Grylls - Facing Up: A Remarkable Journey to the Summit of Mount Everest

Bear Grylls was brought up on the Isle of Wight, where his late father taught him to climb and sail. He spent three years as a soldier in the Special Air Service (21 SAS) before suffering a free fall parachuting accident in Africa that left his back broken in three places. Despite this he went on to become the youngest Briton ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Now one of the youngest and most sought-after motivational speakers, he relates his remarkable experiences to audiences and corporations all around the world. He lives with his wife Shara, and their son, Jesse, on a Dutch barge in London and on a small remote Welsh island. Bear is also the author of Facing the Frozen Ocean, his inspirational story of leading a team across the treacherous North Atlantic.

First published 2000 by Macmillan

This edition published 2001 by Pan Books

This electronic edition published 2009 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan Ltd
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Rd, London N1 9RR
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ISBN 978-0-330-51545-0 in Adobe Reader format
ISBN 978-0-330-51539-9 in Adobe Digital Editions format
ISBN 978-0-330-51546-7 in Mobipocket format

Copyright Bear Grylls 2000

The right of Bear Grylls to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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To Pasang and Nima

for saving my life that day in the Icefall.

Ill always be indebted to you.

&

To Shara, now my wife,

you were the reason for

coming home.

Plate section

All photographs by the author unless otherwise indicated

Foothills leading up to the Upper Himalaya

Summit 29,035 ft

Camp 4 26,000 ft

Camp 3 24,500 ft

Camp 2 21,200 ft

Camp 1 19,750 ft

Base Camp 17,450 ft

Rev. Colonel David Cooper

How does it feel to have conquered Everest?

I was at a lecture that Bear was giving to Eton College not very long after his return to the UK, after his ascent of Everest. He was with Mick Crosthwaite, who accompanied him on the expedition, and at the end of what was without doubt the best lecture on any subject that I had heard in my time at the school, he was asked this question by a member of the audience.

His answer was illuminating in more ways than one.

I didnt conquer Everest Everest allowed me to crawl up one side and stay on the peak for a few minutes.

In that one sentence Bear showed an insight that he had gained on the mountain that all his years of schooling and time in the Army had not given him, though they may have prepared him for it.

In his book Captain Smith and Company, Robert Henriques uses climbing a mountain as a simile for the war he had recently fought. He was a member of a special unit during the Second World War and his simile has more truth to it than might be recognized by the casual reader who has no experience of war or mountains. It is no coincidence that so many soldiers have also spent a great deal of their time on mountains, and it is too facile to suggest that it is just for the training value.

Both war and mountains have the capacity to radically change ones perspective on the world and on ones place in it.

Without doubt it is the intimate involvement of life or death as an inevitable outcome that invests an event with such great value. When the chances are about even for each of these, it also invests it with a great capacity to change a person. Such an event is mountaineering.

For most of us our everyday life never presents us with this situation, and for those who it does, it is usually not sought for, but comes as a result of some disaster, man-made or natural.

This book is concerned with a person who has undergone a profound experience, at his own seeking, and we are privileged to be allowed an insight into the mind of the person who sought it. As a book it is difficult to parallel. Albeit the youngest Briton to ever climb Everest, his understanding and honesty, together with his self-awareness, is of a level that many never reach in a long life. What we his readers are privileged to share is a very personal account of his ascent, not just of the mountain, but of his humanity.

D.C.

To those great men and women of the mountain: You are a credit to Nepal and I am lucky to call you friends. Sherpa Nima, Sherpa Pasang, Kami, Thengba, Ang, Pasang Dowa, Babu Chiri, Ang-Sering and Nima Lamu.

To the team: To Henry Todd and Neil Laughton for your trust and faith in me when it really mattered. Michael Crosthwaite, my friend and brother. I hold more respect for you than I could ever say. Captain Geoffrey Stanford, Grenadier Guards. Jokey Longworth. Edward Brandt. Andy Lapkas. Allen Silva. Michael Downs. Carla Wheelock. Graham Ratcliffe MBE. Ilgvar Pauls. Ali Nasu Mahruki. Scott Markey. I could not have been with better people.

To those we were alongside on the mountain: Tomas and Tina Sjogren for saving Micks life. Bernardo Guarachi. Iaki Ochoa. Bruce Niven. David Lim. The Singaporean Everest Expedition. Pascuale Scaturro. Captain Sundeep Dhillon RAMC. Tomi Heinrich. The Iranian 1998 Everest Team. You all epitomize the qualities that bring a mountain to life strength, dignity and humour.

To those who loved and supported us: Mum and Dad and Lara for loving when it hurt. Youre my best friends. Thank you. Grandpa Neville for your love and smiles. You are the best example of a man I could ever have. James and Mungo. Shara, my angel, for your love, patience and kindness. You were with me all the way. Patrick and Sally Crosthwaite, Mrs Ronnie Laughton. This is your book as well.

To those who believed in us: To all at Davis, Langdon and Everest for putting your faith in me. Your willingness to reach out is why you have made DLE such a success. You are pioneers. Eve Theron. SSAFA Forces Help for all your support towards a messy-haired lout. You have made it all such fun and your work for the British Services is remarkable. Rev. Colonel D. Cooper, Richard and Sue Quibell for untold inspiration. Jay Martin and NSA, for your Juice Plus support. Lewis McNaught. Stephen Day. Ginnie Bond and Becky Lindsay for your great patience and help.