The Alaska Experiment

The Alaska Experiment is a Discovery Channel television reality series that was produced by Ricochet and featured Mocean Melvin, Jeff Frederick and Allan Aujero. Starting with the second season, the show was named Out of the Wild and was produced by Pilgrim Films.

Season 1 followed four teams of urban professionals left in the Alaskan wildnerness at Icy Bay's Camp Riou Point and Back Bay, Flower Lake and Hawkins Glacier. The teams of ten were given directions to shelters where they would spend several weeks. The groups struggle to survive solely on what they can obtain from the land and at the shelters. Wildnerness survival expert Paul Claus was assisted by guide Neil Webster. One exercise involved a moose hunt where participants were trained in firing Winchester Magnum guns and rifles. They also hunted mountain goats separately.

Season 2 was named Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment and included nine volunteers. The group traveled as a team across the land instead of staying in one place. Each participant was given an emergency GPS unit, due to the more challenging survival aspects and the fact that they were backpacking so remotely. Using the unit, they could instantly summon rescue teams in order to safely evacuate. Nearly half of the participants left the show using the GPS units after several days. Only 4 participants were able to complete the experiment after nearly a month.

Season 3 was called Out of the Wild: Venezuela with a similar format to the second season. Nine volunteers were dropped off in Mount Roraima in the southern region of Venezuela. The volunteers received a map, compass and modern survival gear. Some of the camps were provided with huts, and some locations required that volunteers make their own shelters. The group went through a jungle, swamp and a river portion, where they were built a raft. Four of the volunteers were evacuated after reaching civilization over a period of twenty-six days.