It was freezing cold and dark within the coastal wastelands of Labrador, Canada, when Woniya Thibeault nearly froze to death.
Following the tracks of the wolves on the skinny ice above the moving water, the talented adventurer ran as fast as she could towards the shoreline, faster than the ice could crack under her feet. One fallacious step and the present could suck her under the surface of the lake.
The one sound she heard was her heartbeat.
“In that terrifying moment, I believed, ‘I could absolutely die,'” the Northern California native told The Post.
She doesn’t. At 47, Thibeault gained a fame for living on the sting. Living off the grid since she was a teenager and studying the abilities of her ancestors, she has learned to hunt wild animals, gather seeds and berries, and craft stone and bone tools to survive any climate. The story of her journey – including several times she nearly died along the way in which – is detailed within the new memoir, Never Alone: A Solo Arctic Survival Journey.
![Thibeault with bow and arrows.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012046576.jpg?w=683)
Within the book, the journey lover shares her experience of competing on the History Channel “Sam” survival competition series where 10 contestants endure extreme elements with limited resources.
last person standing gets $500,000. In two runs, she experienced freezing temperatures for a total of 123 days. She set the record for many time spent alone within the wilderness over two seasons.
It took second place within the sixth season of the series in 2019, lasting as much as 73 days south of the Arctic Circle within the northwest territories of Canada.
![](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012048284.jpg?w=689)
Nonetheless, her most chilling feat got here in fall 2022, when she competed “Sam: Frozen”, survived 50 hellish days in Labrador, Canada’s easternmost province, during a harsh winter within the North Atlantic.
She was armed with only 10 items – including a sleeping bag, fishing line, hooks and a knife – atmospheric temperatures of 40 to 60 degrees below zero. This system’s introduction called it “essentially the most difficult and dangerous experience ever attempted.”
Thibeault’s level of comfort in nature dates back to her childhood within the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevadas. Her father’s inspirational endurance runs – 100 miles up and down mountainous terrain – fueled her mind-over-matter attitude.
And take into consideration your stomach. By the age of 19, Thibeault had already eaten the heads of rattlesnakes and grasshoppers to survive a nine-day expedition within the distant wilderness of Hells Canyon, Idaho, in the summertime of 1997.
![Insects and seeds.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012046628.jpg?w=1024)
![Fire.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012046610.jpg?w=1024)
“Eating snakes is a lot of labor – tearing out all those ribs along the spines,” Thibeault told The Post, recalling the formative outing wandering around in her hand-stitched loafers and road-kill deer clothes. She foraged for seeds and wild fruit along the Snake River with only a pack of sticks.
“For the primary time, I adapted to starvation and a completely wild weight loss program. It was a challenge,” recalls the then student of biology and environmental studies on the University of California, Santa Cruz.
“That was the moment I spotted it was really possible – it completely modified my world,” said Thibeault.
It was the start of years of effort to accumulate her stamina – which she needed to survive the hellish conditions on Alone: Frozen.
![Thibeault on the loose.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012048283.jpg?w=819)
The challenge of this system began with establishing a shelter, constructing from rocks within the freezing rain until hypothermia, then finding food. Almost a week later, she could feel her body giving up on nothing but seeds and pemmican (a mixture of dried berries).
“At first, I attempted to make use of pemican sparingly. A little bit ball every three to 4 days. It was total hunger. There was no food, she said. After weeks of starvation, she finally caught a rabbit.
“Fourteen days without food was rather more difficult [than any other challenge]. I actually had nothing else to supply,” she said.
![](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012046624.jpg?w=1024)
The second time she participated in “Alone”, she woke up one night almost blinded by the smoke coming from the clams she was preparing in her locked shelter. She remembered that the protection device the contestants receive in case of emergencies had not been charged, almost in a panic.
“It could take them 4 days to achieve me. I used to be completely alone. I put out the hearth and just crawled into my sleeping bag. The subsequent morning I used to be in a position to open my eyes, nevertheless it was a burning pain,” she said.
After surviving 50 days in the course of nowhere, the tough contestant walked away with a prize of $500,000 – the primary woman to gather the prize within the show’s eight-year history. But it surely took her months to get better.
![Thibault in nature with fire.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012047707.jpg?w=768)
![Thibeault with a hat in the snow.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012047713.jpg?w=768)
“I’m a one that likes challenges; who likes exertions and who can push really hard. I feel it served me higher or worse. I pushed my body to its limits,” said Thibeault.
“I used to be really on the point of long-term organ damage. My organs were beginning to wilt,” she said of tolerating extreme hunger.
Back home, the wildlife lover plans to make use of her prize money to construct a school that can help other nature lovers live off the grid — or at the least be more self-sufficient.
“My whole trip to Alone modified my life. While I find it truly rewarding to live this lifestyle, it is crucial for me to share these skills – our world desperately needs them,” she said.