PNW Survival Games

09/04/2026

Our own Feral Cat is looking for folks from the PNW Survival Games community to come share what they know with a group of middle schoolers.

Cat started a Survival Skills & Bushcraft elective last year, and she’s looking to bring in more people from the community this year to give students some real, hands-on experience with the skills we spend so much time practicing ourselves.

Fire, shelter, navigation, bushcraft, identification, foraging, wilderness med, outdoor safety, preparedness, you name it. If you’ve got a wilderness skill you enjoy teaching, this might be right up your alley.

Since the elective is completely self-funded, Cat is also looking for gear and material donations to help give students the opportunity to actually get their hands on the tools and materials they’re learning with. Things like tarps, paracord, fire-starting tools, compasses, firewood, and other useful outdoor materials can make a big difference.

All the details are on the flyer 👆

If you’re interested in sharing your time, your skills, or some gear and supplies, reach out to Cat at [email protected] or DM Cat Laird on Instagram.

And if you know someone who’d be a great fit, tag them below. 🌲🔥

08/26/2026

Day Two. Challenge Four. Water Carry 🪵

30 minutes to learn how to build a log water vessel.
60 minutes to split, hollow, seal and bind your bucket.

Then a full sprint from river to cylinder.
First team to overflow, wins.

Big time thank you to our featured sponsor SilverAnt Outdoors who hooked up the winners with prizes that matched the effort.

Instructor Biko Wright walked teams through the build. Split one log into four wedges, hollow the inner corners, leave the bottom intact, reassemble, seal with peanut butter, and bind it tight with paracord.

Every step compounded. A messy split meant leaks. Too much peanut butter meant a mess. Too little binding meant the whole thing came apart on the first trip.

The tradeoff was real. Bigger hollow, more water per trip but more leakage. Tighter vessel, less capacity, but every drop makes it home. Teams could even harvest their own log from the property if they wanted to gamble the clock for a better piece of wood.

This year’s water challenge saw 25 teams navigate that balance under the clock, hauling load after load until the cylinders overflowed.

Adapt and overcome
Survival Games 2026

08/24/2026

When you think of survival, you probably don’t picture beautiful appetizers, organized buffet lines, hot coffee, generous portions, and 150 people ending every meal with full bellies.

But that is exactly what Peniche & Associates brought to the PNW Survival Games. ❤️

They didn’t just sponsor the Games. They took complete ownership of Basecamp and prepared and served six meals for approximately 150 competitors, instructors, volunteers, and staff.

That’s roughly 900 meals, plus an unbelievable amount of food, coffee, planning, preparation, service, and cleanup.

And you should know, Peniche & Associates is not a catering company. They are a business consulting firm that specializes in taking care of people.

They spent days at Costco and WinCo, made countless grocery-store runs, prepared food for hours, organized buffet lines, and made sure each person received a delicious, generously portioned meal.

They were the first ones awake, starting at 5:00 AM for coffee and breakfast, and the last ones to bed after dinner cleanup, getting everything ready to do it again.

Those behind-the-scenes details make all the difference in how people remember an experience and how cared for they feel.

The reviews were unanimous: the meals were incredible, Basecamp ran beautifully, and everyone felt welcomed, respected, loved, and completely spoiled.

LeeAnn Peniche sets the standard, and the Peniche team delivers.

To LeeAnn (aka Tony’s mom), Gena, Chelsea, Brianna, and everyone at Peniche & Associates: thank you for the preparation, early mornings, late nights, beautiful presentation, incredible food, and love you served with every plate.

You didn’t simply feed the PNW Survival Games. You took care of our people, and we will never forget it. ❤️

A special shout-out to the rest of the Peniche family who helped make this entire experience possible: Layla, Preston, Jackson, Fabian, and Thom! We sincerely appreciate your hard work and sacrifice. You gave up your weekend plans to volunteer, work your butts off, and serve others. It did not go unnoticed. Everyone could feel your love in the presentation and taste it in every bite.

