Win the Wilderness: Top 10 Unanswered Questions

UPDATE If you’re here after watching the Netflix version be sure to check out our newest post all about the difference between Netflix and the BBC!

We may have left the competition in episode 4, but we’ve still been receiving numerous emails, DMs, comments, tweets and any other way of contacting us with questions about the show. Why only British couples? Why not filmed in the winter? How did the Ose’s fund their life up there? If you’d like to read our honest reviews about the episodes we were in then check them out here;

Win the Wilderness: Alaska | Episode 1 Review

The Real Reason We Weren’t at the Shooting Range | Win the Wilderness: Alaska - Episode 2 Review

Life and Death - Win the Wilderness: Alaska - Episode 3 Review

End of the Road | Win the Wilderness: Alaska - Episode 4 Review

We also did a bonus hour-long video covering the entire process from start to finish, which may answer some burning questions for you!

Now, let’s get into the post…

The six British couples on the show

Why only British couples?

This has got to be one of the biggest questions we’ve seen floating around the Twitterverse, and the answer is simply that it was a British production company that picked up the show and hence resulted in British contestants. As the show was being aired in the UK it makes it relatable for the viewers to watch other British couples compete to win this Alaskan homestead, and that’s how it ended up being us 6 couples. This undoubtedly throws up immigration questions, as the US is notoriously one of the toughest countries in the world for visas and we’ll talk about the visa side of things later…

Alaska in winter

Why not filmed in winter?

The original premise of the show was to be filmed in winter after all the winters are much harsher than the summers and nothing like we experience in the UK. The production company scouted out the areas at all times of the year and decided probably due to the limited daylight, health risks and so forth that the 24-hour sunlight of spring/summer would make filming smoother. All we had to contend with instead was an impressive torrential downpour over a number of days when we first arrived and the bird-sized mosquitos out for blood. Here is a behind the scenes win the wilderness article with some of the producers.

The prize in Win the Wilderness: Alaska

Do the winners own the property?

The prize at the end of the process was to win the property, and that’s exactly what happened. Deeds were signed and a lot of other legal things, we were all given a pack of information before the show started outlining the finer details of what would happen should we be the ones to take over the property. There are obviously clauses to be upheld, and no the winners will not be selling it ASAP as a lot of people seem to think - the property can’t be up for sale for a number of years now (although it was already up for sale for a couple of years prior to the show so if any of you fancied buying it you missed your chance!).

Tina collecting the water at Ose

What’s the power situation up at Ose?

I don’t think it was shown in the programme, but understandably the property at Ose Moutain is completely off-grid; power comes from solar and ‘truck batteries’, heat from wood and so forth. Drinking water is collected from snow in the winter or drips off the roof during the summer. From what I understand Duane wasn’t keen on using guttering due to the potential fire risk of debris, so instead collected water from buckets placed around the property which collected water droplets from the roof. 

How do you stay connected with the world up at Ose?

Satellite internet is used up there. 

How do the Ose’s make money and what are they up to now?

One of the ways the Ose’s made money (Credit Duane Ose @ Facebook)

From what we were told when we briefly met them on the show their income during a majority of their time up in Ose was made with the trapping and selling of Lynx pelts. A huge number of Lynx were trapped which helped them financially, as well as many other animals.

Mine and Theo’s source of income (had we won) would have been to continue documenting our alternative living life as that’s how we’ve made a living for a number of years now. We would have created weekly YouTube videos, as well as a long-form documentary of our experience living on the mountain. We’re the only couple who could have generated revenue from day one. We’re not keen on killing animals as a way to create money for ourselves - especially in 2020 where there are now so many alternatives available. In the show the winners were planning on starting a hunting and trophy fishing business up there, but also mentioned having a retreat for veterans, so we shall see!

As far as we’re aware Duane and Rena are living in Minnesota, there’s some more info in this article here.

Why the eye patch?

It’s hard to miss the striking eyepatch when watching the show, and we’re surprised it wasn’t covered in the episodes as we were told by Chris that he’d been asked by production to ask Duane all about it when they visited the mountain the first time in episode 3. Duane was shot at close range by his ex-wife in the eye, and the bullet is still in his head.

Automatic green card?

We were put in touch with a lawyer whilst sorting our work visas out for the show, so I can only imagine that the winners have access to the same lawyer, but getting residency or citizenship in the US is tough. We were told by the lawyer that it was pretty much impossible to live there full-time without a million-dollar-plus investment into a business.

Will there be a follow-up programme?

This isn’t a fact so you can’t take what we say as what’s going to happen, but we don’t think there will be a follow-up programme due to the circumstances on Ose mountain. Also, the cost involved in making the programme in such a remote place would need big funding, which for one episode doesn’t really seem plausible.

Did they really leave?

Did Duane & Rena really leave for good at the end of Episode 6?

The editing in the final episode was the best yet, and it really did appear that they were leaving the place for good. However, that’s not the case. Yes, they’re no longer living there at the time of writing this in March 2020, but they didn’t properly move out until September 2019 due to the contract and the show finished in June 2019.

Everyone involved in the production had to leave the USA once filming finished due to the nature of our visas we’d travelled there with.

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We’re driving around the world!

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We’re now on our way to Canada! We arrived back in the UK yesterday after driving through Portugal, Spain and France, and are busy getting everything prepared to ship our van over to Canada and then fly there ourselves - with Ginjey Bear - to get the van and then start an epic road trip through North America. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and if you enjoy our blog posts why not sign up to our newsletter so you can get them sent straight to your inbox?