Marty Raney reflects on life in Alaska, reality TV

PALMER — No one was expecting the autograph and photo session that sprang up after the assembly at Palmer Junior Middle School Dec. 11.

But that’s what happened last month when Valley resident, mountaineer, musician, builder and TV personality Marty Raney spoke to about 200 Geography Bee finalists and honor roll students.

To these autograph-seekers, Raney is the crazy guy from Ultimate Survival Alaska who once used a chainsaw to cut through a cake — and the table it was on. You know, the sort of Alaskan guy who uses a snow ski to catch a 200-pound halibut?

Fans seeking autographs and photos are part of the reality of appearing in a TV show watched by millions around the globe, Raney said.

“It’s the peak of privilege to represent Alaska to an international audience,” he said.

But it has been hard to wrap his mind around, Raney said.

He never sought celebrity. Unbidden, it knocked at his door in Hatcher Pass one day in the form of a producer from National Geographic who pitched the idea of Ultimate Survival Alaska.

Raney said he could be ready in an hour.

The premise of the show is that teams of contestants are dropped off in remote Alaska to climb, trek, traverse, pack raft, rappel, portage, ford — survive — from Point A to Point B. Teams are sequestered for the 90 days of filming. They sleep outside and catch or forage whatever food they can to supplement the bags of dried beans and rice the show provides.

“It’s not an easy show,” Raney said. “It gets risky and dangerous.”

For example, he’s almost drowned twice in three seasons of filming, including once in the upcoming season, he said. During filming this summer he became pinned by the force of the water while rappelling down a waterfall on Six-Mile Creek in Hope. On a scale of 1 to 10, Raney said he was at an 8, thinking this is getting out of hand.

“No one knew I was having trouble,” he said.

Alaska, where life begins

Raney grew up in North Bend, Washington, staring at the Cascade Mountains from the windows of his high school and dreaming about going to Alaska to explore its villages, towns, rivers, mountain ranges, and lakes someday.

He left school and home when he was 16 and worked as a logger. He flew to Alaska in the cockpit of a 737 Alaska Airlines jet from Seattle, Washington, to Ketchikan with Duane Tibbles at the age of 18.

A few months later he flew back to Washington to marry Mollee Roestel before driving back to Alaska, and flying out to Prince of Wales Island that March.

“As far as I’m concerned, that’s when my life began,” Raney wrote in his online biography for the show.

Raney worked as a logger around Alaska for years, carved out a homestead in Haines, and hiked the Chilkoot Pass with his family when Melanee, Miles, Misty and Matthew were 2, 4, 6 and 8.

When the Raneys moved to the Wasilla area in 1979, it was the proximity to the mountains that drew them here.

“No job, no money, but plenty of mountains to climb and plenty of homes to build for the new Alaskan Pipeline workers,” he wrote.

The Raney family owns and operates the Alaska Stone and Log Company.

For 29 years he’s also been a guide on Denali. He was 28 the first time he climbed the Great One, and that adventure lead to an opportunity to guide expeditions with mountaineering legend Vern Tejas.

Which, in turn, led the Raney family to become the only family of six to have all climbed Denali, he said.

“For me the show is like winning the Alaska lottery,” Raney said. “Yes, I get paid. But the things I’ve seen, things we’ve done, eclipse any monetary gain.

“The money will get spent. But the memories will be there for a lifetime.”

Competing against athletes

half his age

Alaska is huge and in-state air travel here is expensive. Still, in his 42 years in Alaska, Raney thought he’d seen more than his fair share of the state. That is, until he joined the cast of Ultimate Survival Alaska.

During the past three seasons of filming, Raney said he’s flown in small planes to get to remote airports to connect with still smaller planes, helicopters, canoes or pack rafts to reach 33 remote Alaska locations he likely would have never experienced otherwise.

Raney described the series as a family show with a fan base ranging in age from elementary school students to senior citizens.

The first year, all four teams were made up of Alaskans. But Raney said many of those people weren’t invited back for the second season, including his son, Matt Raney.

Also returning for Seasons 2 and 3 was Willow resident and 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champ Dallas Seavey.

Season 3 begins Jan. 4 on the National Geographic Channel with teams “Military,” “Endurance,” “Alaskans,” and this season’s new team, “Lower 48.”

Tejas, a Talkeetna resident and prolific climber who has reached the summit of Denali 52 times, Everest 10 times, and completed the Seven Summits climbing challenge 10 times, joins Raney on Team Alaskans this year along with Tyler Johnson, 38 of Anchorage. Hope’s James Sweeney, 58, the other Alaskan on the show, competes for Team Lower 48.

Raney said that’s one of the differences between this and other reality TV shows — it’s all real. The footage of the man who only clipped into one line on a Tyrolean traverse and hit the rock wall on the other side nearly died on camera, Raney said.

“It will be a miracle if someone doesn’t get hurt or killed in this show,” he said. “It’s fun and games, but things do go wrong.”

Although he hates to admit it, Raney, 58, said he suspects he and Tejas, 61, represent the old guy demographic for the show’s primary audience, males ages 23 to 63. But that’s part of the fun — competing against Seavey, 27, and other world-class athletes half his age, Raney said.

“I beat them all the time.”

‘Every one of you has dreams’

But Raney isn’t just a mountaineer and adventurer. He’s also a musician. So of course he packs a guitar when he climbs. Raney said that’s how he’s ended up in numerous documentaries, films, books and commercials in countries such as Japan, the United Kingdom, China, the U.S., Canada, Norway, and Switzerland.

Raney included a couple of video clips of him playing guitar with Tejas on the summit of Denali when he spoke to middle school students in Palmer last month.

Among students’ questions for Raney was why he climbs mountains. He said the answer is adventure. He said climbing Denali isn’t dissimilar to their hiking experiences.

“It’s like climbing the Butte, only a little taller, a little colder, and a little longer,” Raney said. “But when you get to the top the view changes.”

He said he was a kid their age when he began dreaming of exploring Alaska and seeing the view from the top of Denali.

“Every one of you has dreams — I just know it,” Raney said. “That’s the most beautiful thing about youth.”

He told students that mountain climbing and other adventure sports are risky. The best way to minimize risk is by being smart, he said.

“The most dangerous place most of you are ever going to go is Hatcher Pass,” he told students.

Raney said he has struggled with the fame that arrived with that knock at his door three years ago. He said he still feels unworthy of the honor.

“Some people use fame in irresponsible ways,” Raney said. “I see it as a responsibility. It forces me to be good because I don’t want to be a bad example.”

The Alaska life he and Mollee made for themselves is better than fiction, he said. You don’t need sponsors or a role in national TV show to be happy, he said.

“Listen. Live. Explore,” Raney wrote. “North. South. East. West. Pick one — we chose North.”

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.