08/21/2026

Day one. Challenge Three. Fire & Ice 🔥🥶

3 minutes in an ice bath..
Then straight to work.

Find dry wood. Split it. Flatten two surfaces. Using nothing but cotton, ash, friction and patience to create an ember.

From there, build a birds nest, turn that ember into flame and grow the fire until it burns through the rope and sends your team flag in the air.

Sounds simple until your hands are numb.

This challenge wasn’t just about making fire. It was about staying calm, communicating and doing the small things right when your body is telling you to rush.

Fire & Ice lived up to the name.

Survival Games 2026.

08/20/2026

Day one. Challenge Two. Hunting 🏹

30 minutes to learn how to build a bamboo hunting set.
60 minutes to construct your build, complete with arrows.
60 seconds to run the hunting gauntlet.

Our challengers can attest… bamboo is a difficult material to work with, especially your first time. But the underlying theme of the Games was simple: adapt and overcome.

This year’s hunting challenge saw 25 teams do exactly that.

Huge thanks to our sponsors who made it possible Big Shot Targets VIKTØS Black Arms Comp. Jxe Jxo NEAR ZERO David Horstman

Survival Games 2026

08/19/2026

Day one. Challenge one. Shelter. 🏕️

60 minutes to build a suspended platform bed and a canopy out of sticks, cordage, and whatever the forest gives you.

Then a rain test… 🌧️

One of you puts on an orange jumpsuit, climbs in and endures 60 seconds while it pours. Then we weigh the suit to determine which shelter would be most effective in a survival situation.

Lightest, driest build wins.
Simple. Miserable. Kind of great.

Shoutout to Dawk Dawkavich for building that impressive rain simulator!

Survival Games 2026

08/18/2026

Spend a weekend camping at the Molalla Ripple along the Molalla River, home of the PNW Survival Games!

08/13/2026

📺 TUNE IN TOMORROW MORNING!

The PNW Survival Games are hitting local TV one more time before the Games begin!

Tomorrow morning, Friday, August 14, Everyday Northwest will air a special Survival Games segment featuring interviews with Jacks Genega and Joel Van Der Loon, hosted by Jeremiah Stroup.

They’ll be talking about the Survival Games, the skills competitors will be learning, and what people can expect when the action kicks off this weekend.

🕘 Watch between 9:00–10:00 AM on Everyday Northwest

Can’t catch it live on TV? The segment will also be streaming through the KOIN+ app on:
📱 Roku
🔥 Amazon Fire TV
🍎 Apple TV

Huge thank you to Jeremiah Stroup and the Everyday Northwest team for helping us spread the word and for supporting the Survival Games as an unofficial media partner.

If you’re competing this weekend, coming out to watch, or you’ve just been curious what the Survival Games are all about, tune in tomorrow morning!

⚔️ THE GAMES BEGIN THIS WEEKEND.

08/13/2026

That is what we call a deadly accurate!! 🦌
After winning two years in a row Ean returns..
This time one of the mentors & instructors💪

08/11/2026

Competitors are getting some press coverage!! Check this out!

https://everythinggp.com/2026/08/10/peace-region-wilderness-influencers-to-compete-in-survival-competition/

A pretty exciting (and slightly terrifying) moment for Wicked Wilderness!

We recently had the chance to chat with Lyle West from 93.1 Big Country about our upcoming trip to Oregon to compete in the PNW Survival Games and Tanner Smith with EverythingGP who put together an article about our adventure!

We have to admit… we were probably more nervous doing the interviews than we are about heading into a survival competition 😂 Definitely outside our comfort zone, but we had a lot of fun doing it!

It’s pretty crazy seeing Wicked Wilderness in the news, and we’re incredibly excited to represent the Peace Region while taking on this next adventure.

Huge thanks to 93.1 Big Country and EverythingGP for having us!

If you’d like to check out the full article and radio interview, search “Wicked Wilderness EverythingGP” it should pop right up!

PNW Survival Games Big Country 93.1 FM Grande Prairie