Alaska
Arctic survival: YouTuber on how to rough it without tent in Alaska winter
An Arctic survival video documenting YouTuber Luke Nichols’ two-night wilderness trip without a tent in Alaska topped the video sharing website’s trending list on Sunday.
Newsweek has reached out to Nichols for comment via email on Sunday.
Why It Matters
The video, posted by The Outdoor Boys, boasts over 4.2 million views as of Sunday afternoon and is the number 1 trending video on YouTube. The channel has around 12 million subscribers and over 2 billion views on various outdoor activities.
What To Know
The Outdoor Boys YouTube channel, run by Nichols, features outdoor adventure videos with his three sons: Tommy, Nate, and Jake. The channel’s About Page reads: “We love all things outdoors: family projects and adventures, travel, forging, camping, camp fire cooking, fossil hunting, magnet fishing, metal detecting, goofing around whatever we darn-well feel like!!” According to Nichols’ LinkedIn, the channel started in 2017.
Some of the videos have received upwards of 100 million views.
In a video posted December 28, Nichols documents his solo three-day trip in the Alaskan wilderness, demonstrating how to set up a bushcraft survival shelter, cook, and survive in Arctic conditions.
Setting Up Camp
After finding a spot to set up camp, he cut down and stripped dozens of trees, removing their branches. He then started a fire using the traditional flint and steel method to warm the camp and dry his wet clothes and shoes.
He warned viewers, “Always got to make sure to put your flint and steel away it’s so easy to get focused on the fire and then drop it in the snow and lose it.”
In order to prepare the firewood and build the shelter he had to dry out some of the logs, which were covered in ice and snow. Nichols explained his method of drying out the wood and said, “I put the firewood around the fire until it starts to catch and then I put it out and stack it up next to the fire.”
He also made a heat reflector wall behind the fire, which he says “absorbs the heat of the fire and then reflects it back towards you. But more importantly it acts as a wind break and keeps the wind from blowing the smoke in your face.” It also helps dry out the ice and snow on branches and firewood.
AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson
Survival Shelters
Nichols’ video shows him assembling logs horizontally and sizing them to match the length and width of his body to create a bed as the foundation of the shelter. He added supportive logs, tying some in place to construct a lean-to style bush shelter, then topped the slanted logs with cut branches.
Once he dried out his sleeping logs over the fire, to prevent him from being cold and wet, he placed his caribou hide over the logs as support and used the buffalo hide as a blanket. He recommends drying boots, socks, and pants all before bed.
After the first night, he bolstered his shelter, adding more structural logs and making a log cabin wall around the shelter and fire. He added new brush on the shelters top, saying, “This actually only does a marginal job of keeping the wind out, but once you get a little bit of snow on top of it, then it’s absolutely airtight.”
He added: “The trick is that you got to make it thick enough and far enough away from the fire that when you get a nice big roaring fire in here you don’t have drips of water from melting snow.”
Fire Cooking
Most of the video is Nichols cutting wood, cooking, and savoring his meals in the Alaskan wilderness. On the second night, he crafts a homemade cooking griddle from steel, which he uses the next morning to whip up corned beef hash and egg sandwiches.
His first night’s dinner featured reheated moose fajitas, followed by a breakfast of warm tortillas with butter and cinnamon sugar, paired with steel-cut Irish oatmeal sweetened with brown sugar and raisins. Lunch was two caribou hot dogs cooked over an open flame, and dinner was King Crab legs he had previously caught with one of his sons.
“When you cook the crabs over the fire too it makes their shells brittle, it makes it a lot easier to shell them. Just use your hands,” he said, adding “You gotta eat quick, things cool off really quick around here.”
Nichols then cleans the dishes with snow, filling up the dirty pot and melting it to clean it out.
Two US soldiers were wounded by a brown bear during a training exercise in Alaska on Thursday, the US Army stated.
