Bear Grylls Adventurer

[warpedskydiver 0]

Bear Grylls Adventurer

Age: 30

Occupation: Writer and mountaineer

In a few short years Bear Grylls has earned himself a reputation for being one of Britain’s most notable, and youngest, adventurers. In 1998, at the age of 23, he became the youngest British climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest and return alive. He braved Arctic conditions and icebergs when he led an expedition across the North Atlantic Ocean in a small open inflatable boat and he led the first attempt to fly motorised parachutes over Angel Falls in Venezuela.

What makes his achievements so remarkable is that just a few years before climbing the world's highest mountain, he was hospitalised with a back broken in three places. Bear had spent three years with the SAS when a routine parachute exercise in southern Africa went terribly wrong. His canopy ripped in two and he fell 500 metres, smashing into the desert at tremendous speed and leaving him unable to feel his legs.

'For me it was the darkest time, I should really be paralysed,' he says. 'But if this taught me anything it was not to listen too hard to what doctors tell you.'

He spent the next year in rehabilitation, but it was not until about nine months into his recovery that he found his focus. With his military career effectively over, Bear directed his efforts on trying to get well enough to fulfil his childhood dream of climbing Everest. After achieving this goal, Bear didn’t stop there and quickly totted up an outstanding list of achievements. And he’s always thinking ahead to the next one.

Surprisingly, Bear still skydives. In fact, over a few weeks in May and June 2005 he made more than 200 parachute jumps as part of the training for his next feat – to enter The Guinness Book of Records for holding the highest formal dinner party.

So what made Bear want to take a band of merry men into the desert to join the Foreign Legion?

Nobody really knows much about the Legion, so Bear thought it would be an interesting challenge to lift the lid on this mysterious outfit by showing the training regime. And what better way to do this than by signing up himself.

It was an extremely tough and arduous process of attrition, says Bear. It wasn’t the physical demands that he found so hard; he is after all extremely fit and compared to the SAS the standard of fitness and training of the Legion was relatively low, he says. It was, rather, the sheer brutality of the training methods and the level of control over the legionnaires that made it so gruelling and so much harder than the SAS. 'You get no sleep and spend your day doing meaningless tasks, like breaking rocks in the desert,' he says.

Despite having to be there to help encourage the other legionnaires not to quit, Bear found himself doubting on a daily basis whether he would be able to complete the training himself. Being the presenter of the programme, this could have posed a problem, especially since there was no contingency plan for him dropping out. But at the time this was the least of his worries. 'You are continuously shouted and screamed at, you are allowed no possessions, not even a watch. It’s all about control,' he says. Each day you get weaker and weaker. 'You’re whole life is ruled by a whistle.

What made you join the Legion?
Channel 4 asked me to come up with an idea for a new series. I chose a series about the Foreign Legion because I have always been fascinated by its mystique, ever since reading Beau Geste as a child.

What was good about the experience?
The real bonds of friendship that developed between some of the recruits. I genuinely hadn’t expected to make proper friends, but ended up meeting some lovely, gorgeous people.

What was bad about the experience?
It was physically and mentally exhausting. I hadn’t expected it to be so tough, having spent several years in the SAS. Nobody shouted at you in the SAS – this was far worse.

What did you learn from the experience?
It reinforced a lot of lessons I had learnt in the army and while out on various expeditions. I learnt how much we need other people and how OK it is to be intimate with others and display vulnerability in front of others.

Any regrets?
No.

What would you do differently?
I wouldn’t do it again. It was a very high risk for me, for a number of reasons and I feel that I put myself on the line, both physically and mentally. Sometimes, though, you have to go out on a limb.

What do you think of the Legion's approach to team-building?
I hated it. I hate the whole approach of breaking people down to build them back up. It might make sense in the Legion, where they’re a bunch of reprobates, but the approach I experienced in the British Army was totally different.

Any advice for anyone thinking of joining the Legion?
Don’t do it – however miserable your life might seem.

Did you get a sense of achievement from taking part and has it lasted?
Massively – I’m genuinely proud of the achievement and feel that the right people made it through to the end of the challenge.

What makes a survivor?

I used a psychometric questionnaire to ascertain how team members typically behave towards others and how they like others to behave towards them. The questionnaire was developed by a US Navy psychologist to analyse what made some submarine crews perform so much better than others. Results from the questionnaire provide some useful clues as to whether team members are social animals or loners, whether they want to engage in deep and meaningful relationships with others and whether they prefer to take orders or give them.

There was no neat, clear, pattern running through the answers. The recruits, both survivors and those that left early, had a range of scores relating to sociability and emotional involvement. True, most of the recruits had very high scores on leadership behaviour, and those who survived had particularly high scores on controlling behaviour, suggesting a real need to make decisions and call the shots.

Based on my observations, interviews and psychometric profiling, I think three main factors marked out the survivors from the non-survivors. First, the survivors were all highly controlled (and controlling) individuals, even if their previous life experiences hadn’t brought out their innate self-discipline. Second, the survivors were generally adept at stepping out of their immediate situation, however horrible, and remembering that the experience was finite and time-bound. If they occasionally lost it, they were resilient enough to bounce back. Third, the survivors had a highly positive outlook. They sought to learn from the experience rather than focus, like Terry, on the absent girlfriend or, like Lee, on the meagre rations.

Overall then, it wasn’t the physical challenge that marked out the winners from the losers. Everyone I spoke to said that the challenge was won or lost on the mental battleground. And on that front the key weapons were mental toughness, resilience and self-discipline.

http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/E/escape_to_the_legion/bear.html

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Just thought some of you may know him or at least interested in reading this. I found it very interesting.

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[Skyrad 0]

I've met him, nice guy.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[beowulf 1]

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Surprisingly, Bear still skydives. In fact, over a few weeks in May and June 2005 he made more than 200 parachute jumps as part of the training for his next feat

Surprisingly???? hell I am envious. 200 jumps is a lot for that short amount of time. At least for me it is.

Sounds like a really cool guy.

[TrophyHusband 0]

he did a show for discovery called ultimate survival. it was on a couple weeks ago. he simulated parachuting into the rockies and had to survive for 5 days. there were some really weird things that make me question his background. first, he had a backpack and raingear, but no knife or multitool or anything to start a fire. he was wearing denim blue jeans. he jumped off what he said was a 70 foot clif into a river supposedly without even knowing how deep the water was. on tv it looked no higher than thirty feet, but still this is inviting hypothermia and injury. he floated down the river until he was too cold to stay in the water any longer. he heard something in the middle of the night and thought it was a bear so he got up and just started running throught the woods. other than that, i thought it was a good show. the editing and the camera work were good and he's generally a likeable guy.

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[Skyrad 0]

I guess real life doesn't make for interesting TV.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[cloudseeker2001 0]

The Brits are always doing fun things! Tillman, Mallory, The Dangerous Sport Club........its all good! Anyone remember The Dangerous Sport Club on That's Incredible way back in the 80's?

"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"