Survive 50 days and win a share of $500,000. That’s the setting for History’s Solo: Frozen. And at the end of season one episode seven, only two survivors will split the pot if they can hold out to the bitter, icy end.
Episode six ended with Callie making a deal with herself, and episode seven begins with Callie learning her fate. “The Last Hope” takes us from the remaining 24 days in the 50-day competition to the 18.
If no one makes it to day 50, the prize will go unclaimed.
Callie Russell, 34, Montana – Season 7, survived 89 days
24 days left: Callie made a deal with herself that if she doesn’t find any food in her traps, she will back off. She wakes up after spending the night outside of her shelter under the stars, aware that she might be causing long-term damage to her body.
The mussels are making her sick, so they are no longer an option.
She walks out and is disappointed that her first few traps are empty. Callie would like to stay, but she’s not going to push her body into an unsafe place. Her last hope for food is her fish trap and she walks on the ice to retrieve her line. Her fate in the game hangs in the balance as the ice refuses to break and allows her to pull the rope.
Callie finally throws a stone to break the ice, retrieves her trap, and it’s empty. Journal. She really wants to stay and learn more about nature and herself, but she has no food. “It’s hard to accept when your heart, mind and soul want to keep doing something, but you’ve reached your physical limit,” says Callie.
We’re barely into episode seven when she officially gives up. Her knowledge of what happens when you push your body too far makes her extremely cautious. Although it is a lot of money, Callie is sure that she is making the right decision.
“I am leaving with a heart full of gratitude,” explains Callie. Losing her siblings when she was younger taught her the value of life and describes the desert as “a mirror of truth.” She sees her brothers in him.
Callie chose her healthy body over money. She wants viewers to see this as a story of empowerment.
Woniya Thibeault, 45, California – Season 6, survived 73 days
23 days left: it’s sunny but the creek is frozen and Woniya knows that means he has ice fishing in the near future. She picks blueberries as she explains that surviving 50 days is about playing it safe.
There are no tracks by the creek, but she is happy to pick tinder and berries. Right after saying that it’s about being safe, she cuts her little finger. She hurts, but she doesn’t need the doctors. She reminds herself that she must wear gloves and that she will have to take extra precautions when cutting game so that her wound doesn’t get infected.
He wraps up the wound and decides to eat a little at camp instead of doing more work at the moment.
22 days left: Woniya finds fox poop outside his shelter and one of his trap wires is pushed out of the way. That means she knows about the trap wire after being caught in it once before (in episode five). He was able to move the wire and eat all the bait.
Woniya’s plan is to try to figure out how to set the trap so that it catches the fox. She knows how to catch foxes and she would be happy to eat one. Plus, she’s right next to her shelter!
Just as darkness is about to fall, place the rabbit’s leftovers in the trap and add another trap in the middle of the trap, one the fox won’t expect. The second trap will be “more subtle and of a different color”.
She hopes to outsmart the fox.
21 days left: It is 4:28 am when a fox is heard in the trap.
Woniya gets up around 8 am and caught the fox. She describes him as beautiful and is incredibly grateful that he gave her life for her to eat. All of her efforts paid off for her and she plans to use her scent glands to attract other foxes.
He heads to put on his gloves as he cut his finger and needs to keep it dry. She starts slicing up the fox and puts the testicles in the pot. They are full of protein and cholesterol.
After skinning it, he proceeds to disembowel it, making sure to be careful with the intestines. Salmonella and tapeworms can be transmitted to humans from the intestines of the fox.
Later, she cooks the fatty bits. If the meat from her is not fully cooked, it can lead to trichinosis. She says a prayer as she eats the fox’s heart, which is rich in vitamins and minerals.
20 days left: Woniya plans to thoroughly scrape off the fox’s fur. It will eat away at the membrane and tan the skin. She goes to work installing a scraper beam, making a smooth surface so as not to make holes in the skin.
