The Bear's necessities
Tear bear brunch ... British adventurer Bear Grylls, a former SAS soldier, rips into a raw dead fish and also drinks the blood from a knifed turtle
By CAROLINE IGGULDEN
March 02, 2007
MEN don’t come much tougher than daredevil climber and adventurer Bear Grylls.
When he was 23 he climbed Everest — then the youngest Briton to reach the top of the world’s highest mountain.
He has crossed the Arctic Ocean unassisted in an inflatable boat.
These are just two examples of his record-breaking expeditions. Oh, and he did them after recovering from breaking his back in a parachute accident while serving with the SAS in Africa.
There is no doubt that Bear, 32, the son of late Tory MP and climber Sir Michael Grylls, is a hard nut.
But his new C4 show, Born Survivor, tested him to the limit.
Bear is dropped from a helicopter into some of the world’s most hostile jungles, deserts, mountain ranges and swamps armed with just a water bottle, penknife and piece of flint.
He then embarks on an extraordinary journey, usually lasting between three and five days, to find his way out.
The dad-of-two says: “I have been to all sorts of places — the Amazon, the Moab Desert in Utah, the Andes, Florida’s Everglades.
“The production guys go: ‘Where is a really bloody nightmare place to go where people get into trouble and die? Let’s send Bear there.’ ”
But Bear reckons combating hostile terrain isn’t half as bad as his biggest fear — being a TV presenter.
He says: “I was very clear with C4. I don’t want to be a presenter. It is not my job. But they just let me do my stuff and explain as I was going along.”
The programme sees Bear carry out death-defying, dangerous and sometimes downright dIsgusting feats.
One stomach-churning moment sees him scoop a live turtle out of an Everglade swamp, stab a knife in its shell then thirstily drink the blood. In another scene he WEES over his headscarf then wraps it round his face to keep him cool as he treks across a desert.
Bear ... jungle survival
Ironically, Bear agreed to do the show because he thought it would be safer than some of his other projects now he is a family man.
He and wife Shara, 31, have two kids — Jesse, three, and Marmaduke, ten months.
Bear says: “I have children so I don’t really like to do the big expeditions any more, I know there is always a good chance you won’t come back.
“I thought this show would be a less risky option . . . though that theory backfired a bit. But all the stuff I am doing is what I have always loved to do, it is what I thrive on, it is when I come alive.
“I am my own man out there and I use my instincts to assess the dangers. Although I have to admit I have been absolutely bloody terrified at times.”
Bear has experienced some hair-raising animal encounters while filming but says the real hero is his cameraman.
During the day Bear is shadowed on the ground by the cameraman. He gets picked up by helicopter in the evening, leaving the adventurer all alone with his own small camera.
Bear says: “I think the worst moment came a couple of weeks ago in Australia’s Outback.
“I was really hungry and found this fairly big python which I thought would make a great meal.
“But it was 42°C with 100 per cent humidity, so I knew as soon as I killed it, it would start to go off and I wanted to eat it in the evening.
“So I carried this thing LIVE for the last few hours of my day. The place I wanted to set up camp was the other side of this big river so I held my tent in my hand and dived in.
And Bear matter-of-factly tells of another episode involving a MAN-EATING SHARK.
He recalls: “I was on a raft I had built to get away from a tiny island in the South Pacific where I had been marooned.
“I decided to jump into the sea to take a dip. But just as I was in mid air I saw the massive head of a Tiger Shark swim under the raft. I landed on top of him. I think he was as scared as me and sped off. I was so terrified I peed in my pants, something I hadn’t done in a long time.
“The shark came back and flicked its tail at me then circled the raft for 20 minutes. That was quite an uncomfortable and close call.
“I had quite a few incidents with alligators and crocodiles, too, and they are pretty nasty brutes. I had to swim underwater in an alligator-infested river in the Everglades.”
