Man vs. Wild

My name is Bear Grylls.

I served in the British Special Forces,

climbed to the summit of Everest

crossed the oceans and ice Arctic.

Now, my goal is to survive one of the most inhospitable places in the world.

Alaska.

More than one million tourists come here every year

and more than two hundred of them disappear.

'll Show what it takes to survive.

This is the coast of Alaska, just below the Arctic Circle.

This landscape is composed of Back endless dense forests

and huge glaciers.

I'm driving to the top of Alaska.

This is where climbers and skiers come explore the wilderness.

But with the adrenaline, comes the danger.

and every year about 20 people die.

I will put in place a lost skier

to show how to survive in an environment like this.

At any time, the pilot I will drop one of these mountains

and then I'll have to find my way and find safety.

We are 200 feet now.

100 feet.

50 feet.

All I have with me are my skis, a knife,

a canteen with water and a flint.

A film crew will accompany me.

Seventeen of the mountains higher in the United States

here in Alaska.

It's heaven for any skier radical.

With so few people and with so much space,

this is a major landscapes of America.

Simply beautiful.

Being here in these mountains. Amazing.

The biggest threat to skiers are avalanches.

Kill about 40 people each year in North America.

A curve sloppy and the whole mountain can fall upon you.

You need to know how to avoid them.

The key to avoiding avalanches is to understand the snow.

You can use the stick ski to test it

to see where compact and where it is layered.

What we want is so bury the stick

is well consistent.

But if we press and is a little down

means that it is layered. And that is what is dangerous.

Landslides are often caused

by skiers and snowboarders inexperienced

who come to enjoy the 12 meters of snow that usually falls here.

In early 2006, a erromsAmitono caused an avalanche

with a length of 90 meters a slope like this.

His body was recovered three months later.

Fell from a height of 180 meters.

Already went at least 1500 meters.

and, finally, I'm leaving behind snow from the higher slopes.

This part is so rocky it is impossible to continue with the skis.

All that these skis will do is holding me back.

I'm better off without them.

Below me is a glacier, literally a river of ice

and as a river, the glacier below the mountain.

If you can achieve it I get out of the mountains.

But to get to the glacier need to follow this platform

and it is not easy.

And the temperature is falling rapidly.

The temperature here in Alaska can reach up to-15C

and burns caused by ice are always a danger here.

What we need to protect are our ends.

The hands, feet, face. And the warning signs

is that the skin is with a reddish and then black

and I've seen some cases in climbers on Everest.

And I can say that is really horrible and very painful.

This platform has led me to a hillside facing north.

To receive less sun is still covered with snow.

I'm starting to wish who had not got rid of the skis.

This time not with a good face.

Getting caught in bad weather can be fatal.

I need to go down quickly.

But the slope below me has a height of 90 meters.

Could try to bring it down but it could take hours.

Instead, I use a technique that climbers call the "glissade."

As we down we decelerating,

nailing our pick in the snow.

I have pick and I'll break my staff.

I can see well this cloud, coming here

and I can hardly see the bottom this decrease

and I am quite nervous to do this.

This technique is risky but in emergency

can save your life.

If you apply enough pressure will fall too fast.

If you press too much, bat will come off the hand.

That was quick.

Had already done some of these but not so steep and so long.

I must have hit some 80 km / h descent.

It is very fast even

I got to the glacier and there are hundreds of thousands of these in Alaska.

They form the largest reserves fresh water in the world.

But the bad news is that they are full of cracks.

Huge cracks in the ice which are often covered by snow.

And the safest way to walk and is tied in pairs.

I have nobody with me so I need to reach land

as soon as possible.

But it seems I'm lucky.

There land the side of the glacier.

But keep my feet these boots, it is almost impossible.

Seem more boots of lead. But I can not stop now.

Having to spend the night here up here, can be fatal.

Look.

I can see the end of the glacier.

Yes, it is undoubtedly where it ends. And it's such a relief.

Finally 'm out of ice and snow.

But the glacier is still more card up his sleeve.

I'm near a cliff.

This is the bottom of the glacier and the ground is here

this huge waterfall.

With these boots and cordless there is no way down.

I need another plan.

To get down. The only question is how.

I dropped in the icy mountains and remote areas of Alaska.

My challenge is to find a way out of here.

But first, 'm out of this glacier.

My descent is locked by a waterfall of 18 meters.

But I think I can see another alternative.

There is a tunnel of ice within the glacier.

It was formed by water that melted and flows under the ice.

But this tunnel help me out here.

Tunnels ice sites are extremely unstable

and glaciers may move up to 18 meters per day.

Before entering check if the ice is solid.

The ice on top of me may thick 60 meters.

And at any time can give.

Just do this as a last resort.

I'm finding it a little claustrophobic,

I do not know if they can see around

but this is not a good place to be.

Almost died a glacier like this in the Everest

when a crack opened under my feet

and being here is not bringing many good memories

I just want to leave.

And the more you enter more difficult it is to go back.

Until I see the light of day front of me.

It's my outlet.

I was never so relieved and, finally, get out of the glacier.

It's so good out of that glacier and may have a bit of air.

But best of all is that I can get these damn boots.

It's so good.

I will stay with these shoes. They are ideal for walking

but I need something to protect feet, this area more difficult.

But I will not walk no more 1 meters with these shells.

Landscape is beginning to reveal

and now I see the tree line ahead.

I have spent all day walking, I'm hungry and now began to rain.

But at least, finally, I'm almost getting to the forest.

This is good news. I see the sky beginning to open.

I can see the forest there but also what appears to be

a deep valley.

There may well be a river there and that's where I go.

I know most of the villages in Alaska are located along rivers.

And if I find one, I come to meet people.

But first, to cross this dense vegetation.

I can only see a few meters before me

which makes it strange and claustrophobic.

I know that here is an area of bears. Both black and grizzly bears live here.

Brown bears can weigh up to 500 kilos.

grow to 2.5 meters and smashing a grown man.

Look. You can see where the bear scratched, this tree

and is what they do. They come here, scratch

and rub against the tree. Moreover, one can see the hair of the bear here.

And that they are marking the territory.

Recently a climber died here.

When they found the body, Bear found blood in the area

and empty cartridges.

He fired two shots at the bear but it was not enough to prevent the attack.

But large groups rarely attacked

for one simple reason.

Many make much noise.

And that, away from the bear.

It is when you're alone that is vulnerable.

Bears are more dangerous when they are surprised.

In fact, most of the attacks happens with hunters

because they are always trying to unnoticed

is why it is so important, when you are alone,

always make too much noise and make the bears know that vooc? here.

And it might seem a little strange but I'm walking around here now

shouting "bear."

but I have keep them apart

Please make more noise than I still feel uncomfortable.

This is bear feces.

And the good news is that if you can see, these stools

small seeds of fruit which means that there is fruit here.

The bad news is that there is a bear nearby.

This has more than one day.

I need to get out of here but not so easy.

This vegetation is relentless. Every step here is painful.

It's all full of "devil's club, should be the most thorny plant

I encountered. You can see the thorns around the cale

around the trunk In the leaves too.

And even when the flowers bloom has thorns.

And the roots too. It is a nightmare around here.

But for the natives of Alaska that is one of the most revered medicinal plants

full of good properties, full of ginseng.

But walking through them, is not good.

It is said that ginseng increases our strength and endurance