05x03 - Canadian Rockies

[bunniefuu]

Whoo!
i'm bear grylls.

i go to some of the most
dangerous places on earth

to show you what it takes
to make it out alive.

i've traveled the globe,
facing challenges

In the sort of places
you wouldn't last a day

without the right
survival skills.

[ Grunts ]

now I'm in british columbia,
high in the rocky mountains.

i usually head out
into the wild,

but this week,
using specialist equipment,

we're gonna bring the wild
to me so I can show you

how to survive
the most extreme environments.

my team will give mother nature
a helping hand

to assure conditions are
as bad as they can get.

we're going bigger, better,
and more ambitious

than ever before.

i'll battle the bone-chilling
waters of a frozen lake...

You've got to keep eyes
on me, okay?

...before swimming 40 foot
under solid ice...

I'm wet, cold,
and I've got to act fast.

Bombs away.

...blast a ridgeline

to set off a huge avalanche...

then get buried alive
to experience

the suffocating conditions
of the aftermath.

I can't move,
and I can't breathe properly.

i try to find shelter in the
middle of a manmade blizzard

before frostbite sets in...

Up here,
you could have minus-40.

In here, it's gonna be
way, way warmer.

...and careen down
the icy mountain

at over 40 miles an hour

to show you how to pull off
a lifesaving move.

Very fast --
faster than we expected.

but when you play
with the big boys,

sometimes you're
gonna get hurt.

[ Thud ]
grylls: ugh!

It felt like hitting a wall.
I thought I'd k*lled him.

Grylls: we're heading up
into the subzero mountains

Of the canadian rockies
for a two-day expedition,

But this time we've not only
got the normal film kit,

We've also got a load
of other toys, as well.

And the reason for that
is we're gonna put my body

And my survival skills
to the ultimate test.

when all the gear
has been loaded,

we fire up the snowcats and
head out into the wilderness.

our first destination --
the mountain ridges.

our convoy is heading high
towards the snow-covered peaks,

where we plan to set off
our own full-scale avalanche,

then cover me
with over half a ton of snow

to experience firsthand what
it's like to be buried alive.

Hundreds of people get k*lled
in avalanches every year.

And that number is rising
as more and more people

Venture out
into the backcountry,

Skiing and snowmobiling.

And I've witnessed avalanches
close up before,

And they are terrifying.

95% of avalanches occur
in the 24 hours

following a storm
and a big dump of snow.

the quick pileup overloads
the underlying snowpack

and causes any weak layers
beneath the slab to fracture.

See that coming
straight off the mountain?

Avalanche, and this is
why this area is so dangerous.

You don't want to hang
around here, guys.

That whole slab just dropped.

today we're back
in the mountains,

and we're gonna set off
our own full-scale avalanche

to see its deadly effects.

if all goes to plan,

the whole mountainside
will come crashing down.

to trigger the avalanche,
the team will drop

four 28-pound charges
from a helicopter.

Hello, dave.
This is danny, over.

we're already heading
up the mountain.

and we're hoping for a big one,

but it's way too dangerous
for any human.

instead, we'll place
a life-size replica skier

in the avalanche fall line.

it's fitted with a transceiver

which is used
by backcountry skiers.

it sends out a signal
which rescuers can track,

even if it's buried deep.

Once the avalanche
is triggered,

We'll send in
the search-and-rescue guys,

See how long it actually takes
them to reach the dummy.

And then the team
are gonna bury me in the snow

And see if I would have
lasted long enough

For them to reach me
and make it out alive.

once the danger zone
is cleared,

we call in the helicopter.

Man: all right, we're gonna
circle 'round to your left,

Right around there
to the left.

Okay, nick,
you ready?

Yeah. Yeah, go ahead
and throw bombs.

hovering 20 feet
above the summit,

they're taking
their positions.

now they start
their bombing run.

Igniter on.

Bombs away.

the heli team
will drop four charges,

but the clock's
already ticking.

these bombs
have two-minute fuses.

the chopper must be 500 yards
away from the expl*si*n,

or the shock wave will knock
them out of the sky.

the mountain is moving.

avalanches can travel
over 200 miles an hour,

and this one is heading
straight for our skier.

he's hit hard and buried deep.

Okay, so, rescue team
in position there.

Let's get them going.

Nick, hello. It's bear.
Do you copy, over?

Go ahead, bear.

