Bear Grylls, a renowned survivalist, adventurer, and author, has become an inspiration to many who seek to push their boundaries and unlock their true potential by exploring places where life is virtually impossible. His extreme adventures and survival tips have shocked and educated many viewers around the world, including celebrities such as Barack Obama, Will Farrell, Kate Winslet, Jonathan Ross, and Kate Hudson, who have appeared on his show, "« Wildlife Run with Bear Grylls» . In addition to hosting several survival TV shows, he's also known for his record-breaking achievements, which help raise funds for charities. Read on to learn more facts about Bear Grylls that will prove he's a real tough guy!
1. Bear Grylls' real name is Edward Michael Grylls. "Bear" is a nickname his older sister gave him when he was a week old.
Grylls was born in Donaghadee, County Down, Northern Ireland, to Conservative politician Sir Michael Grylls and Sarah, Lady Grylls, daughter of politician Patricia Ford and cricketer and businessman Neville Ford. Grylls's older sister, who nicknamed him "Bear" as an infant, works as an interior design PR agent and a cardio-tennis coach. (source)
2. Grylls holds a 2nd dan black belt in Shotokan karate.
Grylls wrote in his memoirs that, as soon as he could, he enrolled in karate and aikido clubs along with his friends, who all quit after a few weeks. He earned his belt after three years of karate training, during which he "trained at least four or five times a week, religiously." Along the way, he earned other colored belts—yellow, green, orange, purple, and brown—one after another before finally achieving his black belt. (source)
3. Climbing Everest was Grylls' childhood dream, and he began learning mountaineering and sailing from a very young age.
Grylls showed an interest in extreme sports from an early age. While at Eton College, he helped found the first mountaineering club. In a Reddit Q&A, he cited his father, a member of the Royal Yachting Association and a former Marine, as an inspiration in his youth, teaching him mountaineering and sailing. He even mastered skydiving as a teenager. (source)
4. After finishing school, Grylls even considered joining the Indian Army and spent several months trekking in the Himalayan mountains of Sikkim and West Bengal. From 1994 to 1997, he served in the British Army with the 21st Special Air Service Regiment.
While serving in the British Special Forces Reserve, Grylls served as a private, survival instructor, and patrol medic. He also received training in hand-to-hand combat, desert and winter warfare, combat survival, parachute training, signals, maneuverable driving, rock climbing, and explosives. He served twice in North Africa, but was forced to end his military career in 1997 due to a parachute accident. (source)
5. In 1996, Bear Grylls broke his back after falling 1,600 feet when his parachute ruptured. But eighteen months later, he reached the summit of Everest, becoming the youngest Briton to do so.
Grylls broke three vertebrae during a freefall parachute jump in Zambia in 1996. Although initially discouraged, he gradually recovered and flew to Nepal in February 1998 with his childhood friend Mick Crosthwaite. He reached the summit of the mountain, climbing for several hours overnight after leaving Camp 4 on May 26, 1998. Until then, the only other Britons under 25 to reach the summit had died during the descent, making Grylls, then 23, the youngest person to complete the entire ascent. After him, Jake Meyer and Rob Gauntlett became the youngest Britons to achieve this challenging feat. (1, 2, 3)
He also shared his Everest climbing experience on Reddit:
«"It was a special moment—the climb lasted three months, and we tragically lost four climbers while on the mountain, but the summit was incredible—you see the curvature of the Earth and the sunrise over Tibet. It was terribly cold and windy, though, and you're acutely aware of your vulnerability, as most fatalities occur on the descent.".
6. In 2007, Grylls flew a Parajet paramotor in the Himalayas, near Everest, at an altitude of 4,400 metres, eventually reaching an altitude of 9,000 metres, and encountered temperatures of -60°C (-76°F) and dangerously low oxygen levels.
Grylls had originally planned to cross Everest during the feat described above, but he was forced to maintain a southerly course to avoid violating Chinese airspace. He therefore took off eight miles south of the mountain at 4,400 meters (14,500 feet) and reported extremely low temperatures and oxygen levels. He reached an altitude of 9,000 meters (29,500 feet), nearly 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) higher than the previous record of 6,102 meters (20,302 feet). (source)
7. Grylls says he would "eat human flesh without a second thought if he had to.".
Grylls ate a variety of survival foods while filming his TV shows, and even admitted that he would not hesitate to resort to cannibalism if he had to. (source)
He also stated that
«"If it were just me and one of my sons left in the jungle, I would insist on him eating me. One of the greatest stories of all time is «"Alive »"The people who died insisted on being eaten. I would have agreed without hesitation if I had to.".
8. When asked what the most disgusting thing he had eaten in the wild was, he replied, "Raw goat testicles, hands down!"«
Over the years, Grylls has earned a reputation for eating things that would make most others sick to their stomachs just thinking about them. He's eaten raw goat testicles, camel intestinal fluids, yak eyeballs, bear dung, urine, snakes, and scorpions. Of all the things he's eaten, he admitted during Reddit Q&A sessions , that raw goat testicles were the worst. (source)
9. Grylls holds the world record for hosting the highest-altitude formal outdoor dinner party, which he did in 2005 in a hot air balloon at 7,600 meters.
Along with explorer David Hempleman-Adams and Lieutenant Commander Alan Veale, Grylls ascended in a hot air balloon to an altitude of 24,262 feet (approximately 4.5 miles), with a table and two chairs suspended 40 feet below the basket. Grylls and Veale descended to the table and enjoyed a three-course dinner of asparagus tips, duck à la carte, and fruit terrine. After dinner, they saluted the Queen and performed a record-breaking parachute jump. (source)
10. Bear Grylls swam 22 miles naked down the River Thames in a homemade bathtub to raise funds for a friend who lost his legs in a climbing accident.
Grylls has used his stunts and record-breaking achievements to raise funds for numerous charities. He once used his talent to raise money for a friend who lost his legs in a climbing accident. In 2000, he led a team on a circumnavigation of the British Isles to raise funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Service, and three years later, he and his team completed a solo crossing of the North Atlantic to raise funds for the Prince's Trust. He also regularly serves as an ambassador for various charities. (source)