Bear wouldn’t like people to think his tasks are easy. He says: “I really struggle with so many of these things. Just a few weeks ago I was in the middle of the Amazon lost, with no food and no shelter.
“It was torrential rain and I was sat there with my pants and trousers stuck to me. And I thought, ‘Bear, what the hell are you doing’.
“But the next day the sun came out, I made a bow and arrow and shot a load of piranhas in the river and had a great barbecue.
“That is all part of survival, it is about keeping your spirits up and using your imagination. It is like life in a nutshell, you have your ups and downs.”
Despite the close shaves, Bear reckons the most challenging aspect lies in the UK.
He says: “Leaving my family is the most difficult part about any expedition. Shara is unbelievably loving and patient. I find it very hard to be apart.
“She always asks if I can do an episode in the local park or something. And now he is older, Jesse always cries when I leave. Walking away when he is in tears is without doubt a thousand times harder than anything else.
“By the same token, coming back is always the highlight of a trip. When Shara puts me in a bubble bath with the boys she says, ‘I wish people could see you now, they wouldn’t think you were so tough’. ”
Bear splits his time at home between living on a houseboat in London and on a small Welsh island.
Deep down, does Bear really crave an ordinary job?
He says: “I sometimes get office envy when I visit friends at work.
“But seriously, I would be unemployable at anything else.
“This is what I was brought up to do. I am good on my own and I have never passed an exam in my life.
“Plus I really thrive on it. The highlight of the series for me came at 4am, when I came across a zebra that had been brought down by lions.
“I sliced raw flesh off the neck, it was still warm. The meat was so strong it was dIsgusting, like steak covered in mosquito repellent. But how many men get the chance to do something like that?”
Bear’s experiences would make most people feel they could survive anything.
But he adds: “I have seen so many friends who I thought were invincible die in climbing accidents or get taken by avalanches.
“If I have learned anything from this experience it would be that nature is the big boy and all we are doing is trying to live alongside it.”
Born Survivor: Bear Grylls is on Channel 4 in Britain tomorrow at 7pm.
thesun.co.uk
Tear bear brunch ... British adventurer Bear Grylls, a former SAS soldier, rips into a raw dead fish and also drinks the blood from a knifed turtle
March 02, 2007
MEN don’t come much tougher than daredevil climber and adventurer Bear Grylls.
When he was 23 he climbed Everest — then the youngest Briton to reach the top of the world’s highest mountain.
He has crossed the Arctic Ocean unassisted in an inflatable boat.
These are just two examples of his record-breaking expeditions. Oh, and he did them after recovering from breaking his back in a parachute accident while serving with the SAS in Africa.
There is no doubt that Bear, 32, the son of late Tory MP and climber Sir Michael Grylls, is a hard nut.
But his new C4 show, Born Survivor, tested him to the limit.
Bear is dropped from a helicopter into some of the world’s most hostile jungles, deserts, mountain ranges and swamps armed with just a water bottle, penknife and piece of flint.
He then embarks on an extraordinary journey, usually lasting between three and five days, to find his way out.
The dad-of-two says: “I have been to all sorts of places — the Amazon, the Moab Desert in Utah, the Andes, Florida’s Everglades.
“The production guys go: ‘Where is a really bloody nightmare place to go where people get into trouble and die? Let’s send Bear there.’ ”
But Bear reckons combating hostile terrain isn’t half as bad as his biggest fear — being a TV presenter.
He says: “I was very clear with C4. I don’t want to be a presenter. It is not my job. But they just let me do my stuff and explain as I was going along.”
The programme sees Bear carry out death-defying, dangerous and sometimes downright dIsgusting feats.
One stomach-churning moment sees him scoop a live turtle out of an Everglade swamp, stab a knife in its shell then thirstily drink the blood. In another scene he WEES over his headscarf then wraps it round his face to keep him cool as he treks across a desert.
Bear ... jungle survival
Ironically, Bear agreed to do the show because he thought it would be safer than some of his other projects now he is a family man.