Okay, buddy,
let's execute the search.

Execute the search,
over.

Grylls: okay,
that's the clock ticking.

Let's see how long
it takes them.

most avalanche victims
die of suffocation.

time is your enemy.

if nobody reaches you
within 45 minutes,

your chances of survival
are only 20%.

after two hours,
that drops to almost zero.

using the transceiver
to locate the buried skier,

they follow the signal in,
then start to probe.

after five minutes,
the probe hits something.

Nick: bear,
we have a strike.

Well done, buddy,
well done.

these guys have pulled out
real avalanche victims,

both dead and alive.

they take it very seriously.

Get the snow on him
right here.

Right there.
I'll get the front.

digging a victim out
is no easy task.

just buried three foot under,

our skier is covered
by over half a ton of snow.

All right,
there's a strike.

What do you see down there?
What do you see?

they dig for three minutes

before they start
to uncover him.

We got the back
of his head, nick?

Right on.

We've got the face.

Bear, from nick,
we've got the face exposed.

Okay, good job.

That is...



Good work, team.
Okay, bear out.

our skier was under
for more than eight minutes.

it's my turn.

the team move out
to a new location

for the second stage
of this challenge.

i'm about to be buried alive.

they're digging
a deep snow hole to put me in,

and this test will simulate
what it's like to be covered

by 12 feet of snow.

many die just two feet under.

So, what I'm gonna be doing
is breathing through this tube,

And that's gonna be buried
deep under the snow,

And it's
effectively restricting

The amount of oxygen
that I'm getting,

Which simulates being buried
in an avalanche.

And I've experienced
this restricted oxygen before,

High on everest,

And it's definitely a very, very
frightening thing to go through,

Very disempowering,

'Cause you're sucking, but
nothing's filling your lungs.

If I'm honest, I'm definitely
nervous about this one.

this is so dangerous,
I've been hooked up to monitors

that show carbon-dioxide levels
and blood sats --

the oxygen levels in my body.

it's a good indicator
of asphyxiation.

if any of these go
off the scale,

they've only got seconds
to get me out.

[ Breathing deeply ]

once I'm in position,
the team start to dig me in.

then they fire up
the snowblower.

and within seconds,
I'm completely covered.

deep under the snow,
there's no room for my crew,

but by plunging a small camera
down a stretch of piping,

they can get the shot of me
buried in my snow coffin.

i lost a close friend
to avalanche.

her body was never found.

i always thought
she was invincible.

and since then, I've had
a wary respect for avalanches.

in truth, I'm scared of them.

this tube simulates a burial
at 12 feet

and heavily restricts
my breathing,

and already this feels
way too close for comfort.

Bear, that's a minute.

Your blood sats are good,
but the co2 is building up.

Feels like a lot more
than a minute.

I'm not enjoying this.

It's, you know,

Just very, very claustrophobic,
you know.

when the snow
from an avalanche settles,

it sets like concrete.

you can't break free
from its icy grip,

and its pressure
is crushing.

[ Gasping ]

Really noticing the cold
much more now.

Feel really,
really woozy.

Aw, it's horrible.

Can't move.

And I can't breathe properly.

Utterly powerless.

get buried by an avalanche,

and the major k*ller
is carbon dioxide.

as you exhale, it fills
the space around your mouth,

and eventually you asphyxiate.

We're at the threshold
now, bear.

You've got
less than 12% oxygen.

carbon-dioxide levels
are rising sharply now.

as the oxygen level plummets,

it gets harder and harder
to breathe.

Just massive urge
to need to breathe more.

When you push your chest up
and try and take a breath,

It doesn't satisfy you.

we've hit 8:15,
the time our skier was buried,

but the air now is running out,

and I'm struggling
for every breath.

[ Beeping ]

Pearce: bear,
your blood sats are below 85.

We're getting
the diggers in now.

Okay, guys, go.

in the e.r.,
Alarm bells start ringing

when patients' blood sats
hit 92.

mine are down to 82.

there's very little oxygen
in my blood.

they've got to get me
out of here fast.

[ Coughing ]

Come on, get the weight
off my chest.

Keep shoveling on the lower part
of the body.

Oh, man,
that's better.

[ Coughs ]

So powerless
when you can't breathe.

But, literally, as soon
as that oxygen comes in,

It's like someone
turning the light on, you know?

Hey, you all right, man?

