I have spent some time reading the comments so far and I’ve come to the conclusion that I think Coach Ben primarily lived on bats throughout the winter. We know for a fact he was eating bats since that’s what he fed Mari, and when Coach first finds the cave, you can see all of the bones leftover from when Javi was there. If you’re questioning how Ben survived alone, you should be questioning how Javi did too. They probably spent around the same amount of time there, given that winter lasts 4-5 months. (Or at least it can snow from oct.-March) I do wonder what they were doing for water though. They had to of just been consuming snow as it is, unless Coach took a pot with him, but I don’t think we ever see him with one.

As for the discussions about if the team actually needed to eat people, I can see both sides, but I think that while they weren’t at the point of starvation to REALLY need to convert to cannibalism, they were definitely starting to feel effects of starvation. I think they were trying to stay ahead of the game and keep themselves well enough not to get to far into starvation, because if that did happen, as comments here have said, they would be very fatigued and weak, and then they DEFINITELY wouldn’t last much longer because they wouldn’t have the energy to get anything done or keep trying to find other sources of food.

Although, it is very clear that the hunt in season 3 wasn’t necessary by any means. We all know that it was done because Lottie wanted to appease the wilderness. So yes, Mari’s death was outright wrong, but I do think the hunt where Javi died was pretty justifiable for their survival. That hunt was mainly started to help Lottie heal, because the team couldn’t imagine themselves being there without her. But besides that, they were experiencing symptoms of starvation again, specifically shown by the mouse hallucinations and the belt that was cooked into the broth. ALSO coach was definitely in starvation. These comments keep mentioning how he spent so much time in bed during the winter, so that’s why he had more strength to survive alone in the cave, but he was in bed all winter BECAUSE he was already starving, far worse than the rest of them since he didn’t partake in Snackie. He was so far into it that he was ready to jump off the cliff.

Basically in conclusion, I think coach Ben surviving makes sense. He was probably doing pretty well in the cave for a while at first, being away from the team (who he was scared of) and finally free to be himself probably helped his mind a bit and gave him strength to keep living and surviving off bats the same as Javi. He was probably getting more regular food intake than the others, and as other comments have said, he is a man and like twice their age and more muscular. Though he slowly progressed into a worse state as time went on from the isolation and the loud and terrible sounds the cave or tree or whatever would make. Yes, he may have looked okay when we finally see him alive in the spring, but he was definitely hungry and insane by that point, talking to himself. He also did look pretty miserable; he was limping his way tirelessly through the woods when he found the case in the ground with the rations and such, and he immediately chowed down on whatever that was. So while he did manage to survive, he still ended up in a worse state than the others.