Anchorage Daily News reported that the soldiers were from the 11th Airborne Division, and that the exercise had been a “land navigation training event” near Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
State wildlife officials said that the bear attack seemed to be a defensive one, from a bear which had recently emerged from its den. Staff members from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game collected evidence at the scene in an attempt to learn more about the bear, such as its species and gender.
“The incident is currently under investigation, and we are working closely with installation authorities and local wildlife officials to gather all relevant information and ensure the safety of all personnel in the area,” the 11th Airborne Division said in a statement, reported ABC News.
ABC News also cited an 11th Airborne Division spokesperson, Lt.-Col. Jo Nederhoed, who said that the two soldiers had been seriously wounded, but were receiving care at a hospital in Anchorage, and had shown improvement by Saturday morning.
“We hope both individuals have a full and quick recovery, and our thoughts are with them during this time,” Fish and Game Regional Supervisor Cyndi Wardlow said in a statement reported by Anchorage Daily News. “In this case, having bear spray with them in the field may have saved their lives.”
Both of the soldiers reportedly had and used bear spray during the attack.
The bear’s condition and whereabouts are currently unknown.
Up, up and away … that’s where most travel prices are going.
It’s true. Not only are our nation’s geopolitical thrusts in the Mideast affecting the cost of your fill-ups, every component of your trip from airfares to car rentals and hotel stays are subject to price hikes.
Imagine filling up a jetliner with jet fuel that’s doubled in price. It’s enough to melt your credit card, regardless of the number of points you get for every dollar spent!
Because the price of oil affects everything, higher prices are eating away at your travel budget in many ways.
Bag fees
There’s lots of press on this. All airlines are increasing their checked-bag fees because of the jump in fuel prices.
Back in 2009, Alaska Airlines instituted a $15 fee for the first checked bag and $25 for the second bag. At the time, there was no charge for the first bag and a second bag was $25.
Last week, Alaska Airlines, along with other major airlines, increased its fees to $45 for the first checked bag and $55 for the second bag. Delta Air Lines charges the same.
Even if the cost of oil comes down, I don’t expect bag fees will ever be reduced.
Travelers who live in Alaska are somewhat insulated from the new hikes because both Delta and Alaska Airlines offer two free checked bags, with conditions:
1. Alaska offers two free checked bags for travelers flying to or from Alaska who are enrolled in Club 49. This does not affect other flights on Alaska. Separately, ATMOS credit card holders can get a free checked bag. Also, elite members of the ATMOS scheme get one or two free checked bags systemwide.
2. Delta offers two free checked bags for travelers flying to or from Alaska who are SkyMiles members who live in Alaska. Again, this does not apply to other Delta flights. Separately, Delta American Express cardholders can get a free checked bag.
3. Elite-level travelers with the oneworld airline cartel, including Alaska Airlines, can get one or two checked bags on American, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Qantas or other oneworld carriers.
[Anchorage’s international airport rolls out self-driving wheelchairs]
Main Cabin vs. Basic Economy
The spread between the lowest available price, Basic Economy, and a more flexible ticket, Main Cabin, has increased. While the difference used to be $20-$30 each way when the Basic Economy scheme was introduced in 2018, the round-trip upcharge now can exceed $100.
For example, the lowest Basic fare to Portland is $337 round-trip on Alaska Airlines. The upcharge to Main Cabin, with full loyalty points, pre-assigned seats and more flexibility on changes and cancellations, is $447, a 33% upcharge.
This trend is not specifically attributable to the new Iran War. It’s just a cost that continues to rise.
New fees
I’m impressed at the creativity of airline people who dream up new fees. Here are some of my favorites from Alaska Airlines:
1. Phone reservations: $15
2. Partner award booking fee: $12.50
3. Pet travel fee: $100 in the cabin, $200 in the baggage compartment with a kennel
4. Left on board item return fee: $20
On Condor Airlines, operating the only nonstop service from Anchorage to Europe, travelers can choose from four different bundles in economy class. The least-expensive, Economy Zero, from $840 round-trip, features fees for travelers:
1. Carry-on bag fee, up to 8kg: $35; a small bag like a purse always is included for free
2. Checked bag: $75
3. Airport check-in: $30
All three of these fees are included in the next-highest fare bucket, Economy Classic, from $900 round-trip. It’s cheaper to buy the bundle than it is to buy the components a la carte. Seat assignments are additional, from $25 for economy.
