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Rappelling sheer cliffs, climbing waterfalls, eating bear dung and frozen yak eyeballs and biting the heads of live snakes -- these are some of the survival techniques that have brought Bear Grylls fame. Star of Discovery Channel's "Man vs. Wild" and "Worst Case Scenario," Mr. Grylls, 36, continues his episodic challenges of Mother Nature. He made it clear after some controversy a few years ago that he does, indeed, go out with a crew and medical help at the ready while he performs his own risky "stunts." He's the son of the late Sir Michael Grylls, a Conservative Party politician in Britain, and Lady Grylls. Bear Grylls climbed Mount Everest when he was 23, which brought him to the public's attention. He lives in London with his wife and three young sons. New episodes of "Man vs. Wild" air 9 p.m. Wednesdays
Do you remember the first most unappetizing thing you had to bite into?
As a child my mum always used to stew brussels sprouts on Christmas Day for about three hours, and it would just be a truly dread-filled moment tucking into stewed brussels sprouts. So we got made to do it. It's given me an ability to eat the uneatable.
See the Obviously the camera crew is with you, but is medical backup equipped depending on your location? If you are in an area of venomous snakes is there anti-venom nearby for instance?
We have very good communications, and we always have a helicopter rescue on standby, which is a maximum an hour away. We used it for the first time this season in the Rockies. I got injured by a falling camera while cascading down a steep, snow/ice face. I got hit very hard by this camera, and it missed my head by about 3 inches. They reckon if it had hit my head it would have taken my whole head off and killed me. I was very lucky it hit my leg. My leg ballooned up about three times its size. I had to be rescued off the mountain by helicopter and taken to a hospital.
A certain amount of planning goes into episodes of "Man vs. Wild," but how do you plan something like a snake encounter?
You've just always got to anticipate the worst, you know? The wild is very unpredictable, and you just need to be not taken by surprise and anticipate new things and always have a backup plan.
Did you have to audition for the show?
No, they came to me three times to do "Man vs. Wild," and I kept saying "no" because I didn't want to do television. The more I said, "I don't want to do TV," they said, "We don't want a TV person. We just want to film what you do." I made them promise as long as I could just do my stuff and I wouldn't have to worry about the cameras too much I'd do it. There's no script. I still don't feel like it's TV. I just do my stuff and tell the camera crew what I'm doing and they film it. We just go and live these adventures. If they don't get it the first time we move on, and we just keep going. The camera crew is the best in the world. They know me and they know how I work. They've just learned how to get it.
Those guys must all be survivalists to a certain degree at least at this point.
No, but they are at the top of their game as cameramen. You know the show was just nominated for an Emmy for the best camera crew. So it's really nice to see that sort of recognition for the work that they do and the kind of conditions they put up with.
Which is harder on the human body? Extreme heat or extreme cold?
They both can kill very quickly. I've been in deserts where if you've got no water and no survival training you can be dead in three hours. But likewise I've been in Siberia in wintertime, where it is minus 55 degrees and if you don't get out of the wind and rain you are dead within a matter of hours as well. The real extremes are where the real danger is. I think if I had to pick one, I would probably pick the cold because at least there is something you can do about it, which is just keep moving hard.
There is a lot of physical exertion necessary when you demonstrate survival skills, but how important is mental conditioning?
The mental side is everything really. The rest just follows, and if you are not right mentally nothing else works. It's all about keeping your hope alive and keeping that positive attitude and smiling when it's raining and being able to laugh when things get hard and being able to still see solutions when all around you are problems. Being persistent.
How do you keep panic at bay?
Acknowledge it and then harness it. Fear is just an emotion that is there to sharpen you for what you need to do. When you look at it like that then you can use it and control it rather than it controlling you.
Do find yourself needing a physical challenge after you've been home for a bit?
I'm never home long enough to start to yearn for more [laughing]. I'm always home just long enough to recover. The filming schedule is so relentless we are kind of pretty nonstop. I think if I didn't have "Man vs. Wild" I'm the sort of person who always loves a great challenge and to have a challenge. You know I'm leading an expedition this month up to the Arctic in a little inflatable boat. Shara [his wife] says, "Well that's what happens when "Man vs. Wild" gives you a summer off. You start creating these challenges." So I guess in some ways, yes.
I understand that a lot of what you do outside of filming is for charity or to raise awareness for certain causes.
The Arctic one this month, we are doing it for the Global Angels Foundation [which helps children around the world]. They're an amazing charity. We raised $2.5 million when we did the [Mount] Everest mission a couple of years ago. It changed my life to realize what, together, we can do.
So what about your wife? Does she share your enthusiasm for outdoor adventure?
Um, no. She's my reason for coming home, and I don't let her see the shows.
You have a clothing line, books, games and a second show, "Worst Case Scenario," but have you ever considered following your father's footsteps into politics?
No, no. I think having grown up seeing it close up I don't think I'm strong enough to survive it. I think it would be horrible. We each have our own callings, and I think it's nice that you can forge your own road. My dad, especially, really encouraged me to follow my dreams and look after my friends along the way. That was what mattered. That was really freeing for me growing up rather than always trying to get good school reports. You know, that mattered much less to him.
I read that you are a man of faith. Were you always like that or did your brush with death in the military, when your parachute failed, precipitate it?
You know, I always think of the quote "there's no such thing as an atheist in the death zone." I think it's a bit like that. When everything is going swimmingly we don't realize our need for help. But I've learned through a lot of experiences in the military and expeditions that it takes a proud man to say he never needs any help. My Christian faith is an important backbone and strength in my life. As a kid I had a strong faith, and then I sort of met people who were very religious and all they were doing was telling me to stop smoking behind the bike shed. I thought, "I must have gotten this very wrong." I kind of lost it. It took me a while to realize that faith was what I experienced as a kid, not what I saw in other people telling me to behave better all the time. That's been a life journey to realize faith is much more straightforward and more cozy and much stronger than we sometimes see around us in vicars and pulpits.
Mackenzie Carpenter's video program, "Omnivore," is available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
