Discovery's 'Alaska Experiment': Calling all adventurers

Throw a rock at a reality TV show, and it's likely to smash through the window of a mansion full of well-dressed models. Now: Run!

Yeah, if you're getting bored of the same old reality, then what about Discovery Channel's "The Alaska Experiment"? Through a Web casting call, the show is seeking a group of rugged individuals who are willing to wander off the beaten path:

"The challenge — if you dare to accept it — is to join a band of fellow explorers and journey through some of the harshest climates and roughest terrains in the world: the Alaskan wilderness."

Get your ice ax and parka ready, because only eight days remain in the second-season casting call for "The Alaska Experiment." Prospective participants ages 21 to 100 — sadly, my 101-year-old great-aunt just missed the cutoff — must digitally submit a written statement and photos from past adventures, and can also submit a video about why they should be picked.

Few contestants included videos on their profile submissions, but I did find one: Chad Israel, an actor who uploaded some very strange clips that don't exactly scream "I'm an Arctic climber." Site visitors can vote on the entrants they like, but Discovery doesn't say whether the most popular folks will be picked for the adventure.

Leading the pack are Joana Velez and Emily Levine, with 205 and 175 votes respectively. They are self-proclaimed actors whose bikini-photo-rich profiles seem to suggest they might not be cut out for the tundra. But Velez wants to undress those stereotypes: "people who don't know me would never guess how much of an adventurer I am... just for the looks! you see I have the steriotype of a girly-plastic-materialistic-girl which is why people call me Barbie! but trust me, Im nothing like that! ;)"

Congratulations, Barbie Jo. That statement just netted you another vote.

— Mark Milian

Photo credit: Dave / Your Scene, Los Angeles Times

Comments

[bass fishing lures andreamae]

Alaska adventure would be a great idea. Not so much of an adventurer but the challenge to do different thing will make this experiment a more meaningful experience.