Out Alive from BACKPACKER

By Backpacker Magazine

Society & Culture Places & Travel

What's Out Alive from BACKPACKER about?

Raging rivers, hungry bears, huge avalanches—no matter how prepared you are, a walk in the woods can go from innocent to disastrous in the blink of an eye. Out Alive is a podcast series about real people who survived the unsurvivable. Each survivor takes you through what happened, from the packing mistakes to the missed signals to the plain bad luck, while experts and witnesses weigh in on how things went wrong.

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Are the Animals Sick of Us?

09.13.2023

In this episode of Out Alive we dive into a summer riddled with unsettling animal encounters worldwide. From cougars and bears on American soil to Orcas causing chaos off Portugal's shores, one question lingers: Are animals growing weary of us? ...

Out Alive from BACKPACKER episodes:

09.13.2023 Are the Animals Sick of Us? In this episode of Out Alive we dive into a summer riddled with unsettling animal encounters worldwide. From cougars and bears on American soil to Orcas causing chaos off Portugal's shores, one question lingers: Are animals growing weary of us? ...
08.30.2023 Stabbed by a Trekking Pole In the rugged terrain of the Wind River Mountains, what begins as a routine ultramarathon training session for Gabe Joyes quickly escalates into a life-threatening ordeal. After a misstep leads him to inadvertently pierce himself with his trekking pole, Joyes ...
08.16.2023 Why Extreme Heat is Nature's Stealthiest Killer When we anticipate encountering bears, we come equipped with bear spray and knowledge of how to act. In avalanche terrain, we know to pack our beacon, shovel, and probe. Yet we tend to overestimate the danger of a bear attack. ...
08.02.2023 Hit by Rockfall Deep in a Cave The harrowing journey of two adult brothers whose passion for spelunking takes a terrifying turn. Exploring the labyrinthine depths of a remote cave, they find themselves caught in a sudden rockfall, leaving one of them severely injured.
07.19.2023 Liquid Gold or Fool's Errand? Should You Drink Pee to Stay Alive? We sit down with survival expert Jessie Krebs to explore some of the most common survival questions. Drawing upon Jessie's extensive knowledge and experience in the field, we separate fact from fiction and debunk prevalent survival myths with invaluable insights ...
07.05.2023 A Deadly Rescue on Mount Rainier In this episode of Out Alive, we share a harrowing tale of survival, resilience, and tragedy on Mount Rainier. Four climbers set out to conquer the mountain, only to face disaster on their descent when a dramatic fall results in ...
06.21.2023 Pack Like Your Life Depends On It Join renowned survivalist, SERE instructor, and former "Alone" contestant, Jessie Krebs as she shares her knowledge and expertise on the crucial framework you need to know when it comes to packing for any trip. Drawing from her extensive experience in ...
06.07.2023 Eric Larsen on Surviving Cancer and Polar Travel In this episode of the Out Alive podcast, we delve into the awe-inspiring story of polar explorer Eric Larsen, who has fearlessly navigated treacherous icy terrain, but faced an entirely different kind of challenge when he confronted cancer head-on. Follow ...
05.24.2023 Skier Rescues Stranger From a Tree Well Francis Zuber was enjoying the kind of powder skiing you’re lucky to get once a season. Just out of bounds at the Mt. Baker Ski Area, Zuber was enjoying deep turns when he caught sight of something weird. A snowboard, ...
05.10.2023 Four Nights Lost in the Cold Join us on Out Alive for the incredible story of Shannon Baruth and her aid dog, who survived for four nights in the Pecos Wilderness in New Mexico after getting lost. What began as a beautiful day hike turned into ...
04.26.2023 Signal Fire Strategies: Dos and Don'ts for Survival In this episode of Out Alive Survival Shorts, we discuss the crucial role of signal fires in emergency situations, using a real case story to highlight important dos and don'ts. Former Air Force SERE instructor Jessie Krebs offers expert analysis ...
04.12.2023 Battling the Brain: A Neurological Illness Backcountry Skiing We've written about the Spearhead Traverse before as The Best Worst Ski Trip Ever. But in this story, we explore the challenges of neurological illness in the backcountry. Backpacker Magazine’s former Editor-in-Chief Dennis Lewon, shares his personal journey battling a ...
