bear grylls
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Nature's Hope
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BEAR GRYLLS
Every year the death toll on Mount Everest rises, and for every six mountaineers who make it to the top, one will die. Yet at 7.22am on May 26th 1998, Bear entered The Guinness Book of Records by becoming the youngest, and one of only around thirty, British climbers to have successfully climbed Everest and returned alive. He was only 23 years old.
The actual ascent took Bear over ninety days of extreme weather, limited sleep and running out of oxygen deep inside the 'death zone' (above 26,000 feet). On the way down from his first reconnaissance climb, Bear was almost killed in a crevasse at 19,000 feet. The ice cracked and the ground disappeared beneath him, he was knocked unconscious and came to swinging on the end of a rope. His team-mate and that rope saved his life.
Previously, in 1997, Bear had become the Youngest Briton to climb Mount Ama Dablam in the Himalayas (22,500 feet), a peak once described by Sir Edmund Hillary as unclimbable'.
Prior to the Everest Expedition, Bear, also a Karate Black Belt, spent three years with the British Special Air Service (21 SAS). What makes his story even more remarkable is that during this time he suffered a free-fall parachuting accident in Africa where he broke his back in three places. After months and months of rehabilitation, focusing always on his childhood dream of Everest, he slowly became strong enough to attempt the ultimate ascent of the world's highest peak.
Bear has a natural talent for communication and his speaking has brought him worldwide acclaim. He speaks to corporations all around the world on his experiences on the mountain and how these can help us in our business environments. He is among the youngest and most successful motivational speakers in the world.
Bear's first book, ‘Facing Up', went into the top-10 best seller list, and was launched in the USA titled, ‘The Kid who climbed Everest'. Worldwide this book has touched people through its honesty, courage and humility. Bear is always a popular guest on television shows, which have included, amongst many others, the Oprah Show and Jay leno's Tonight show in the USA and in the UK: BBC's': Friday night with Jonathon Ross, Heaven and Earth, BBC's Ready Steady Cook, Channel Four's Richard & Judy, GMTV, and radio programmes such as Radio 1, Radio 2 & Five Live.
In 2003 Bear successfully completed another world breaking expedition, (click here), leading a team across the North Atlantic Arctic Ocean in a small open rigid inflatable boat. Suffering weeks of frozen spray and icebergs, the expedition was filmed for a documentary, and was raising funds for the Prince's Trust charity. The book on this remarkable journey, 'Facing the Frozen Ocean', and was short-listed as Sports Book of the Year, and Bear was awarded an Honorary commission in the Royal Navy for this record-breaking feat.
Bear was also recently used by the UK Ministry of Defense to head the Army's anti-drugs TV campaign, and featured in the first ever major advertising campaign for the world renowned shop: Harrods. His first major TV Series was for Channel Four, called ‘Escape to the Legion', where he went through simulated basic training with the Legionaires in North Africa and told the story of what it is really like to join the French Foreign Legion.
On the back of the success of the Foreign Legion Documentary, Bear was commissioned to present 13 x 1-hour programmes for a TV Series called 'Man Vs Wild' on Discovery Channel Worldwide, plus also an 8-part TV Series for Channel Four titled 'Born Survivor: Bear Grylls'. These feature Bear being parachuted in to some of the most inhospitable deserts, jungles and mountains on earth with next to nothing, and showing us how to survive…the hard way!
(Oh, and in between all this, he became the first man to fly a powered paraglider above Mount Everest, raising over $1million in the process for Global Angels charity. Well, at least no-one can say he ain't busy!)
Bear lives with his wife Shara on a boat on the Thames in London, and also on a small Welsh island. They have two little boys called Jesse and Marmaduke. They are the pride of Bear's eyes.
WHO IS YOUR HERO?
