AnyPlace Wild Kicks
Off New Season On PBS
By Esther Yu

For adventure lovers and those who seek the beauty of the outdoors, Anyplace Wild kicks off its third season Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. EST on PBS with a special hour-long expedition in British Columbia. Anyplace Wild is an adventure series which combines history, culture, and expeditions into thirty-minute episodes.

"Basically what we wanted to do with each show is to tell a good story based on the wilderness and a wilderness trip," says John Viehman, executive producer and series host for Anyplace Wild. Viehman defines a wilderness trip as one where you discover more about a beautiful place in a way it has not been portrayed before--a place where the conclusion of you journey is not always known when you head into it.

This year, the thirteen episodes span the United States and Canada. Episodes feature a variety of outdoor pursuits, from rock climbing in Zion National Park, Utah, to hiking and paddling in British Columbia. Other activities include dogsledding, snowshoeing, outrigger canoeing, swimming and hiking expeditions, volcano hiking, sea kayaking, canoeing, and canyoneering.

Each of these wilderness trips is hosted by either Viehman, or one of two co-hosts: Annie Getchell or Arlene Burns. Each show features an expert guest acclimated to each place they visit or adventure they undertake. Viehman explains that destinations are often chosen by drawing on story ideas from the staff at Backpacker magazine, which owns and produces Anyplace Wild, according to Karen Bruce, communications director for the show. Or, sometimes people contact the show's staff and inform them of a place or a possible guest. " ... I like to travel with interesting people who know something about the area I'm in or the activity I'm doing. They are usually a lot more knowledgeable than I am. I'm really counting on them to fill in some gaps in my knowledge base so I come out having really felt like I learned something about it," says Viehman.

This desire to pool knowledge into an interesting and entertaining show is obvious from the series premiere, where Viehman chooses an expedition through British Columbia with the Canadian historians and brothers Geoffrey Peake and Sean Peake, as well as Viehman's own brother, Tommy Viehman. The group follows the latter part of Alexander Mackenzie's route. Mackenzie was the first European to record a journey across North America. The Peake brothers are also avid paddlers, according to a news release from Anyplace Wild. After the group of four hikes British Columbia's Tweedsmuir Provincial Park they paddle the route to the sea. This is a show where the viewer can discover new places and perhaps gain the desire to go there themselves someday.

Viehman says one of the advantages of the show is that there are no pre-conditions to watching it as it is not demanding like preparing and going on the trip. Although, there is no higher compliment to the Anyplace Wild staff than when people are inspired to really go on the trip after watching an episode. "My role (as a host) is to be the 'average human being'. Viehman says. He feels he has fulfilled his roles "if as you're watching the show your feeling is 'If that guy can do it, I can do it,'" he stated.

He is an avid outdoorsman, but says his outdoor interests don't make him an expert on every type of outdoor activity. It is obvious that he is not experienced at all the activities he hosts, and this puts him in dicey situations, he says. "I get scared all the time. I think anyone that doesn't get scared is probably dangerous in general when you are dealing with such a range of experiences and situations." He mentions trying to bungee jump of a bridge in New Zealand for a previous show. "I turned pretty green. I came up to the lip three times before I finally jumped," Viehman remembers.

Fortunately, the Anyplace Wild crew is very safety-conscious, and everybody watches out for each other. They double and triple check everything to ensure safety. Though, in the wild, there are often unexpected elements. "We were swarmed by killer bees down in Belize and we couldn't do anything except run like crazy," Viehman says.

For this series and on other adventures, Viehman and the co-hosts have undoubtedly had their share of wild experiences. According to a news release, Viehman has been at Backpacker magazine since 1988 -and now works as its publisher. He formed the concept for Anyplace Wild after three years as host and series director of Trailside: Make Your Own Adventure. His love of the outdoors includes backpacking, canoeing, sea kayaking and backcountry skiing.

Both co-host have also had their parts in the Trailside: Make Your Own Adventure series. Annie Getchell is a registered Maine Guide. She is also a former Canoe Magazine staffer and a former contributing editor to Backpacker magazine. She has also written for several other outdoor magazines and authored her own outdoor book, The Essential Outdoor Gear Manual: Equipment Care & Repair for Outdoorspeople. Co-host Arlene Burns has had her photography and writing appear in several outdoor publications, too. These include Summit Magazine, Escape, and Women's Sport & Fitness. She was also Meryl Streep's rafting coach, trainer, and stunt double in the movie The River Wild.

After the season premiere, Anyplace Wild will be showing Sunday on PBS, 2:30 - 3 p.m., EST. More detail about each episode can be found at the Anyplace Wild Web site: www.backpacker.com/anyplacewildtv

Esther Yu is a new contributor to GearReview.com