03.29.2023 Survival Short: Unleashing the Secrets of Search and Rescue (SAR) Dog Training In addition to our regular episodes, we're thrilled to introduce a brand new monthly series called Survival Shorts. These episodes take a deeper dive into the world of survival, with expert advice, fascinating inquiries, and conversations with rescue professionals. These ...
03.15.2023 A Bystander Saves a BASE Jumper's Life A climber in the right place at the right time leads a daring rescue of a BASE jumper stranded high on a cliff.
02.22.2023 The Bike Crash That Helped Her Find Her Way After Karissa Akin’s brother died tragically, she turned to the outdoors for healing. But as she explains in this episode of Outside’s new podcast, The Daily Rally, it took a near-fatal mountain biking accident for her to finally move forward ...
12.14.2022 I Fought Off a Grizzly Jeremy Evans takes us through a first-hand account of the catastrophic injuries he sustained after being mauled by a grizzly bear three times while deep in the Canadian backcountry.
12.14.2022 Lost in Plain Sight A pair of hunters wearing camouflage become lost for six days in Alaska. Help is tantalizingly close but just out of reach, as rescuers are unable to see them.
12.14.2022 A 13-Year-Old Saves His Dad’s Life When Charlie Finlayson was just 13 and alone with his dad David deep in the backcountry, his father suffered a horrific injury. But Charlie, despite being forced to make decisions way beyond his age and experience, never doubted that his ...
10.19.2022 A Deadly Disaster at Mt. Everest Basecamp When Svati Narula agreed to spend a season as part of a communications team at Mt. Everest basecamp she thought there would be a buffer between hers and the perils of Everest’s high slopes. But she would find there was ...
10.12.2022 Impaled by a Tree Branch Peter Agricola was mountain biking near his home in Norfolk, Massachusetts when he went over the handlebars on a downhill and landed chest-first on a fallen log. As he sat up he saw that he was bleeding profusely, soaking his ...
10.05.2022 Paralyzed by a Scorpion When a rafter was stung by a scorpion, she assumed she’d be fine. Then she lost her ability to see or speak clearly. It was the beginning of a nightmare that nobody in her group of experienced adventurers saw coming. ...
09.28.2022 They Fell Nearly 1000 Feet Will Toor and Mariella Colvin were on a summer climb in Rocky Mountain National Park. While their outdoor pursuits on a typical day would earn them respect from outdoor enthusiasts half their age, this past July, they had to find ...
09.21.2022 Attacked by an Alligator According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, there are about 10 unprovoked alligator attacks on humans every year. That puts your chances of being attacked by an alligator at one in 3.2 million. It may seem that alligators are easily enough ...
09.14.2022 High Alpine Amnesia A firsthand account of a free-solo accident in the Sierra Nevada.
07.13.2022 The Thai Cave Rescue For more than two weeks in 2018, the entire world was gripped by nonstop news coverage of the effort to rescue 12 boys and their coach from deep inside Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Northern Thailand where they were ...
07.06.2022 A Rabid Animal Attacked We've learned a lot since we first started Out Alive, and the lessons have surprised us. Certainly, we've been indoctrinated to always tell someone where we're going and when to expect us, and as editors of Backpacker, we know all ...
06.29.2022 Finding Life on the Edge of Death To a lone hiker, the woods teem with threats. There are wild animals, of course, and exposure to the elements. There are the looming risks of dehydration, starvation, and the terror that comes with the fall of darkness. But for ...
06.22.2022 Miracle on Mt. Hood Part 2 Part 2: In every story we tell on this show, there is an element of the miraculous, someone who defies the odds and lives through a seemingly impossible situation in the wild, but we don't all see miracles the same ...
06.15.2022 Miracle on Mt. Hood Part 1 In every story we tell on this show, there is an element of the miraculous, someone who defies the odds and lives through a seemingly impossible situation in the wild, but we don't all see miracles the same way. For ...
06.09.2022 Their Plane Went Down in the Sea Sydnie Uetmoto and David McMahon were young pilots in Hawaii making their way through advanced levels of flight training when they got a call to crew a short flight together in a four-seater plane. But what should have been a ...
06.16.2021 Alone and Injured in the Wild There’s a special kind of appeal to a solo adventure—being out on your own, away from everything and everyone. Unless, of course, something goes wrong and you find yourself in serious trouble. In this gripping story by our friends at ...