Airfares on the rise
There are a few good deals available for travel to select West Coast/Intermountain destinations in May, including:
1. Anchorage-San Francisco on Alaska Airlines, from $307 round-trip. Fly May 15-28 only. Add $90 round-trip for Main cabin.
2. Anchorage-Los Angeles on Alaska Airlines, from $317 round-trip. May 15-25 only. Add $90 round-trip for Main.
3. Anchorage-Phoenix on United, Delta or Alaska, from $267-$287 round-trip. Fly May 8-June 9 only. Add $90-$100 for Main.
4. Anchorage-Denver $357 round-trip on Delta. Fly May 8-June 9 only. Add $90 round-trip for Main.
For travel to other destinations, or later in the summer, be prepared to pay more.
Flying to Hawaii? Alaska Air’s nonstop prices out at $706 round-trip between May 30 and June 6. Add $110 round-trip for Main.
Nonstop flights from Anchorage to Salt Lake City start at $669 round-trip with Delta on May 17. That’s $100 more than the cost for the same flights last month. Add $90 more for Main.
Hotel costs continue to rise, accompanied by pesky resort fees.
The Outrigger on the Beach in Waikiki is a very nice beachfront hotel. It’s not plush, or the nicest property. But it’s solid. The cost is $334 per night.
But there’s more: a $50 per night resort fee, plus a variety of taxes and charges, totaling $112.55 per night.
Down in Seattle, the Sound Hotel in the Belltown neighborhood is marketed by Hilton. The discounted rate for “Honors” members — it’s free to join — is $313.34 per night for a king room in late May. Taxes and fees add an extra $56.40 per night.
There’s no appreciable bump yet for hotel rates as a result of the oil price surge. Yet. But if these hotel rates seem high, they’re in line with hotel rates in Anchorage this summer. At the Sheraton in Anchorage in June, it’s $450 per night, plus $54 in taxes and fees, when booked at Expedia.
Car rentals are not cheap
My go-to site for car rentals is the Costco site, which compares major brands and automatically includes Costco discounts.
In Las Vegas, for a one-day rental in May, Budget charges $67 per day, which includes taxes and fees of $22.77. In Anchorage, the same kind of car, medium SUV, costs $92.97 with Alamo.
The biggest differences so far in car rental rates seems to be the bill you’ll pay when you fill up the tank before returning. There’s no appreciable jump in prices because of the new war.
When it comes to making travel arrangements for the spring and summer, it’s more risky making completely non-refundable arrangements.
I made the decision to purchase most of my summer travel plans in advance, but only after determining I would not need to change the dates. Particularly with airline tickets, it’s expensive to change your dates.
There’s lots of uncertainty regarding travel arrangements, particularly international travel. As fuel prices go up due to oil shortages, travel companies will look for ways to recoup the increased costs. In most cases, those higher costs will be borne by travelers.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz has led to a decrease in oil prices nationally, but Alaska’s senior senator said the state faces a different situation that could threaten rural communities.
“If you can’t produce power because you don’t have the diesel or you just can’t pay the prices, your little communities can collapse,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said at a Friday press conference at the Arctic Encounter Summit in Anchorage.
The price of oil has been a double-edged sword for Alaska. On one hand, the increased price of North Slope oil brings more revenue to the state, but consumer prices can also rise.
North Slope oil prices were $106.36 a barrel on Thursday.
“This is a very precarious time,” Murkowski said. “Our state has enjoyed a bounty because we have benefited from the higher prices of oil that goes into our treasury, but it’s the Alaskans in … the off-road communities that are threatened to be hit most hard.”
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