He and wife Shara, 31, have two kids — Jesse, three, and Marmaduke, ten months.
Bear says: “I have children so I don’t really like to do the big expeditions any more, I know there is always a good chance you won’t come back.
“I thought this show would be a less risky option . . . though that theory backfired a bit. But all the stuff I am doing is what I have always loved to do, it is what I thrive on, it is when I come alive.
“I am my own man out there and I use my instincts to assess the dangers. Although I have to admit I have been absolutely bloody terrified at times.”
Bear has experienced some hair-raising animal encounters while filming but says the real hero is his cameraman.
During the day Bear is shadowed on the ground by the cameraman. He gets picked up by helicopter in the evening, leaving the adventurer all alone with his own small camera.
Bear says: “I think the worst moment came a couple of weeks ago in Australia’s Outback.
“I was really hungry and found this fairly big python which I thought would make a great meal.
“But it was 42°C with 100 per cent humidity, so I knew as soon as I killed it, it would start to go off and I wanted to eat it in the evening.
“So I carried this thing LIVE for the last few hours of my day. The place I wanted to set up camp was the other side of this big river so I held my tent in my hand and dived in.
And Bear matter-of-factly tells of another episode involving a MAN-EATING SHARK.
He recalls: “I was on a raft I had built to get away from a tiny island in the South Pacific where I had been marooned.
“I decided to jump into the sea to take a dip. But just as I was in mid air I saw the massive head of a Tiger Shark swim under the raft. I landed on top of him. I think he was as scared as me and sped off. I was so terrified I peed in my pants, something I hadn’t done in a long time.
“The shark came back and flicked its tail at me then circled the raft for 20 minutes. That was quite an uncomfortable and close call.
“I had quite a few incidents with alligators and crocodiles, too, and they are pretty nasty brutes. I had to swim underwater in an alligator-infested river in the Everglades.”
Bear wouldn’t like people to think his tasks are easy. He says: “I really struggle with so many of these things. Just a few weeks ago I was in the middle of the Amazon lost, with no food and no shelter.
“It was torrential rain and I was sat there with my pants and trousers stuck to me. And I thought, ‘Bear, what the hell are you doing’.
“But the next day the sun came out, I made a bow and arrow and shot a load of piranhas in the river and had a great barbecue.
“That is all part of survival, it is about keeping your spirits up and using your imagination. It is like life in a nutshell, you have your ups and downs.”
Despite the close shaves, Bear reckons the most challenging aspect lies in the UK.
He says: “Leaving my family is the most difficult part about any expedition. Shara is unbelievably loving and patient. I find it very hard to be apart.
“She always asks if I can do an episode in the local park or something. And now he is older, Jesse always cries when I leave. Walking away when he is in tears is without doubt a thousand times harder than anything else.
“By the same token, coming back is always the highlight of a trip. When Shara puts me in a bubble bath with the boys she says, ‘I wish people could see you now, they wouldn’t think you were so tough’. ”
Bear splits his time at home between living on a houseboat in London and on a small Welsh island.
Deep down, does Bear really crave an ordinary job?
He says: “I sometimes get office envy when I visit friends at work.
“But seriously, I would be unemployable at anything else.
“This is what I was brought up to do. I am good on my own and I have never passed an exam in my life.
“Plus I really thrive on it. The highlight of the series for me came at 4am, when I came across a zebra that had been brought down by lions.
“I sliced raw flesh off the neck, it was still warm. The meat was so strong it was dIsgusting, like steak covered in mosquito repellent. But how many men get the chance to do something like that?”
Bear’s experiences would make most people feel they could survive anything.
But he adds: “I have seen so many friends who I thought were invincible die in climbing accidents or get taken by avalanches.
“If I have learned anything from this experience it would be that nature is the big boy and all we are doing is trying to live alongside it.”
Born Survivor: Bear Grylls is on Channel 4 in Britain tomorrow at 7pm.
thesun.co.uk
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