The History Channel’s Alone: Frozen season one episode five begins with four survivalists and ends with three. That means the payout will be $166,666 if the three remaining contestants survive for the full 50 days.
It seemed like not much went on in this episode until the last 15 or so minutes when the field was suddenly reduced to three, and one survivalist was left barely hanging on due to stomach issues. Amos left the adventure with 31 days remaining, meaning all three remaining survivalists are women. And, yes, I’m really excited the top three spots will be filled by fierce females!
Woniya Thibeault, Age 45, California – Season 6, Survived 73 Days
35 Days Left: Woniya reports the previous night was the coldest one yet, but she had to get up because she had a visitor. She’s certain it was a fox and decides to set up a cubby snare to catch him. She’s going to use rabbit guts for bait.
Woniya thinks she has a “deep relationship” with foxes and believes that eating what you love brings you closer to what you love. She calls it a magical and devotional act.
34 Days Left: It sounded like something tripped her snare overnight, but she couldn’t find her headlamp so she wasn’t able to check it out. Morning arrives and the snare’s been tripped, but the only thing in it is a foot from a rabbit that was used for bait. The fox must have thrashed around and gotten loose. (Update: the article originally stated that it was the fox’s foot which was my error. Woniya left rabbit guts and a foot in the trap, and it was the rabbit’s foot – not the fox’s – that remainded after the trap was triggered.)
Woniya attempts to track it but is unsuccessful.
Later, she selects a name for her house. Because they’re in Labrador, she comes up with “Storm Fortress.” And since she’s going to need a big fire, she spends the day working on building a good hearth and chimney. She’s designing a hearth that is 18” wide, and walks around collecting stones for the project.
She builds two pillars, careful not to use anything flammable. She crosses her fingers as she places the mantelpiece across the pillars and is happy to see it’s secure. It can even support her weight. Her next step is to build up the chimney and eventually open up the roof to let the smoke out.
If she makes it to 50 days, she’s going to buy land to teach on and start a skills school. She also wants to buy new carpet for her mom’s house.
32 Days Left: Woniya’s lost more weight than she hoped she would have this far into the challenge and is going to concentrate on food once she finishes building her chimney. She carefully peels back her tarp and works on rearranging her rafters to make a hole for the chimney. She uses snare wire to hold things in place as she works on building the remaining portion of her chimney with stones.
By 4:30pm she’s got it pretty much where she wants it and finishes it off by filling in holes with smaller rocks and soil. At 7pm, she lights the fire and the chimney works as it should, with smoke pouring out. Woniya believes this is game-changing and worth all the calories she used to build her new fireplace and chimney.
Callie Russell, Age 34, Montana – Season 7, Survived 89 Days
34 Days Left: Frost covers the ground and it’s a beautiful morning. The sound of the ice breaking is amazing, and Callie sits and watches the tide come in and enjoys the view. She spots two seals playing around and notes everything’s catching fish but her.
Callie makes a trap out of paracord and loops made of willow, hoping she’ll catch a fish every day. If she does, then she can survive the 50 days.
She’s been thinking a lot about her family and misses being a part of her three younger sisters’ lives right now. However, she trusts they’ll be okay. If she can bring home a cash prize, she’ll be able to give back to her family.
Callie finishes the door for the fish trap, complete with a bait bag full of grouse guts and seal skin. She dubs the trap “Fishgetter 3300” and places it in position while it’s low tide. Callie does a little fish dance, wiggling like a fish.
31 Days Left: Callie hasn’t been getting any fish or animals and has been existing on mussels. She explains she’s been leaving the camera behind when she checks her traps because they’re always empty.
She heads to the water and her new trap is empty. She can’t believe there aren’t any fish around since this is the ocean. If she doesn’t get more protein, she won’t be able to stay.
That afternoon Callie cooks up more mussels, even though she’s tired of eating them. She’s having a tough time wanting to eat them but realizes that at this point she has to in order to survive.
3:17am – Callie reports she almost vomited in her sleeping bag. Her body is rejecting the mussels and she’s worried since that’s her only protein source. “It’s not fun being sick out here, that’s for sure,” says Callie.
30 Days Left: Callie had a rough night and feels lightheaded. She takes a rest on Seal Rock, hoping it will make her feel better. It doesn’t, and her insides are churning.
She gets up for a minute and then settles back on the sand, even though it’s cold and wet. She convinces herself to get up and walk to the river for water.
Michelle Finn, Age 47, Maine – Season 8, Survived 21 Days
33 Days Left: It’s 32 degrees and there’s ice on the beach when Michelle begins her day. Her first task is to check the snares she’s set up by a game trail. She knows she needs meat; she can’t just exist on clams and mussels.
It’s important that she doesn’t allow her health to deteriorate. Unlike some Alone contestants, she lives in the modern world and has a mortgage. She can’t take time off to recuperate.
One of her snares catches a large hare and she’s thankful to the land for providing food. She’s going to take this catch as a sign she can go the distance.
Back at camp, she boils a pot full of rabbit and eats the liver and heart first. Both organs are extremely high in protein.
31 Days Left: The wind’s picking up as she gathers seagrasses to make a basket for her berries. She uses a fishhook and fishing line to weave a basket, and it takes shape fairly quickly. Michelle confesses she can’t stop thinking about her husband and is feeling a mixture of gratitude and guilt about being away from home.
Amós Rodriguez, Age 41, Indiana – Season 7, Survived 58 Days
33 Days Left: Amos spent the morning picking up clams and mussels, still hopeful there’s a bear in his future. He checks his snares, but they’re all empty. He admits to being worried about the weight loss and the amount of time it will take to get back to feeling normal.
Amos recalls that when he was a kid, his mother was held as a political prisoner and tortured during the Salvadoran Civil War. He doesn’t want his daughter to ever experience the hardships that he experienced as a child.
He heads out to hunt for a bear but doesn’t spot anything. Instead, back at his shelter, he has to settle for eating mussels. Amos thinks the conditions for getting food (either fish or meat) are worse this time than in season seven. Still, he’s determined to make it 50 days so he can make a better future for his daughter.
He wakes at 8:30pm with an ember from his crackling fire on his sweater. He accidentally burnt down his shelter on season seven and doesn’t want to make that same mistake twice.
31 Days Left: Amos heads out to check his trap line and look for a bear. None of them have been tripped and he’s wondering why he’s there with no food when he could be home enjoying his family.
Amos continues his quest to bag a bear since he hasn’t eaten any meat in five days other than mussels. He hears a squirrel and takes a shot but misses. Amos confesses he’s tired of doing this every day.
He returns to his shelter without any food. He spends the day whittling a big spoon for his mom.
Amos wants to be strong enough to still hug his daughter when he leaves the competition. He doesn’t think the availability of game in this area is going to change and decides to tap out.
Amos knows people won’t understand why he’s leaving, but he believes it’s what’s best for his health.
- Alone: Frozen Season 1 Episode 1 “50 Day Freeze” Recap
- Alone: Frozen Season 1 Episode 2 “Frost Bound” Recap
- Alone: Frozen Season 1 Episode 3 “The Edge” Recap
- Alone: Frozen Season 1 Episode 4 “Bone Cold” Recap
- Alone: Frozen Season 1 Episode 6 “On Thin Ice” Recap
- Alone: Frozen Season 1 Episode 7 “The Last Hope” Recap
- Alone: Frozen Season 1 Episode 8 “The Bitter End” Finale Recap
