Bear Grylls
Adventurer
Bear Grylls is a man who has always loved adventure. After leaving school, he spent months hiking in the Himalayas as he considered joining the Indian Army. Upon his return to England after a change of heart, he passed SAS selection and served with 21 SAS for three years. During this time, he broke his back in several places in a free-fall parachuting accident and it was questionable whether he would ever walk again. However, after months of rehabilitation, focusing always on his childhood dream of climbing Everest, he slowly became strong enough to attempt the ultimate ascent of the world's highest peak.
At 7.22 a.m. on May 26, 1998, Bear entered the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest Briton to have successfully climbed Everest and returned alive; he was only 23 years old. This was only the beginning of his extreme adventures. Known and admired by millions - whether from his prime-time TV adventures, as a bestselling author or as a world-class motivational speaker - Bear has been there and done it all.
Bear has written two books, Facing Up (published in America under the title, The Kid Who Climbed Everest), records his Everest expedition and soared into the bestseller list selling over 70,000 copies in the UK alone and Facing The Frozen Ocean (his arctic expedition) which was published by Macmillan in 2004. In May, Bear will release his autobiography Mud, Sweat and Tears - the extraordinary life story of the world's most intrepid young explorer.
Bear is the star of Man Vs Wild on the Discovery Channel. The show features Bear being parachuted in to some of the most inhospitable deserts, jungles and mountains on Earth and shows what you need to do to survive. The show reaches a global audience of over 1.2 Billion viewers, making it one of the most recognized and watched programs on the largest TV network on Earth.
Bear has a natural talent for communication and his speaking and TV shows have brought him worldwide acclaim. As a motivational speaker, he has addressed corporations all around the world on his experiences on Everest and how these can help us in our life and business environments. He is among the youngest and most successful speakers in the world. Bear's talks focus on those simple qualities that make the difference between life and death on a mountain: the intimacies and realities of teamwork, the honesty needed in intense environments and the courage that comes not from bravado but from something else inside. Bear's story continues to touch people around the world. It is a story of honesty, friendships, determination and humility.