06.09.2021 A Snowy Second Chance This show is all about near-death experiences, and the lessons we hope to learn from those who made it Out Alive. Each of the stories we tell is incredible in its own right, but now and again we hear a ...
05.26.2021 Broken & Alone Many hikers and backpackers search out areas off the beaten path. There’s something alluring about visiting a trail or lake or summit that few other humans get to see. We covet peace and solitude, and we thrill at the idea ...
05.12.2021 From Desert Paradise to Death Trap At the crux of every survival story is a pivotal decision point. The choices we make when the stakes are high can mean the difference between salvation and struggle, misery and hope, life and death. When it comes to dire ...
05.05.2021 We Fell Down the Mountain Many survival stories include an element of helplessness. When you're far from civilization hurt, unable to move. There's little, you can do to keep yourself alive. It's helplessness that sets in when things get really, really bad, but there's another ...
04.28.2021 Arctic Nightmare: Mauled by a Polar Bear Polar bears, the grand beasts of the arctic, are one of the most fearsome predators on earth. Healthy males can weigh half a ton, stand eight feet tall on their hind legs and possess enough power to get all that ...
04.21.2021 SAR's Secret Weapon: An Ultra-Running Volunteer When Jeremy Humphrey set out to find a missing hiker in July of 2020, he didn't have any training or fancy rescue gear. But he had something else, legs that could carry him for miles and miles in a day, ...
04.14.2021 The Mountains Called, I Shouldn't Have Listened If you listen to this podcast you can probably relate to a sense of being pulled by the mountains. A feeling that John Muir put memorably when he wrote the mountains are calling and I must go." We answer the ...
04.07.2021 At the Heart of the Matter Months after receiving a pacemaker, mother-of-five Stephanie Ingram was celebrating her newfound health with a solo trek of Washington's Wonderland Trail. But no matter your fitness, Mother Nature can take as much as she gives.
04.27.2020 Tragedy on the Appalachian Trail Part 2 When there's trouble on the trail, who are you supposed to call? In this week's episode, we examine the missed chances that led to the unthinkable one spring evening on the Appalachian Trail.
04.20.2020 Tragedy on the Appalachian Trail Part 1 To be a hiker is to accept a certain amount of risk. And yet the freedom to expose ourselves to that danger is part of the draw, but, as our next story shows, you never know what – or who ...
04.06.2020 Mystery on the Mountain In October of 2010 search and rescue volunteer Pam Bales happened across an unconscious man while on a solo hike up New Hampshire's Mt. Washington. As the weather became life-threatening, Bales struggled to help the man to safety, all the ...
01.27.2020 Buried in a Rockslide Blue skies in Grand Teton National Park turn gray when a group of hikers are caught in a powerful rockslide.
01.21.2020 Stranded on Mt. Rainier Yev Krasnitskiy and his three climber partners find themselves stranded without supplies while a storm prevents rescuers from reaching them.
12.23.2019 The Twenty-Ninth Day On a 600 mile canoe trip, Alex Messenger encounters a grizzly while hiking alone on the Canadian tundra.
12.16.2019 Injured on an Ice Ledge In 1999, Malcolm Daly fell 200 feet while climbing a remote Alaskan peak. He spent the next two nights stranded and alone on an ice ledge.
12.09.2019 Trapped in Quicksand Ryan Osmun, 35, took a wrong step while hiking in Zion National Park in February, and became trapped in quicksand.
07.15.2019 The Science of Survival In our season finale, hear from experts to learn what's happening inside your brain during a survival scenario, what you can do to beat the odds, and how a former BACKPACKER editor nearly succumbed to the greatest threat out there—ourselves.
07.08.2019 Disaster on Mt. Rainier Part 2 Stacy Liedle and her team continue to fight for their lives on the Emmons Glacier. With a storm fast approaching, the SAR team rushes to get everyone down safely—and then, tragedy strikes.
07.01.2019 Disaster on Mt. Rainier Part 1 For Stacy Liedle and her team, reaching the summit of Washington's Mt. Rainier was the accomplishment of a lifetime. But a fall while descending the Emmons Glacier leaves the four climbers severely injured and in need of a rescue—before a ...

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