Who Are the Finalists on Alone Season 13?

Alone Season 13 has finally narrowed its World Championship field down to three survivalists after months in the Arctic Circle. Aaron Barnard, Nero Buys and Žiga Ogorelec are the three finalists still competing heading into the Season 13 finale, and each man has reached this point through a very different survival strategy.

Aaron has relied heavily on trapping and has caught an extraordinary number of snowshoe hares, but the lack of fat in his diet has become a serious concern. Nero has maintained a more balanced food situation while drawing on years of military, outdoor and cold-weather experience. Žiga changed the shape of the entire competition after killing a moose, giving himself the biggest visible food reserve among the remaining contestants.

With all three surviving Episode 12, the finale now comes down to who can manage his body, food supply and mental state for the longest.

Who is Aaron Barnard? He Is the Canadian Finalist

Aaron Barnard is a 40-year-old tradesman from British Columbia, Canada. He was born in Haida Gwaii and later moved to Prince George, where he grew up on a small hobby farm and developed an early connection to hunting, fishing and outdoor life through his father.

Related: Alone Season 13 Episode 12 Recap: Who Makes It to the Finale?

Aaron also entered Alone with a deeply personal motivation. Part of his journey has been about honoring his late friend Travis, who died during a rafting trip into a hunting area. That emotional connection gives Aaron’s season additional weight because the competition represents more than a cash prize or survival challenge for him.

His actual survival strategy has revolved heavily around trapping. By Episode 12, Aaron says he has caught more than 90 snowshoe hares, an incredible total that demonstrates how effective his trap line has been. On paper, that amount of food sounds like it should put him in a comfortable position.

Instead, the opposite problem has emerged. Rabbit meat is extremely lean, and Aaron’s body increasingly appears to be suffering from a lack of dietary fat. He struggles to stay warm, moves more slowly and finds routine tasks such as gathering firewood much harder than before.

Aaron nevertheless continues refusing to quit. His physical condition may be the weakest of the final three, but his ability to keep working despite obvious deterioration makes him difficult to count out completely.

Who is Nero Buys? He Represents Australia Final Three

Nero Buys is a 40-year-old outdoor educator from New South Wales, Australia, with one of the most varied backgrounds among the Season 13 finalists. He originally trained as a boilermaker and welder before joining the Australian Army, where he worked as a fitter machinist and armourer.

During his military career, Nero served for seven years and deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. He also worked within Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment, giving him professional experience with discipline, pressure and difficult environments long before he appeared on Alone.

His priorities changed after learning that his wife Jen was expecting their son, Lockie. Nero eventually left the military and spent several years as a stay-at-home father before becoming more deeply involved in bushcraft and outdoor education.

He later began teaching survival courses and helped create NaturePost, an outdoor program focused on helping children and families develop a stronger connection to nature. Before entering Alone, Nero also spent two consecutive winters in Canada’s boreal forest to build the cold-weather experience he knew would be important in the competition.

That preparation appears to have paid off. Nero reaches the final stage in relatively balanced condition, and Episode 12 shows that he has been combining snowshoe hare with beaver fat rather than relying entirely on lean meat.

His late catch of a 70-centimeter pike also gives him a significant boost. The fish provides additional food, but more importantly, it restores Nero’s confidence after a period in which exhaustion and isolation had made him question whether his body was beginning to shut down.

Who is Žiga Ogorelec? He Is the Slovenian Finalist

Žiga Ogorelec is a 35-year-old biologist from Kočevje, Slovenia. He grew up in one of the country’s wildest regions and eventually earned a PhD in Germany before continuing his research career in Ljubljana.

Long before competing on Alone, Žiga had already built an extensive wilderness background alongside his younger brother Miha. Their experiences included winter trips without food, knife-only excursions and long-distance survival challenges designed to test both physical endurance and practical bushcraft skills.

The brothers later founded a bushcraft and survival school, turning those experiences into formal instruction. Žiga’s previous challenges also included a roughly 270-kilometer solo journey without food, demonstrating that prolonged discomfort and hunger were not completely unfamiliar to him before Season 13.

His biggest accomplishment on Alone is unquestionably killing a moose. That moment fundamentally changes Žiga’s food situation and gives him a resource that neither Aaron nor Nero can currently match.

However, Episode 12 proves that having a moose does not mean Žiga can simply coast to victory. He continues losing weight despite eating large amounts of meat every day and becomes increasingly focused on extracting fat from every possible part of the animal.

He uses bones, marrow, organs and other remaining pieces to maximize his calorie intake, while also setting additional hare snares rather than assuming his existing food will carry him indefinitely. That cautious approach may ultimately be one of his biggest strengths.

Who Is in the Best Position to Win Alone Season 13?

Based on the situation at the end of Episode 12, Žiga appears to have the strongest food reserve because of his moose. He potentially has enough meat to continue for several more weeks, giving him a huge advantage in a competition where food shortages usually determine how long contestants can remain.

Nero may have the most balanced overall position. He passes his medical check without receiving a weight warning, still has access to multiple food sources and finishes Episode 12 with a major pike catch that improves both his nutrition and his confidence.

Aaron appears to be in the most dangerous physical condition. His extraordinary success trapping rabbits has kept him fed, but the lack of fat is taking a visible toll, and even Aaron acknowledges that his body may only have a limited amount of time left.

That does not necessarily mean Aaron is finished. Alone has repeatedly shown that mental endurance can keep contestants going much longer than their physical appearance suggests, and Aaron has already demonstrated an exceptional willingness to suffer.

The finale therefore remains difficult to predict. Žiga has the strongest food advantage, Nero may have the best overall balance and Aaron could still survive through sheer persistence if his body allows him to continue.

When Is the Alone Season 13 Finale?

The Alone Season 13 finale is Episode 13, titled Worlds Apart, and airs September 9, 2026. The episode will determine which of the final three survivalists becomes the first winner of the Alone World Championship.

Season 13 began with ten international contestants competing in the Arctic Circle for a $500,000 prize. After nearly 80 days, only Aaron Barnard, Nero Buys and Žiga Ogorelec remain.

All three have taken completely different paths to the finale, which is precisely what makes the ending difficult to call. Aaron has survived through relentless trapping, Nero has relied on a broad combination of wilderness skills and Žiga has built his position around one of the season’s biggest hunting successes.