She loves the beauty and strangeness of this world. “If you look deep enough, this world will blow your mind with all the crazy cool stuff, from the microscopic level to the huge level,” says Woniya.
He begins to scrape the skin with a piece of steel that he found in five days. She finds a lot of fat on the skin and places it in her bucket. Only informs us that the fat is safe to eat for a month at room temperature after processing.
You are going to make a scarf out of the skin now that you have finished scraping.
18 days left: Your current task is to retrieve water from your nearby freshwater lake. She brings her ax because she is frozen and notices that her approach to the lake is quite slippery at the moment. She moves some rocks to make a safer entrance to the lake.
The storm clouds look ominous, and he uses his ax to break through the ice, realizing that he needs to hurry up and escape the high winds. Winds can gust to 50 mph in this area.
He is thinking a lot about his fellow survivors and knows that you have to focus on finding the beauty in the discomfort and not focus on the challenge and difficulties. The competition has been brutally tough.
She reaches her shelter as the icy wind shakes the area. A heavy storm has arrived.
Woniya stands outside in level snow and crazy winds. She is bundled up as she heads off to check out her line of traps. She is sure that she can make it to the end, but it is difficult to find her traps as they are buried under the snow.
After half an hour outside, she is completely soaked. The snow turned to water the second he touched it. She returns to her shelter and her clothes steam from the fire.
Woniya confirms that this is one of those days that they were warned would happen in Labrador. It is a life-threatening climate.
Michelle Finn, 47, Maine – Season 8, survived 21 days
22 days left: Michelle admits she had a rough night due to long-term hunger. She has been dreaming about food that makes it difficult for her to sleep. Michelle needs more calories and she decides to eat more clams and mussels today.
She uses her scarf as a net to rinse everything off and then returns to the shelter and cooks them.
Michelle knows that if she had been 20 pounds heavier to start the game, she could easily make it to 50 days. But she is so thin that she has no weight to lose from her bones. However, she doesn’t know at what point she will lose too much and she will have to tap.
Cook 130 mussels and 50 clams. Only tells us that mussels have nine calories each and clams seven. She just ate 1,520 calories, thanks. Only for doing the math.
Michelle has lost 16 pounds so far.
She goes out to check her traps and looks for some game to catch. She thinks the area seems to be full of animals, and after finding empty traps, she finally comes across one that has a hare.
You feel an intense surge of gratitude mixed with shock and relief. The hare could be the difference between lasting the full 50 days or having to tap. You know you’re at the point where you’re nearing the finish line, but it’s hard to allow yourself to dream.
Michelle skins the rabbit and it’s a big one that completely fills her pot.
20 days left: the ground is completely covered in snow as she goes out hunting a bit and checks her traps. A squirrel yells at her but she doesn’t shoot. She has not seen traces of hares or grouse during her walk and she feels discouraged. However, she knows that there are squirrels around her.
19 days left: Michelle confesses that she never thought of trying to shoot a squirrel with her bow because they are small and fast. They are definitely not her first choice of animal to hunt, but she realizes that she is forced to do so. She has decided that she is going to wage war against the squirrels.
He shoots one but doesn’t die, putting him out of his misery.
Since the squirrels are all there is to it, he hopes that it will be enough to allow him to go all the way.
18 days left: Michelle is winning her war against the squirrels and is proud of herself. She’s not a hunter and she doesn’t have the experience, but she has been able to shoot enough squirrels to get some protein. She takes a bite and notices that there is a difference in texture between the younger and older ones.
Michelle points her camera outside the shelter and describes it as twisted. She has to go out in it to check her traps, and she’s getting soaked from the moisture-laden snow. There’s nothing in the traps for her and she’s out in the open, feeling the wind chill. This is the worst weather they’ve had so far.
Michelle loves the idea that this season is not about winning on other people, but instead, they can win together. He feels within reach of him, and doesn’t think there are many survivors left in the competition. (She is correct.)