Debuting on Netflix on June 22, 2022, Netflix's original reality TV show Snowflake Mountain has shot to the top of the most-viewed charts despite being skewered for its premise. As a collection of spoiled, inept, and untrained millennials are sent through the rigors of a wilderness survival retreat, the show is designed to indulge in the schadenfreude of watching such out-of-touch contestants fumble their way through one challenge after another.
While it might be fun to enumerate fellow reality TV shows that poke fun at millennials, it's positively more productive to highlight some of the best outdoor survival reality shows around, as well as ones that educate while entertaining viewers through a distinct gameshow format.
Survivor (2000-)
Stream On Paramount+
With over 600 episodes and counting, the 7-time Emmy-winner Survivor remains the longest-running and most definitive American reality survival game-show in the history of television. As such, omitting it from the fray of consistently entertaining and highly influential TV programs that laid the foundation for nearly every survival show to come after it would be downright unconscionable. The epic challenges and $1 million rewards for foraging for food, building shelter, and creating fire mixed with personality clashes, and arrestingly exotic wilderness locations are second to none.
Of course, for Snowflake Mountain fans, Survivor is less reliant on survival experts and includes contestants with varying degrees of wilderness expertise, allowing ardent and casual survival show fans to relate to and identify with the players. A clear inspirational forerunner, it's hard to imagine a world where Snowflake Mountain exists without Survivor paving the way.
Survive This (2009-2010)
Buy On Apple TV+
One of the most amusing yet oft-forgotten survival wilderness reality shows featuring young amateurs includes Survive This, a Canadian series that rounds up eight Toronto teenagers with limited training in survival skills, strips them of their most prized possessions and places them in a forest to see how they fare. It's essentially the Canadian Snowflake Mountain of its generation.
Hosted and narrated by Survivorman's Les Stroud, the teens increase their scores by taking on a series of escalating survival challenges that test their knowledge. While Snowflake Mountain deliberately makes fun of its contestants, Survive This honors the teenage outdoor accomplishments in more positive and inspirational ways.
Dude, You're Screwed (2013-)
Stream On Discovery+
Also known as Survive That!, Dude, Your Screwed can be viewed as an adult, American version of Survive This with experts replacing the amateurs. The supremely entertaining reality show follows five survival experts and their novice friends who send each other to the most dangerous remote locations in the world and give them 100 hours to find civilization using a small survival kit. Spanning multiple continents, the stunning locations alone will please fans of survival shows to no end.
With a deliberate sense of humor mixed with the extreme survival challenges that even feature fake kidnappings as a way to stir up the fun gameshow aspect of the series, Dude, You're Screwed could actually be the alternative title to Snowflake Mountain.
You Vs. Wild (2019)
Stream On Netflix
Part of the appeal of Snowflake Mountain is comparing oneself to how ill-equipped the millennials are in handling the harrowing outdoor scenarios and imagining how they'd do better. And while Bear Grylls has plenty of worthy survival reality shows worth watching (Man Vs. Wild chief among them), the most germane in this regard has to be You Vs. Wild, Netflix's popular interactive adventure series that allows viewers to actively participate in Grylls' quest for surviving the elements.
Between You Vs. Wild and its spinoff You Vs. Wild: Out Cold, Grylls spans the globe to give viewers a taste of every natural environment and topographical layout that includes jungles, snowy mountains, desert rocks, volcanic ruins, and more, giving the audience exhilarating ownership of the consequences.
The Cabins (2021-)
Stream On Discovery+
While not a game show per se, Discovery Channel's The Cabins is a reality dating show that also forces young millennials to leave their phones and social media apps behind in order to concentrate on finding success in secluded wooded surroundings. In this case, romance is the reward rather than outdoor survival.
If Snowflake Mountain viewers can get past the first few episodes, they will be surprised by the twist and turns that take place, including a romantic angle most won't see coming. For those looking for a little summertime love to go with their vacation in the great outdoors, be sure to check into The Cabins.
Naked And Afraid (2013-)
Stream On Discovery+
On paper, Discovery Channel's popular if fake reality TV show Naked And Afraid registers like a show built on the schadenfreude of watching nude contestants flail about in the wilderness, making it somewhat akin to the farcical novelty of Snowflake Mountain's absurd premise. However, those who delve deep into the terrifying reality-survival gameshow will find profound rewards in the grueling nature of the competition.
As two contestants (often one male, and one female) vie to survive 21 days alone in the wilderness while completely nude, unforeseen twists and shocking turns inevitably take place in ways that feel authentic and unscripted. More than anything, despite the novel nudity angle, viewers genuinely root for the characters to succeed as they get to know them rather than hope they fail as in the case of Snowflake Mountain.
Alone (2015-)
Stream On The History Channel
Almost every survival reality game show completist will attest to how rivetingly engaging the History Channel's Alone continues to be. With 100 episodes and counting, the simple set-up challenges 10 so-called survival experts to win $500,000 by literally braving the wilderness alone for as long as possible with a small cache of survival equipment. None of the players can contact the others during the competition and can only be checked in on for medical purposes.
Between the rules of the game that force each player to survive by their own wits and wiles as the weather begins to turn cold, and enables them to pick 10 items from a list of 40 survival tools, Alone manages to take the sheer unadulterated fun of Snowflake Mountain and turn into an enthralling and educational must-watch.
Win The Wilderness: Alaska (2020)
Stream On Netflix
Another ideal survival game show to check out on Netflix alongside Snowflake Mountain includes the new original series Win the Wilderness: Alaska, a 6-part British series that spans continents to find six European couples competing in various outdoor challenges in Alaska. But instead of crash prizes, the winner of the competition is awarded the deed to a piece of land in Alaska previously inhabited by famous homesteaders Duane and Rena Ose.
Despite hewing to the Netflix formula and sensibilities, Win The Wilderness is a surprisingly emotional antidote to the otherwise shallow display found in Snowflake Mountain, tracing the lasting legacy of six couples in profoundly affecting ways.
Dual Survival (2010-2016)
Stream On Discovery+
In Snowflake Mountain, many of the cast members start to figure things out once they work together. Others can't help but clash with their ideas and philosophies on how to survive. For another excellent reality game show that focuses on the opposing views of two survival experts, track down Dual Survival. In the first two seasons, naturalist Cody Lundin matched wits with military trainer Dave Canterbury.
As the seasons progressed, the show retained the odd-couple dynamic to explore various survival methods, strategies, and techniques, which often led to genuine character conflicts that added to the already thrilling man-versus-nature formula. While the actual outdoor challenges are far more advanced, the constant bickering between Cody and Dave will make viewers think they're watching a Snowflake Mountain reunion episode from the future.
Out Of The Wild (2009-2011)
Stream On Discovery+
While the third season set in Venezuela is also worthy, Out of the Wild's first iteration is an absolute must-watch for Snowflake Mountain fans. Save for the annoying cast, The Alaska Experiment boasts a similar premise by tracking nine ordinary Americans with no real survival experience who must brave the elements and travel 60 miles across the most unforgiving terrain.