in it so he can fish all night and day. He’s hungry all the time, and standing out in the elements ice fishing for very long isn’t feasible.

He uses poles to keep his net up overnight. The hole’s already starting to freeze as he slips the net into the water.

It’s zero degrees when he makes it back into his shelter and sits by the fire, thinking back on all the times people told him he drank too much. It took many years before he realized it was time to change.

Wyatt examines his feet and discovers he lost a toenail from the cold. He didn’t notice it because his feet are numb – past the point of pain. Wyatt didn’t realize quite how much he’d be suffering during this competition.

A noise outside catches his attention, and he thinks it’s just the ice. Suddenly, a wall of his shelter catches fire and he hurries to toss water onto the flames. After a short battle, the fire’s extinguished. He’s thankful he was awake when it happened.

It’s going to be a long night, and now the fire is going to make him sleep with one eye open.

Day 60 – Wyatt describes the minutes as feeling like hours and the days as akin to weeks. He checks his gill net, hoping to add some excitement to his day. Unfortunately, he didn’t catch anything, so instead, he heads off to cut wood.

Wyatt catches a mouse in his shelter while over at the other shelter, Alan considers how many people might be left. They’re both struggling mentally and physically.

Day 62 – The wind’s been raging, and Wyatt decides it’s too cold to check his net. His water’s been stored just a couple of feet from his fire and it’s frozen. His body is growing weaker, and the cold is winning.

Day 63 – Wyatt leaves his shelter and shows off the wind, which is blowing at 27 miles per hour. He realizes his gill net won’t be in good shape since the lake’s ice is now broken up by the rough wind.

It’s too dangerous to fill his water bucket at the lake. Plus, he only has one lake trout left. And at this point, he needs to cut a whole tree every day just to stay warm in his shelter.

Back in his shelter, he explains that the wind’s blowing too hard for him to do what needs to get done outside.

Night falls, and Wyatt confirms his body is failing and his mind is wandering. He puts on a piece of fish while seated by his fire, acknowledging the toll the situation’s placed on his physical and mental well-being.

He’s thinking of tapping out but is happy this place has helped him get rid of many of his demons. He’ll figure out what to do next after getting a night’s sleep.

Day 64 – Morning arrives, and he takes the time to admire the scenery. Wyatt’s accomplished what he wanted to do with this adventure, other than win the $500,000. He has a nice home, a beautiful family, and a good life to return to. That’s really all he needs.

Wyatt’s at a loss for words for a moment and then declares he’s done a lot of self-healing over these 64 days. “Mentally, I feel whole. I feel complete,” says Wyatt, acknowledging his body told him it’s time to wrap this up.

The team picks him up, and he’s more than ready to leave. “It’s been epic. I’m leaving here a different person,” says Wyatt, overcome with emotion. “This was my therapy – and I needed it.”

Alan Tenta, Age 52, Columbia Valley, BC, Canada

Day 53 – Alan admits the fun times are over. Snow covers the ground, the winds are whipping, and it’s freezing. He’s been forgetting things and believes it has to do with his lack of eating. Today, he plans on starting his fire and not doing much else.

Alan’s focus has shifted from getting food to acquiring firewood. His store of food should last him until day 70, but he’s worried he won’t pass the med check, given his weight loss.

He misses his wife; they’ve been together for 25+ years and he can’t wait to see her.

His current motto is to keep grinding and make it through each day. Alan wants to prove he’s up to the challenge and can grind through tough times.

Day 55 – It’s just 7 degrees as Alan heads down to the lake. He gathers firewood and guesses that the lake will be available for ice fishing in a week. Chopping wood is tiring, but he accomplishes it and then starts to work on his snowshoes so that he’ll be prepared for ice fishing. He’s only concerned about making it 50 yards from shore, so his shoes don’t have to be anything fancy.

Alan hopes that winning Alone will inspire his students. He’s determined to experience this adventure to the fullest and wants to make it to the end. However, his mental game is being chipped away bit by bit.

Day 57 – Alan’s at his weakest. Bending over gives him a headrush, yet he wants to push through a few more days. He notes that he promised his wife he wouldn’t push too hard without food. Alan’s urine is orange which could mean he’s severely dehydrated. He just doesn’t feel well.

Despite all that, he heads out ice fishing and cuts a hole in the ice. He returns to the shore to collect moss to help keep the hole from freezing over. Alan wants to keep pushing himself, and he’ll work off of the strength of the students who inspired him. Alan tells himself to stay positive and hopeful, but the wind gets to him and he’s forced to call it a day.

Day 59 – Alan fishes but can’t get his hands warm, so he returns to his shelter. Being inside the shelter for 19 hours at a time is a huge challenge because boredom has now set in.

He hears a noise outside his shelter and taps the walls, yelling for whatever it is to leave.

Day 66 – It’s med check day…or so Alan thinks. Mikey tapped out on day 55, and Wyatt lasted until day 64, but Alan’s unaware he’s the last season 10 survivalist standing.

Alan panics over his weight loss, worried the med team will pull him. He’s nervous that he doesn’t have any fat left to live off of and has no idea what the safety and survival team will say.

It’s snowing as the team checks him out and he confirms that his heart rating is slowing. Mentally, he just wants to go home. Once he made it into the 50 days time period, his mental state declined. He’s been pushing himself hard both physically and mentally and is near the end of his rope.

As he talks to the team, we see his wife, Lisa, all bundled up with a huge smile waiting nearby.

He’s asked what he misses the most, and he cries as he says it’s connecting with his kids and being with his wife. His mood lightens as he adds that he’s been experiencing food fantasies involving bags of Doritos.

Lisa quietly walks up behind Alan while he talks about home. Alan’s shocked and overwhelmed when Lisa joins him, and they laugh, cry, and embrace. They have matching smiles as Alan realizes he’s the season 10 winner.

Lisa says he looks good, and Alan confesses he’s more excited about seeing her than actually winning. He admits it hasn’t set in yet.

Alan shows Lisa around his shelter, and she’s impressed with his teepee. She asks about his best experiences, and he tells her about the encounter with an owl as the season began. He’ll also always remember the quiet evenings fishing by himself.

Alan won’t ever get over the loss of his father, but seeing that owl made him believe his dad was here with him. This experience solidifies how much Alan has, how lucky he is, and how important his family is to him.

Alone has deepened his love of nature right down to his soul. The money will give him some freedom, and he thanks his outdoor education students for inspiring him. He hopes he inspires them to believe that anything is possible.

“With hard work and the right attitude and staying positive, you can achieve amazing things,” says Alan.

• Alone: Frozen Season 1 Episode 8 Recap: “The Bitter End” Finale
• Alone Season 9 Episode 11 Recap: “Fight, Flight or Freeze” Finale
• Alone Season 10 Episode 1 “Game On” Recap
• Alone Season 10 Episode 2 “Ties That Bind” Recap
• Alone Season 10 Episode 3 “Growing Pains” Recap
• Alone Season 10 Episode 4 “Lake of Thieves” Recap
• Alone Season 10 Episode 5 “Spirit Bear” Recap
• Alone Season 10 Episode 6 “King’s Gambit” Recap
• Alone Season 10 Episode 7 “Aftermath” Recap
• Alone Season 10 Episode 8 “Infestation” Recap
• Alone Season 10 Episode 9 “Splintered” Recap
• Alone Season 10 Episode 10 “Rats” Recap
• Details on Season 11 Set in the Arctic Circle