Summary
With no amenities, no parents, no phone, and no WiFi — will these unprepared young adults survive in the Lakes?
This review of the Netflix reality series Snowflake Mountain season 1 does not contain spoilers.
Netflix has released the fun and quirky series Snowflake Mountain, a show where they take a bunch of entitled, lazy young adolescents (in their 20s) and put them through a survival retreat. Filmed in the beautiful Lake District with a global cast ranging from the USA to Warwickshire, the aim of the show is to help kick-start the participants into standing on their own two feet, with the added goal of a $50,000 cash prize at the end. Got to have rewards, right? With eight episodes lasting just under forty minutes each, this is a fun, easy binge-watch.
Netflix describes the series as “a funny, warm-hearted reality show which takes a bunch of clueless kidults who aren’t yet living to their full potential and puts them through their paces at a survival retreat”. And I have to agree. It was refreshing and, at times, hilarious, to watch these guys be taken completely out of their comfort zone and forced into situations alien to them and watch them navigate and make decisions, especially when they’ve packed items like miniskirts and nail varnish, so they are completely unprepared for this adventure. We watch the contestants learn how to skin animals for food, chop down trees for firewood and deal with one another to win a decent cash prize at the end.
Ran by Matt and Joel, former Navy and Army vets, who have spent most of their lives outside, the retreat take these contestants back to basics. Each episode has a lesson to be learned, such as self-sufficiency, responsibility, and adaptability. At times I really did feel bad for them because it’s not their fault they’ve been raised like this. The parents are as much to blame for these “snowflakes.” The most recent generations have been labeled “snowflakes” for not being as “tough” or “strong” as our parents and grandparents when for one, we really are, and two, you are the generation who have raised them, so take some responsibility for that. This recent generation is the ones who are brought up with technology and who are about creating boundaries, not surviving in the woods. I couldn’t tell if this series was to prove this opinion wrong or right. I do agree that people want instant success and don’t want to see and do the hard work behind it. That is clear when one girl drops out in the first episode and all they did was a hike.
I was shocked that some of these contestants are as old as 25. For me, some of the things in this series were very able things, which you learn in the girl guides, for example. I did like the element of teaching people that material possessions are not the most important things in life and that practical skills build character. Although, with a prize pot of $50,000, the contestants are then motivated by money rather than developing their skills. With fun commentary, and interviews, it has elements of other previous reality shows such as I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, The Simple Life, and Big Brother. I didn’t find it to have anything fresh or innovative, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining to watch. If you’re into your reality series, I highly recommend this series.
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