Just need human contact.

Man, you all right?
You all right?

Give us a hug.
Yeah. Hey.

Warm up.
Good job.

That tough?

I didn't like that
at all.

I never want to go
through that again.

Lesson is...

Never, ever get
in an avalanche.

You know,
plan where you're going,

Think smart,

And don't take
unnecessary risks.

i've witnessed the destructive
force of an avalanche...

and survived the aftermath.

now I'll face another of
nature's K*llers, the blizzard.

in the wild, it's hard to
predict when storms will hit.

but using our specialist gear,
it's no problem.

my team will make it happen.

I've been caught in a blizzard
before in iceland.

And, you know, we had


Subzero temperatures,
visibility almost zero.

Trust me,
it just becomes a nightmare.

as temperatures dive
and wind chill rises,

the onset of frostbite
is never far away.

getting out of the wind
can mean the difference

between life and death.

i'm gonna show how to survive
nature at its worst

by re-creating
my own perfect storm.

i've pulled in
two wind machines.

switch these on, and we'll have
our own instant blizzard.

These guys can pump out winds
up to 45 miles an hour.

And it's below freezing now,
so when these guys get going,

That temperature is
just gonna plummet.

to measure the wind speed
and wind chill,

we've set up
two small weather stations --

one located outside
the blast of the machines,

the other one will be with me
right in the thick of it.

to make things ever colder,

we're gonna wait for the sun
to go down.

but we'll need light.

Come this way
a little bit.

once the snowcats are put into
position, we're ready to go.

Stop there. Whoa.

Just gonna eyeball that from
the other side, tim, okay?

Hold on.

then, when darkness falls,
we fire up the spots.

One of the biggest reasons
that people die in blizzards

Is that they push on,
try and battle the elements,

When, actually,
they should just stop.

If you've got high winds,
difficult terrain,

And zero visibility,

If you push on, it's futile.

It's like being on a treadmill.

It's gonna beat you,
and you're gonna die.

Your number-one priority
is protection,

And in this case,

It's protection from the wind
and from the cold.

Okay, fire it up, guys.

Okay, let's go.

Got to try and cover up,
best you can, any exposed skin.

Okay, get into this.

as the wind chill kicks in,
the temperature dives.

in winds this high, frostbite
can set in in minutes,

and there's
no natural shelter here.

my only option is to dig.

And this is gonna be
a good place to dig a snow hole.

You want a lee slope
with a big buildup

Of powdered snow from the wind.

Also, if you dig into the slope,
when you're shoveling,

Gravity is gonna take the snow
down away from you.

Let gravity do the work.

it's best to dig horizontally
into the snow face.

dig downwards,
and you'll create a well,

and all the cold air
will sink on top of you.

Okay, we're ready.

We're only just digging in
like one or two feet,

I've got a little bit
of shelter from the wind.

If you look at the difference
between the wind up here...

...reading 45 miles an hour,

But down here...

Well, it's only reading
about 5 miles an hour.

That's a huge difference
in wind speeds.

And wind speeds correlate
to wind chill.

Up here, you can have minus-40.

In here, it's gonna be
way, way warmer.

Keep digging.

with time running against you,

it's vital that you dig
a very basic snow hole.

make it just big enough
to squeeze your body into.

once you're in,

pull any loose blocks of snow
around the opening

to help keep out
the freezing-cold wind.

Okay, well, I'm out of almost
all of the wind in here.

It's a huge difference.

And all it is
is a little bolt hole,

A little escape chamber

That, in this sort of wind,
could save your life.

Okay, into the snow cave.

The good thing about snow
is that it's a great insulator.

Whatever the weather outside,

It's gonna be a pretty constant


There's no doubt
it's a hard 15, 20 minutes

To make this sort of thing.

You're much better off

Working hard
getting out of the weather

Than trudging
for hour after hour

Into a blizzard,
getting nowhere.

So I can just sit and let
the storm blow itself out,

Or, in this case, let the wind
machines blow themselves out.

a group of skiers
were recently trapped

in 60-mile-an-hour
blizzards in the rockies.

they sheltered in snow holes
like this one,

and it saved their lives.

after four days in the wild,

all five made their way
to safety.

I've been in a lot of cold
environments in my life.

There's no doubt
they're testing.

You know, you can burn up

An insane amount of energy
out here.

