 |
| Aaron Barnard Now: Where Is the Alone Season 13 Contestant Today? |
Aaron Barnard has become one of the most memorable contestants from Alone season 13, thanks to a remarkably composed run through the harsh Beaufort Delta in Canada’s Arctic Circle. While others were forced to battle dwindling energy and increasingly difficult conditions, Barnard quietly built himself a strong position and eventually became one of the final three contestants standing. He did not exactly arrive with the loudest survival-man swagger either. Instead, his calm approach, careful planning and willingness to let patience do the heavy lifting made him a serious contender from the outset.
Barnard entered the challenge with a strategy that was refreshingly practical. Rather than putting all his hopes on finding one spectacular source of food, he concentrated on fishing and trapping, gradually building up a reserve that could carry him through tougher stretches. It was hardly glamorous television, but then again, Arctic survival probably was never going to come with room service. His food stores became one of his biggest advantages as the days accumulated and other contestants began struggling with reduced energy.
His preparation started well before the cameras began rolling. Around two months before heading into the wilderness, Barnard deliberately worked on putting on extra weight, understanding that calories could become one of the most valuable resources in the competition.
The Beaufort Delta, located around the Mackenzie River Delta, offered no guarantees, so arriving prepared mattered. His approach showed a clear understanding that surviving for the long haul was less about dramatic moments and more about making sensible decisions repeatedly without allowing panic to take over.
That cool-headed attitude ultimately became one of Barnard’s defining characteristics on Alone season 13. While the environment was unpredictable and resources could disappear quickly, he appeared comfortable sticking with his plan. His ability to preserve energy and maintain a dependable food supply helped him remain competitive deep into the season, eventually putting him among the last three contestants. In a programme designed to expose every weakness imaginable, simply refusing to make unnecessary mistakes turned out to be a rather useful superpower.
Barnard’s background helps explain why the wilderness was never entirely unfamiliar territory. He grew up around Haida Gwaii in British Columbia before moving to Prince George at a young age. His parents, Dale and Julie, owned a small hobby farm, where his father introduced him to hunting and fishing.
Those early experiences gave Barnard a practical relationship with the outdoors long before he ever appeared on television, meaning the Arctic challenge was less of a sudden personality makeover and more an extreme extension of skills he had already developed.
Before joining the History Channel series, Barnard worked as a plumber and pipefitter at Equity Plumbing and Heating in British Columbia. He ultimately left his job before taking part in the competition, choosing to commit himself fully to the opportunity. Walking away from regular employment to spend weeks in an isolated Arctic environment might sound slightly unhinged from the comfort of a sofa, but it also says quite a lot about how seriously he took the challenge.
Life outside the show has continued to revolve heavily around the outdoors. Barnard enjoys a wide range of activities, including friendly rugby matches and winter endurance races, while hunting remains another major interest. He has also spoken about enjoying late-season sheep hunting, although his interests appear to have expanded beyond the usual wilderness pursuits. More recently, golf has entered the picture, proving that even someone who can spend weeks surviving in the Arctic eventually finds himself chasing a tiny white ball around a field and wondering why he agreed to it.
Barnard’s appearance on Alone also carried a deeply personal meaning. He took part in the competition in memory of his friend Travis Galbraith, the Canadian MMA fighter known as “The Gladiator”, who died in a rafting accident during a hunting trip.
That connection gave Barnard’s journey an emotional dimension beyond simply trying to outlast the other contestants. His family, including his parents Dale and Julie and brothers Greg and Brad, have also remained important sources of encouragement throughout his life and his various adventures.
As for where Aaron Barnard is now, the clearest picture is that he remains closely connected to the outdoor lifestyle that has shaped him for years. His interests continue to include hunting, endurance activities, sport and, increasingly, golf. His Alone experience appears to have become another chapter rather than a final destination.
There is no indication that surviving in the Arctic suddenly turned him into someone who prefers sitting indoors all day. If anything, Barnard seems to have returned to the same combination of adventure, family and outdoor pursuits that defined him before television entered the equation.
My take is that Barnard’s Alone journey worked precisely because he never seemed desperate to make himself the centre of attention. His biggest strength was restraint, which is almost hilariously unfashionable in reality television. Everyone loves the dramatic moment, the giant catch and the heroic speech, but Barnard’s approach was basically: stay calm, eat sensibly and do not make life harder than it already is.
That sounds obvious until you remember he was doing it in the Arctic while being filmed and surrounded by pressure. His food reserve was arguably less exciting than a huge hunting success, yet it may have been far more important. I also like that his story did not end with the show. He went back to sport, hunting, endurance events and golf, which feels much more believable than suddenly becoming a full-time wilderness celebrity.
Fans’ reactions to Barnard’s run have naturally varied. Some viewers are likely to appreciate his quiet, calculated survival strategy, particularly because it rewarded patience rather than theatrics. Others may have preferred contestants who delivered bigger moments and more obvious drama. That divide is part of what makes Alone so interesting: survival styles can be judged very differently depending on what viewers want from the series.
Barnard’s supporters can point to his consistency and final-three finish, while those who wanted more action may have found his method less flashy. Either way, his performance clearly gave viewers plenty to discuss, and his life away from the show adds another reason to keep the conversation going. What did you think of Aaron’s strategy, and would you have approached the Arctic challenge the same way?