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Alaska: The Last Frontier (TV Show)

Hiltonizer

Hiltonizer

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So the Discovery Channel seems to have a lot of money sunk into this one, as they re-run episodes a lot. I love it. Its centered around a family of homesteaders in Alaska. They hunt, fish, garden and build their own shelters to live. Fish smoking, canning, all the good stuff.

I can't say is chock-full of information most of us haven't acquired already.. but there are some very striking similarities to their part of Alaska and northern New England. I can say i've learned a few ways not to black powder a stump however.

Posting this only as a recommendation that if you're flipping through the guide and you see it, check it out... or maybe set a recording. I think its intended as a horror show for the average person... but it's more like prepper porn.
 
+1. It's very addictive. Alaska seems to be a lot like rural Vermont, but on steroids. If you've never seen a turkey slaughtered with a knock-off Cold Steel samurai sword, you're missing out.
 
Read up about the oldest ones father and how he got there, something about getting away from Hitlers Germany, I don't fully recall the story. Great show.
 
I find it amazing that the young couple had to drive 30 miles on a snowmobile to go ice fishing. If that machine fails on that trip they are dead.
 
Alaska is a different world.

I thought that after living in Idaho and playing in the Frank Church Wilderness that it would be familiar.
There was no comparison.

I knew a guy in Alaska who had a forced landing on a glacier in the middle of nowhere - easily fifty miles or more from his lodge, over at least one mountain range.

He walked home.


If you're an old school American, Alaska's the best place on earth. :)
 
Spent three weeks there this past summer, Hiked 150 miles in Wrangell St Elias, never saw another person. Went through Denali and after the drive in and getting off Denali road, hiked another 75 or so miles and never saw another person. The scale of the area is just unbelievable.
 
derek said:
I find it amazing that the young couple had to drive 30 miles on a snowmobile to go ice fishing. If that machine fails on that trip they are dead.
Click to expand...

What is funny is they drove 30 miles, and then only had a half tank of chainsaw gas to cut through the ice with.


I really like watching the show, and I watch it with my dad when I can. We make fun of oxy contin (Otto) a lot when we were doing firewood and other stuff. I like Atz and Ivan, I feel like they are the more down to earth of the clan. Plus eve is pretty good looking for an Alaskan woman. Atz Lee bugs the crap out of me, he seems to make everything complicated, and I hate the way he talks about hunting.

So far when atz lee said he needed x many sticks of firewood to get through the winter, and the landing craft otto just happened to have were the two WTF moments I have had.
 
SteelShooter said:
Spent three weeks there this past summer, Hiked 150 miles in Wrangell St Elias, never saw another person. Went through Denali and after the drive in and getting off Denali road, hiked another 75 or so miles and never saw another person. The scale of the area is just unbelievable.
Click to expand...

Wow that is a lot of hiking. I can't even make it past single digits. I love the outdoors, and I do enjoy watching this show also. It is addicting, and life is so much more different then where I am. Especially me being born and raised in NYC.
 
SteelShooter said:
Spent three weeks there this past summer, Hiked 150 miles in Wrangell St Elias, never saw another person. Went through Denali and after the drive in and getting off Denali road, hiked another 75 or so miles and never saw another person. The scale of the area is just unbelievable.
Click to expand...

Awesome. Sooooo jealous. :)
 
DSM_1 said:
Wow that is a lot of hiking. I can't even make it past single digits. I love the outdoors, and I do enjoy watching this show also. It is addicting, and life is so much more different then where I am. Especially me being born and raised in NYC.
Click to expand...

We didn't intend to go that far, but it just happened. We went when there was about 18-20 hours of good light every day so we hiked 10 - 15 hours a day without even realizing it. You say, let's go over to that valley right there and it turns out it's really 20 miles away! I'll go again this year, but we won't hike that far, it took me 4 weeks to recuperate when I got back. [laugh]
 
eisenhow said:
I enjoy the show as well. I think we'll all know the show has jumped the shark when Jewel Kilcher shows up for "very special episode".
Click to expand...

My God. I didn't make the connection until now; apparently Atz is her father. Hmm. Her poor dental care makes a lot more sense now.

What's funny to me is that Atz Lee is presented as the local screwup, and even he makes most of us look like city slickers. It's like the basic level of knowledge you need to survive up there is miles above what you need anyplace else.
 
Atz lee went to the big City (lower 48 from what I read) and finally decided he had enough and came back to the homestead. and has been playing catch up ever since.
I like his dad Atz and Must say that I relate to Otto In many ways. ( and he is hamming it up for the camera remember. ) Their Dad came from Switzerland from what I read on thier independent web site. http://www.kilcheronline.com/
 
I've got this to record each new episode on the DVR. I'll wait until there's two or three episodes and watch them back to back. Zip through the commercials.

I'll watch re-runs too when they're on. Good show IMO.
 
I love this show. If it ever hit the fan these people would probably never notice since they live completely off the land.
 
They must have some heavy cash, they have some expensive machines to do the heavy lifting.

An excellent book of a real homesteader is One Mans Wilderness. He used a ax to fall the trees to build his cabin, a saw to cut the logs to length for his firewood and the ax to split it. Its really a great book.

The show when they put up the barbed wire fence on public land? That must have gone over well with the Alaskan wildlife commission.

His farther did escape the German occupation of his country and moved his family there.

I often wondered why he raises cows for beef instead of Bison. Bison meat is far better than domesticated beef. Coastie correct, until they run out of fuel to run their tractors, generators, snow machines and chain saws.

I like the show for what it is but IMO its not really homesteading. They depend on the same things we do to accomplish tasks

I am sure I am going to get really dinged for my comments[wink]
 
50 BMG said:
They must have some heavy cash, they have some expensive machines to do the heavy lifting.

An excellent book of a real homesteader is One Mans Wilderness. He used a ax to fall the trees to build his cabin, a saw to cut the logs to length for his firewood and the ax to split it. Its really a great book.

The show when they put up the barbed wire fence on public land? That must have gone over well with the Alaskan wildlife commission.

His farther did escape the German occupation of his country and moved his family there.

I often wondered why he raises cows for beef instead of Bison. Bison meat is far better than domesticated beef. Coastie correct, until they run out of fuel to run their tractors, generators, snow machines and chain saws.

I like the show for what it is but IMO its not really homesteading. They depend on the same things we do to accomplish tasks

I am sure I am going to get really dinged for my comments[wink]
Click to expand...

They say Atz is worth about $5Mm he was a Very well known musician and song writer, his daughter is the singer Jewel. The kiltchers used to tour around with him in ak and Canada, so they probably have some cash from that..
 
SteelShooter said:
They say Atz is worth about $5Mm he was a Very well known musician and song writer, his daughter is the singer Jewel. The kiltchers used to tour around with him in ak and Canada, so they probably have some cash from that..
Click to expand...

I didn't know that. Yeah I would say they have some cash!!!!

I do encourage folks to read the book I mentioned in my post. Its a great book and the guy had a real respect for the Alaskan wilderness.
 
They have changed the story a few times now, in the series they just reference coming from switzerland. They dramatized it up a bit with the escaping Nazis bit. I love the show don't get me wrong but they where a little misleading about that. ( yes The germans made noises about invading once in awhile but never did. )
 
I'm a big fan of the show, but I always had a feeling that there was some money there somewhere along the way. They have too much equipment and such just to live off the land. Still love watching the show...I'd love to live up there.
 
You got to give them credit if they have a bunch of cash and still decide to live that way. I mean at least put in a septic tank!
 

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