The battle is to stay warm
and dry.

once you get wet,

your body starts to lose heat


Okay, let's get into this.

but in a dynamic
survival situation

where you plan to walk
your own way to salvation,

sometimes you've no choice
but to take the plunge...

Whoa, okay, we're in.

...even if it is
an ice-covered river.

when you're moving
through the wild,

you can never predict
what obstacles lie ahead.

but today I know
exactly what to expect.

my team are with me
to give nature a helping hand

and ensure that I face her
at her wildest.

Temperature's
well below freezing.

You can see we've got a big
frozen lake in front of us here.

And what we're gonna do is cut
a channel actually into the ice

And then show you what happens

If you fall through the ice
and get submerged.

It's gonna be a cold one.

every year in canada,


and die
from cold-water immersion.

the danger is very real.

temperatures recently dived
to minus-40 degrees here,

and the ice is a foot thick.

the crew will monitor
my vital signs

as I swim under
an 18-foot ice bridge,

negotiate
a long, open channel,

and then take on
another bridge,

this one twice as long.

Man: diver going
in the water.

a diver goes in
for one final check.

the danger for me here
is very clear.

if I swim off at an angle
and miss that exit hole,

i'll be trapped under the ice.

the crew will film me
above and below the surface,

and to show my heat loss,

they'll use
a thermal imaging camera.

Blue is cold.
Red, white is hot.

So if I put my hand,
so you can see my hand

At the moment is warm,
red and white.

So, if it goes in the water...

Then you can see a blue hand.

Look at that.

So, we'll see how much
of bear's body turns blue.

the thermal camera will only
get an accurate reading

of what's happening to my body

if it can see exposed skin.

time to get my kit off.

There's nothing fun

About stripping off
nice, warm layers.

Been in water this cold
before --

Just plain horrible.

Whoa. Chilly perkins.

Okay, well, I'm hooked up
to this transmitter as well.

And it's actually showing
my heart rate

But also my breathing rate.

it's all linked up to a laptop

so the team can monitor me
in real time.

And I've got
a thermal imaging camera

Showing my skin temperature.

Okay, let's get into this.

my skin temperature's currently


that's about
to fall dramatically.

i've got to swim over 80 feet.

half of that
is under solid ice.

Okay. Let's go for this.

[ Sighing ]

Do you know,
it's much harder than normal.

Whenever I've done this before,
it's been part of a journey.

You come across a river.
You just get on and do it.

This is much more premeditated.

I find that harder.

Man: okay, go.

Okay, first thing
you've got to do

Is fight that sense of panic
that's very natural

When you're in freezing-cold
water like this.

And, instantly,
I feel my heart rate

Just goes
straight through the roof.

And the danger of that
is cardiac arrest.

You've got to try and slow it.

Slow it, and keep
that panic away.

Okay, under the ice.

The danger for me here, guys,
is not getting the line right.

If I start heading offline --

You got to keep eyes
on me, okay?

We got no safety line here.
Need to get it straight.

survival is all about
understanding and controlling

your reflexes.

watch as my heart rate drops

from 160 beats per minute
to 55.

it's known
as the mammalian dive reflex.

when your face is submerged
in cold water,

the heart slows dramatically.

it gives you
vital extra seconds

to make it to the surface.

[ Gasping ]

Burning sensation in the eyes.

Literally just numbs --
numbs your vision.

two minutes in,

and already my body's
falling victim to the cold.

blood vessels in my muscles
are constricting,

starving them of oxygen.

fatigue is also kicking in.

Well, I can feel my extremities

Are just beginning
to slow up here.

i've been in four minutes now,

and my skin temperature
has dropped off the scale.

His skin temperature's gone
from 83 to 32 degrees.

That's freezing.

And the inuits have a thing
to test whether their hands

Are getting too cold
when they're fishing.

If they can no longer touch
their finger --

Little finger --
and thumb together,

It means they got to start
warming their hands up.

the clock's ticking.

stay in here
another few minutes,

and you'd be unable to swim.

after 10 minutes,
you'd be unconscious and drown.

this is the longest ice swim
I've ever attempted.

crippled by the cold,
my swimming has become labored.

it's a big ask
for my already weakened body.

Ugh.

My head.

Got to get out of here.

what you do next could mean

the difference
between life and death.

Actually feel quite faint.

get stuck like this
in the wild without any crew,

and you've got to kick
into survival mode.

i'm gonna show you what to do
to make it out alive.

