A Quick Catch-up
A Quick Catch-up!!Posted: 2010-12-28 23:28:16 UTC
Hey Guys!!!!
Finally wrapped up filming for the year and it feels like it has
been a tough one! (Or maybe I am just getting older!!) But what a
wild year it has been!
We have filmed all over the planet, from Georgia to Australia,
the Arctic to the deserts of Arizona and beyond, and the crew have
been so amazing.
They really do deserve so much credit for the unbelievable work
they do beside me never a complaint, always a smile, and enduring
endless hardships, mosquitos, freezing nights, swollen rivers, and
endless death-defying drops!
They are not only best buddies, but also true professionals. In
fact, together we keep getting called the A Team by the search and
rescue guys or local Rangers that we work with in each location,
which always makes me smile.
This year has also seen a massive surge in us making many of the
Man Vs Wild skills and styles available to people and we have done
this through the range of Gerber BG knives, survival packs and
multi-tools, as well as finishing the Man Vs Wild X Box,
Playstation and wii, which launches in the Spring.
The BG Craghoppers clothing range has seen its strongest growth
ever people seem to be loving the survivor trousers that I wear on
the show especially! And this week we also launch the iphone BG
Bear Essentials App.
I am super excited for the App, and I know this will empower
people to have many of the Man Vs Wild skills with them, always at
hand, wherever they are.
Other news:
-I am down with the Royal Marine Commandos today, passing on
some survival skills to their new recruits, which will be fun!
-Shara and me got invited to have supper with the Queen a few
weeks back which was a huge honour, (I was very nervous having to
sit next to her!) but she was such an amazing lady and so much fun.
I feel so proud to have her as our Monarch, and she loves the
Scouts which was good to hear as well!
On the Scouting front, I have been so proud to see the number of
people involved with Scouting grow again, out of all proportion.
What a tribute to the Leaders and the adventurous heart that
everyone I meet in Scouting possesses. The scale of the projects
that I see Scouts involved with, all over the globe, is a continued
reminder of the power that comes when young people find a
camaraderie, faith and purpose through adventure. Therein lies my
life mission!
Anyway, gotta run, literally, it is frosty and I need
exercising!
Here's to a fun Christmas and New Year!
Bear
100 mph!Posted: 2010-12-07 00:21:05 UTC
OK - well it has been busy for sure...but all fun!We took a
small break in the summer as a family on our Welsh island hideaway
which was greeeaaat! Then I left for the Arctic where we had one of
the most unbelievable expeditions I can remember, ever, taking our
high-speed inflatable craft, through 2,500 miles of ice strewn
waters. We had bears, rescues, discoveries, unchartered waters,
storms, and masses of ice-crushing adventures! But we pulled it off
and completed the infamous North West Passage in aid of Global
Angels...(see: www.fcpnorthwestpassage.com)We then went straight
into Man Vs Wild and the start of Season Six (how have we ever
reached that benchmark!!?)We went to the most remote part of
Northern Scotland and Cape Wrath: dropped in a life-raft from a
helicopter, and had some of my favourite Man Vs Wild experiences
ever up there in my home country. (I particularly enjoyed finding a
rotten seal carcass which I skinned and then climbed inside to wear
as an improvised blubber wetsuit to keep me warm as I swam the
freezing seas from the outer islands to the mainland... worked a
treat by the way!!)I then flew to USA for a Man Vs Wild, faith,
expedition and 'life' event for a big church in Louisville,
(probably the nicest folk on the planet by the way were there!),
then I did a similar event in Spain and then again back in Orlando
for a big JuicePlus health convention. (Again, JuicePlus guys, just
crazy nice and motivated and such a privilege always to hang
with.)All those events saw between 7,000 and 10,000 people,
including 1,500 Scouts who were as usual, utterly brilliant!Then I
did a Scout weekend back in the UK, touring the country by
helicopter, dropping in for 45 mins in about 24 places in 24 hours!
Full on, but such a privilege to get to spend time with so many
different groups, and such an inspiration for me to meet SO many
motivated, dedicated, ambitious, rocking Scouts! (Hats off to the
one Scout aged 12 who had just hiked 45 miles non-stop! Hero or
what!?)Now I fly off to the Arctic in Northern Norway for another
Man Vs Wild, which will include an intentional parachute
malfunction, where I will have to detach and cut away from my chute
after deployment. (Am a little nervous about that after my original
parachuting accident in the SAS. (see: The Kid who Climbed
Everest.) But I pray all will be fine.At the same time, my team is
finishing the last touches for my 'Bear Essentials' App. Going to
be a demon app this one and it is out in November. watch for it!
This one really could save your life! Ditto my range of knives,
survival packs, scout knives and multi-tools I have developed with
Gerber (see: www.bear.gerbergear.com ) This range has received
awesome feedback already and I really hope people like this. It has
had so much work from me this one and includes all my most useful
gadgets!Also, so you know, we now have an amazing group now on
twitter with over 115,ooo followers! Thanks guys. Hope you enjoy
the updates and quotes!And finally: I am looking to start a global
'JuicePlus' health and lifestyle enterprise in USA, Europe,
Australia and Japan. I am after five entrepreneurial,
highly-motivated, personable, health-conscious people in each of
those regions, to work with me and my team, with the goal of
encouraging a generation of young people and Scouts to get healthy
and motivated! If you are interested email me and my team-leader
Levi Burdick at: [email protected] for more info. Serious
applicants only! Brilliant... I love it!Anyway, that's a kind of
update. Been busy but exciting!Oh, and my seven-year old son,
Jesse, has just told me his school headmistress has asked him to
suggest something for the school to do as an away trip - such as
visiting a museum or the zoo... he suggested they all go
bungey-jumping!(The teachers weren't very amused! But it shows that
the apple hasn't fallen far from this tree, I guess! Bless him, my
special, little champion.)Have a brilliant week guys!love Bear xps
images are: hanging with scouts and teaching them to light fires!
hanging with Shara and teaching her nothing! hanging with my boys
and watching them on their home-made raft, and then a man vs wild
billboard that made me laugh!
3 more man vs wild's done!Posted: 2010-05-27 12:37:28 UTC
Just got home from three tough Man Vs Wild shoots.
First one in Georgia and then two in Northern Australia - a
desert island shark show and a croc swamp one.
The swamp episode was one of the hardest I can remember - I
guess the conditions (crazy hot and humid), coupled with the
mosquitos, snakes and crocs, weren't exactly conducive to a walk in
the park!
Anyway - it is so lovely to be home to family and our boys.I am
taking our eldest son on a weekend Scouting on saturday which will
be brill!Bear
