The Alone Season 9 Cast: Where Are They Now

Spoiler note: this post covers who won Alone Season 9.

Season 9 sent ten survivalists to Big River in the Nunatsiavut region of northern Labrador, about 35 kilometers south of Makkovik, cold and wet boreal terrain that punished every shelter and fire decision. It premiered May 26, 2022 with the standard $500,000 prize, and Juan Pablo Quiñonez won it at 78 days, becoming the first Latino champion in the show's history. Season details are on our Season 9 page.

The full cast, ordered by placement:

Contestant	Placement	Days	Background
Juan Pablo Quiñonez	1	78	Wilderness first responder
Karie Lee Knoke	2	75	Wilderness instructor
Teimojin Tan	3	63	Physician
Adam Riley	4	52	Treehouse builder
Jessie Krebs	5	46	Former SERE instructor
Tom Garstang	6	43	Prescribed-fire practitioner
Terry Burns	7	42	Commercial fisherman
Benji Hill	8	27	Hunting guide
Igor Limansky	9	20	Leadership consultant
Jacques Turcotte	10	15	Glacier guide

The winner and the runner-up

Juan Pablo Quiñonez, who grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico and settled in Pinawa, Manitoba, built his 78-day win around fishing and a takedown recurve bow, plus a -30°F sleeping bag for Labrador's cold, wet nights. He literally wrote the book on his approach: he is the author of Thrive, a long-term wilderness survival guide, and as of mid-2026 he is reported to be homesteading in Manitoba with his wife and working on further writing projects.

Karie Lee Knoke, 57 during filming, pushed to day 75, three days short of the win, before starvation and exhaustion forced her out. She continues to run the Sacred Cedars Wilderness School in Idaho, teaching wilderness skills.

The middle of the field

Teimojin Tan, a physician and former Canadian Armed Forces corporal, tapped on day 63 because he missed his family, then turned his experience into Survival Doctors, a project teaching wilderness medical skills. Adam Riley, the Arkansas treehouse builder who once completed an expedition across the Northwest Passage, starved out on day 52. Jessie Krebs, a former US Air Force SERE instructor, was evacuated with stomach inflammation on day 46; she founded O.W.L.S., which teaches wilderness survival to women. Tom Garstang, the South Africa-born prescribed-fire practitioner, fell and injured his back and knee on day 43. Terry Burns, the Homer, Alaska commercial fisherman, was pulled on day 42 with excessive weight loss and a parasitic infection.

The early exits

Benji Hill, a former world-champion powerlifter turned hunting and pack-goat guide, caught a giardia infection and was evacuated on day 27. Igor Limansky poured his energy into a heavy shelter build without securing a protein source and left on day 20 with heart palpitations and exhaustion. Jacques Turcotte, at 23 the youngest of the cast, tapped for his family on day 15 and married his girlfriend Catherine shortly after the season aired.

Why this cast stands out

Season 9 had one of the most professionally credentialed fields the show has run: a physician, a SERE specialist, a wilderness first responder, and a fisherman all in one cast, and the winner still came down to who managed calories and cold the longest. Our winners page has every champion for comparison, and the FAQ covers how Alone casts are selected in the first place.