sublimed.be

After the past few hectic weeks at work, the idea of being Alone in the wild  sounds more than just a wild adventure, it sounds like a dream holiday. Still, after watching documentary film maker and adventurer Ed Wardle battle it out in the Yukon territory of North West Canada, I would probably opt for somewhere less remote than his destination.

Ed’s dream was to live it out alone for 3 months and to try provide most of his sustenance from the land, and this is where circumstances became not a little precarious.

Alone in the Wild  far exceeded my expectations of it being a typical ‘survival’ show. Ed was completely and utterly alone; switching his camera on periodically to record the highs and lows of life in the vast and empty Yukon, trying daily to source enough food to survive. After some success fishing, it was Porcupine that was next on the menu. It wasn’t much.

Able only to supplement his diet with some meager supplies he brought with him, his physical condition deteriorated sharply over the 7-or-so weeks. Eventually the hunger, and consequently the aloneness, started to grip him. Spending sleepless nights terrified by thoughts of wild bears entering camp couldn’t have helped much.

The reality is that being alone and having to fend for oneself is not something we are accustomed with. I suppose Ed isn’t alone in his dream to try living in the wild and provide sustenance off the land. Such a challenge would inevitably provide you with some understanding about what primeval man, or even early explorers, had to endure to survive.

In Isolation

In his own words, being alone in the wild meant:

“making decisions that would affect my safety, my wellbeing, and whether I’m going to make it though the next three months”

Luckily for Ed, he never did have the close encounter of an unwanted kind, that with a bear. However, I was inspired to see how well he dealt with the isolation despite there being many occasions where the emotion was overwhelming. By and large, Ed tried to retain a positive outlook on finding new sources of food and continuing the challenge. This became an increasing struggle highlighted in part of the documentary where the camera shows ‘BE STRONG’ written across his arm and hand, with Ed stating the phrase to the camera repeatedly.

One of the other highlights of this series was the unintended dark humor that came through in the coping mechanisms employed by Ed’s sub-conscious. ‘Hello Bears’ was one frequently used phrase which Ed spoke so as to ‘not surprise the bears (a piece of good advice, apparently).

He’s a braver man than I, that’s for sure, and he probably took one of the all time most extreme adventures one can still take on earth. But it pays to know your stuff, as we mere humans are not tuned to our real environment anymore. That much was clear.

Supplemental things

There is a twitter account which Ed used to get messages out while the whole adventure took place (just one-way, I should note) and these were cunningly used as sub-titles on the documentary film itself. Admittedly, I’m sorry I didn’t catch this on twitter as it was happening, but the account is still active (is it really Ed or Channel 4? Couldn’t say..). Incidentally I watched the documentary on the Channel 4 micro-site for Alone in the Wild, again having missed the entire series on TV itself. Furthermore, I bought the series pass on iTunes for a couple of bucks (<£5) so that I could watch it without the appalling pixelation on Channel 4’s site.