In Death's Wake, He Decided to Survive

After five years of gripping and educational survival tales, Out Alive is going on indefinite hiatus. Thank you to for listening and for your continued support. For more survival content, you can visit us at backpacker.com. Be safe out there. 

In 1982, Mountain Rescue volunteer Joe Lentini’s life took a profound turn during a daring rescue mission gone wrong. Decades later, the impact of that fateful day continues to echo, not just in Joe’s life, but in lives of everyone involved. 

A college administrator and his older brother set out to explore Utah’s Robbers Roost. But when a tricky climbing manoeuvre in a remote desert slot canyon goes horribly wrong, David Cicotello finds himself stranded - without a rope and without his brother and mentor. Battling bit ...  Show more

ln the wilderness of Washington state, Dan Smith’s life literally hangs by a thread. After a terrifying accident, he’s left dangling in mid-air, mangled and bloody, with only a thin rope keeping him from certain death. There’s a 1500-foot drop below, the threat of avalanches abov ...  Show more

Surviving the Atlantic alone in a liferaft, Spain's historic 1960s tourism boom, the death of the infamous Nazi Heinrich Himmler, plus fighting Australia's bushfires and we remember a groundbreaking Latino writer. Photo: Photo: Steve Callahan shows how he hunted fish from his ...

Simon Yates begins his lonely return to base camp, convinced that his partner Joe Simpson is dead. He wrestles with guilt and grief, unsure how he’ll ever explain what happened to those back home. Meanwhile, Joe manages to haul himself out of the crevasse. But with a shattered le ...  Show more