Their children were home-schooled then later sent to a local high school. The couple was married in 1992 and have five daughters together she also had two boys from a previous marriage. Agnes was born in Noovrik and belonged to the Inupiak Tribe. Chip and Agnes Hailstone (2013-present)Įdward “Chip” Hailstone was born in Montana, and was 19 when he went to Alaska in 1988 for a visit, but never left. Sue had no idea how long she could run her business. In 2018, she said that the government took away her lease and gave her a temporary permit when they opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Rescue to commerce and drilling. Her two children were married, and they got together every year and had this ritual of talking about things she said or did that they didn’t like, and things that are great. Sue had two marriages – her second husband passed away after they were together for 17 years. An Alaskan resident gave her a rifle and some bullets and wished her the best! She learned to become self-sufficient, but felt sad after she made her first kill as she said, ‘Animals were my friends but they had to also become my food, and I had to quickly learn to separate the two.’ She got over feeling sorry for herself after a while, then learned to deal with her situation by thinking of it as an adventure. Sue was born in Chicago and lived from place to place until in 1975 when she was 12 and her mother left her father, and they moved to a village 80km north of Fairbanks, where she was then left to fend for herself. Surviving and coping with whatever challenges life threw at her was something she learned at a young age. It was not her last encounter with a bear, nor was it the only danger she had to protect herself from.
In 2007, a juvenile male bear caught her off guard and almost killed her, but she managed to shoot it, and called the troopers however, she had to stitch her wounds as she waited for 10 days before help reached her. With grizzlies as her neighbors, it was likely that she would get up close and personal with one. Amazon ran deliveries on Fairbanks and a bush plane delivered supplies to her. I crave extreme isolation.’ The only access to her camp was a small airstrip, but she had an internet connection so she could communicate with other people and run her business. For the rest of the year she lived alone, and enjoyed it too, saying ‘I thrive on the challenge. Hunters, scientific researchers, and tourists who wanted to experience the Arctic life stayed at her camp, as she offered logistical support. The nearest city was Fairbanks, 500 miles from her place, so she was really isolated, with people coming in from just June to September. She could only lease land on the North Slope, and to live there, she had to run a business. She owned and operated a ‘twisted’ bed and breakfast called the Kavik River Camp, located 80 miles or 130kms from the closest road. My break-in involves teeth, claws and a hell of a lot of bad weather.’ It sounded dramatic but this was real for 58-year-old Sue who lived in the middle of grizzly bear territory, 200 miles or 320kms north of the Arctic Circle, for about 20 years. The season finale of #LifeBelowZero: Next Generation airs tonight at 8/7c on National Geographic. When you live life on the grid and problems arise, you either have to fix it, or die. They face danger day in and day out whatever the season may be, so they are no ordinary people for choosing this way of life. Close to the Arctic Circle, winter is long and very cold, while summer is short and cool, with each day a challenge having to acquire the resources vital to their survival before the brutal winter sets in, and taking on the wildlife in the process. This BBC Studios-produced show features people living off the grid in often freezing temperatures in the remote part of the Alaskan wilderness. 2 What happened to the cast: “Life Below Zero” deaths.1.2 Chip and Agnes Hailstone (2013-present).