Where Is Sam Larson Now? Life After Winning Alone Season 5

Spoiler note: this covers who won season 5.

Sam Larson has one of the more satisfying arcs in the whole franchise. He showed up on season 1 as a 22-year-old and tapped out at day 55 after hitting a self-set goal of 50 days, right as a major storm rolled through the island. He came back four seasons later for the aptly named "Redemption" season and won outright, lasting 60 days in Mongolia's Selenge Province, longer than anyone else in that returning cast, per our season 5 page.

Between those two runs, Larson didn't just get lucky twice. He overhauled his approach, swapping his old DIY axe and canvas sleeping bag for a Hults Bruk axe and a -60°F rated bag, and carrying flour and trail mix instead of a fishing kit or bow. You can see the full list on his season 5 contestant page. Runner-up Britt Ahart tapped out at day 56 and third-place Larry Roberts left at day 41, both citing missing their families. Larson just kept going.

What he has been up to since

As of mid-2026, Larson is based back home near Lincoln, Nebraska, and has built a career around the same skills that won him the show. He founded Woodson Wilderness Education, running wilderness living courses and consulting, and he has written at least one book on wilderness living skills.

He is also reported to serve as a pastor at a church in Nebraska, which is a detail that keeps coming up in coverage of him and fits the more grounded, faith-and-family tone he struck even on camera in season 5. He is married with children, and by most accounts still teaches survivalism and bushcraft classes regularly.

Why his story resonates

Larson is the rare Alone contestant whose public narrative arc (loss, self-improvement, redemption) played out exactly the way reality competition editors dream about, except it was real. He didn't get a redemption edit handed to him. He rebuilt his kit from the ground up based on lessons from a specific failure (being underprepared for how brutal an extended storm and month two hunger really are) and it worked.

If you're newer to the franchise and want to see how a returning player actually changes their strategy season to season, his two contestant pages side by side are worth reading in order. Compare season 1 Sam Larson to season 5 Sam Larson and the gear shift alone tells half the story of why the second run ended differently.

For the wider picture of what Alone winners tend to do after the show, our winners page rounds up the whole list, and there is a real pattern of people either doubling down on outdoor education (like Larson) or staying mostly out of the spotlight entirely.