I watched every season of when 'The Amazing Race' visited Alaska
The Amazing Race has been on since 2001, and five of the 38 seasons have had pitstops in Alaska: 1, 2, 9, 12 and 23.
Just like Survivor, the cash prize for Amazing Race has always been $1 million, which is kind of a trip to me, cause a milly in 2001 ≠ a milly in 2026. Adjusted for inflation, $1 million in '01 is worth $1.8 million today – and if you're Jeff Kent, a $1 million never came out to that anyways.
Jeff Kent's exit interview from season 25 of Survivor: You know what pisses me off? Is I think I've made about $60 million dollars playing baseball, and I want this freaking million dollars in this game, and it's not even a million bucks, it's $600,000 grand by the time Obama takes it! I'm a Game Seven World Series loser. I've played in the biggest games in the world and the worst games in the world, but this just sucks. Also, have I told my Obama story in the newsletter yet? It is funny but equally stupid so I'm hiding it in this comment. When I was 12 years old, a friend and I decided to write a letter to the president, begging him to stop smoking. What the hell was my problem? I asked Barack to "think of Michelle and the girls" (no, seriously, what was wrong with me), and a few months later, Obama (AKA a very diligent aide) penned me back and thanked me for my concern for his health and wellbeing. He included a signed photo.
The final two episodes in The Amazing Race's first season are in Alaska. Teams fly to Anchorage, and are taken to Scotty Lake in Trapper Creek at North Country Bed and Breakfast. For our final three pairs, we have BFFs Rob and Brennan, separated parents Frank and Margarita and life partners Joe and Bill. I love Joe and Bill, but they take their sweet time on this Amazing Race, and eventually realize they are too far behind to catch up. By the time they arrive in Alaska, the other two teams have already finished the whole shebang.
Rob and Brennan and Frank and Margarita head to Matanuska Glacier after they receive a clue after being blanket-tossed up in the air to spot a route marker. You can tell the producers were lovinggg the Alaska finale, and were looking to check every box they could: blanket toss ✅ climbing walls of ice ✅ snowmachining ✅ snowshoeing ✅ dog sled rides ✅ polar plunging into a frozen lake ✅
BFFs Rob and Brennan made it to the finish line in New York City before Frank and Margarita, and became the first racers to win.
Producers loved Alaska so much they came back the next year in season 2 to check some more boxes, including: flying in a little plane ✅ igloos ✅ driving Snowcats ✅ clue encased in ice ✅ Hurricane Gulch mention ✅
Like the season before, the final two episodes feature Alaska, but after leaving AK, they head to San Fransisco instead of the east coast.
Season 9 of The Amazing Race was filmed in late 2005 and aired the following spring. Teams flew from Tokyo to Anchorage and were given clues to head to Mirror Lake and given a choice between Drill It or Deliver It – except the Deliver option was put on delay due to poor weather. So really, all the teams had to opt for Drill, which required them to drill 10 holes in the ice with an auger and go ice fishing for their next clue. If teams could have chosen Deliver, they would have had to load a bush plane with medical supplies and fly to Girdwood to deliver said supplies. The finish line for S9 was at Rocks Park and Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.
Kincaid Park ✅
Season 12 was filmed in the summer of 2007. Teams flew from Taipei to Anchorage and immediately headed to 6th Avenue Outfitters to gear up before heading out to the boat launch at Ship Creek. For their choice, players could either Cut the Cod, by cutting a 50-pound lingcod in search for a clue inside the fish, or Grab the Crab, where teams jumped into a boat's hold with 500+ live crabs and found the one marked with the Amazing Race colors.
Twentymile River ✅ Twenty-Mile Glacier ✅ helicopter ride to Merrill Field ✅ Goose Lake Park ✅ Sleeping Lady ✅
After discovering their next clue at the Captain Cook Statue at Resolution Park in downtown Anchorage, teams had to find the Salmon Hooker Statue (hooker? I hardly know her! I'm so sorry) at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. Obviously, I had to know more about her. Apparently she was inspired by the wild outfits sported by the school of 30 salmon swimming through downtown. I wish I could go see her. Our sweet Salmon Hooker provided teams with the final clue, and they crossed the finish line at the Girdwood Airport.
Season 23 has to be my favorite because of the filming location, which isn't Anchorage. The final teams travel Tokyo to Juneau, and have to take a boat to Grizzly Bar. One player from each team has to then take a ride in a bush plane and drop a bag of flour on a target for their next clue, which instructs them to take a helicopter to Norris Glacier.
Kayaking ✅ Ice crevasses and tunnels ✅ Blueberry Hills Trailhead ✅
The final Alaska task require teams to assemble totem poles to spell out, you guessed it, another clue. The finish line that season was at the Outer Point Loop Trail.
(total watch time: 1 day, 16 hours, 17 minutes)
Four years later, former 'Bachelor' contestant says she received a concussion on her season
During a hometown date on The Bachelor in 2021, one of the contestants went skydiving and hit the ground so hard that she got a concussion. It wasn't confirmed at the time, but Rachael Kirkconnell recently validated what many fans (myself included) had initially speculated.
Her landing is at the 2:24 mark. Also, the video title 😐
She commented on a Tiktok post someone made about the incident earlier this month. Apparently, Rachael had two black eyes, a concussion and does not remember filming her hometown date or talking to her family later that evening. She had to be airbrushed for the last two weeks of filming because of what her face looked like, she said.
We actually stopped filming for 3-4 hours they had to check me for brain bleeding/internal bleeding hahahaha, she wrote in a separate comment.
Rachael also corroborated that the scene of Matt running over to check on her right after the crash was completely staged. Which is not shocking, but more so just upsetting that her injuries were not taken care of with any sense of urgency.
Another commentor on Tiktok said, Did u know that video got posted on the skydiving subreddit and all the professionals were absolutely shocked?? It could have been so much worse. Rachael responded and said, tbh I was told by others on set that he had broken his ankle but he was not allowed to speak to me after and I was not allowed to speak to him either.
What I would give to look at the NDA these people sign.