Dropped in the Arctic Circle with just 10 tools and a camera, Andrew Price faced loneliness and lit fires to cook and boil water.
Despite worries of grizzly bears and the extreme cold, the 51-year-old has become the first Welshman to compete in the US TV show Alone: World Championship.
“I’ve always wanted to push myself in a really cold environment, it doesn’t get colder than the Arctic Circle so it felt like the perfect place to go,” Price said.
“It was definitely the most physically and mentally challenging thing I’ve ever done.”
Growing up in the suburbs of Swansea, Price’s grandad introduced him to foraging for seaweed, mussels and blackberries on the Gower Peninsula.
When he was eight, his grandad used to take him on walks in Mumbles to collect periwinkles and boil them for food.
“As a kid, it seemed like a normal thing to do but only later on in life that I realised not everyone did that,” Price said.
With his dad, he used to go out kayaking and fishing around Mumbles Head, trying to catch mackerel and bass.
This later introduced him to bushcraft, which includes skills such as hunting in a natural environment.
After leaving school, Price went on an expedition to Malaysia where he spent several months living with the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia, Orang Asli.
He described the experience as “very immersive” as he learned what it was like to live in a jungle and hunt with blowpipes.
It exposed him to a society living sustainably from the land.
efore returning to Wales, Price travelled the world to learn more about different landscapes and cultures.
“I’d done things that made me think there was a lot more to do in the world than just sort of working in Swansea,” he said.
At the time, bushcraft was not recognised as a career path but Price decided to share his knowledge with others.
In 2004, he began teaching bushcraft, using it as a tool to support people with anxiety and depression.
“People learn real tangible skills, and with that there comes a lot of self confidence,” he said,
Price also spent seven years co-hosting the Bafta-nominated ITV Wales series Coast and Country.
In 2015, Price first applied to go on Alone but it was only open to Canadians and Americans, until the first ever international season this year.
“I was at a point in my life where I didn’t have much going on as my daughter was getting a bit older,” he said.
Representing Wales, he got the opportunity to bring in many Welsh traditions and felt keen to be represented as a Welsh person rather than just a British person, in the competition to win $500,000 (£367,000)
“We’re known for rugby, music and poetry, but not necessarily for survival skills,” Price said.
He was left to be on his own for a long time in the show, which he found was a difficult thing to do.
“What makes Alone so special is it allows you to push yourself to the absolute limit.
“You are only in competition with yourself.
“It can be a massive challenge but that’s the beauty of it.”
Every survivalist was given a GPS tracker where a helicopter could pick them up if they couldn’t go any further.
Knowing there were grizzly bears and having no access to technology made it seem more extreme to Price’s family.
But he felt the environment was the hardest part, especially with the temperature drops and staying motivated.
He said being able to light fires for cooking and boiling water was the most useful skill.
“I learned that I could tolerate more than I thought possible,” said Price.
“I’ve become a much more patient and hopefully better instructor as a result of going on Alone.”
The 13th series of the show premiered on Sky History involving 10 survivalists from seven countries including Wales, the US, Canada, Australia, Slovenia, Portugal and New Zealand.
