Grylls Bears all on keeping faith

Adventurer Bear Grylls reflects on how he copes with risk

Adventurer Bear Grylls has taken more risks than most in his extraordinary life, and that includes climbing Everest.

At 23, the ex-SAS soldier was among the youngest ever to achieve the latter, which he credits to the grace of God and his own sometimes reckless determination. Now aged 50, he is a global icon in the field of endeavour, which has included being figurehead to the world’s 28 million scouts and fronting audacious TV programmes risking life and limb to demonstrate how to get out of trouble in the wild.

He was hardly known at the time of his Himalayan expedition, which nearly didn’t happen after a skydiving accident in which he broke his back in three places. But somewhat miraculously, he recovered and was able to fulfil his dream of being on the very top of the world.

Exhausted and scared stiff before his assault on the final section towards the 29,000ft summit, he retrieved a piece of paper from his pack on which he had written these words from the Bible: “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but...

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