Okay, I'm wet, cold,
and I've got to act fast

Before I start losing
all feeling.

Problem is I don't want

To put these clothes on
when I'm this wet.

It would just make
the clothes wet.

I'm gonna get into the snow
and roll in it.

And what powder snow
will do is

Its crystals will absorb a lot
of the moisture,

Just take some of that off me
so I keep my clothes dry.

Okay, let's get
an outer shell on.

the snow has done its job.

now to get my clothes back on.

Oh, god.

Actually feels
like my toes and fingers

Have been stuck in a fire.

It's a weird sensation.

Extreme cold feels
sort of like extreme heat.

It's just really, really painful
and almost unusable.

once you leave
the freezing water,

your body starts pumping blood
back to the extremities.

it's known as the afterdrop,

and with the blood diverted,

your core temperature
can then plummet.

you need fire, and fast.

Oh, my.

They always talk
about that golden five minutes

After you've been
in extreme cold water.

Even though you're cold,

What you have working for you
is adrenaline.

You've got to use that
adrenaline just to fire you,

To keep you going until you've
got a lifesaving fire.

once you got your fire,

you need to get a hot drink
brewing straightaway.

Really, what I want
is some food and some sugars

To replace all that lost energy.

But, you know,
a bit of spruce-needle tea

Will do the trick.

It's gonna warm me,
give me a bit of vitamin "c."

Also, it'll just make me feel
a load better again.

on thermal imaging,
you can see

the bright white cup
full of boiling-hot tea.

get that inside you,

and it will begin to stabilize
your core temperature.

of all the environments,

it's extreme cold
that hits me the hardest.

i've suffered frostnip before
in my fingers and toes,

and the damaged capillaries
have never fully recovered.

it gets me every time.

Boy, that was cold.

That's it.
I'm done with ice swims.

[ Sighs ]

Of all the environments,
it's the cold

Where a good shelter

Can make the difference
between life and death --

Keep you warm, keep you dry,
and that's what you need

To make it
through very cold nights.

i've spent nights out in some
of the coldest places on earth,

places where the temperature
dives once the sun goes down.

I am freezing, freezing cold,

And I've just looked at
the thermometer on the camera.

And have a look.
See what it's reading.

It's saying minus-30 degrees.

And really, at the moment,

This is just becoming
an endurance exercise.

building a shelter
and making fire

takes time
and uses vital energy reserves.

but it's always worth
the effort.

i'm about to show you what
difference they really make

to surviving long, cold nights
in the wild.

Okay, I want to get this
cross member up nice and high.

And also I want
the heat from the fire

To come up, be caught, and
circulate through my shelter.

lay small branches off
the back of the cross member,

ideally covering the full width
of your shelter.

spruce boughs will act
as my bedding.

tiled on top of each other,

they also make a perfect roof
for the shelter.

Start thatching this
from the bottom upwards.

it always amazes me,

but just stacking a few
branches and twigs together

can make a huge difference.

it keeps the wind out
and helps keep you warm.

I'm well insulated from above,

Well insulated from below.

And if I make
a decent fire here,

Gonna be really, really nice
and toasty.

Let's get a fire going.

This fire is good.
It's gonna keep me warm.

But it could be better

If I put it the whole length
of the shelter,

Just spread it out a bit.

And that way, it's gonna keep me
warm from head to toe.

I can tell it is way, way warmer
in here because of this.

To prove it,

I'm gonna set up a couple
of these thermometers.

I'm gonna leave one here
inside the shelter

And then put one
right out there.

And you're gonna see
the temperature change

Between there and here
in the morning.

Well, this fire is
definitely keeping me warm.

Time spent making a decent
shelter is time well spent.

I can tell the temperature
out there --

Well below freezing,
but in here, look at this.

You know, this is registering
about 46, 47 degrees.

it's no sauna,

but at this temperature,
there's minimum risk

of me getting hypothermia
or frostbite.

So, this is good news.
I'm nice and warm in here.

Makes a change.

the next morning,
my fire's still alight.

it kept me warm, but what
difference did it really make?

Okay, let's have a look
at this thing.

This maxed out
at 66 degrees.

Okay, let's check out
the other one.

66 degrees is the temperature
I like to keep my home at.

Wow.

You know, this one went down
as low as 23 degrees.

It's well under freezing,
you know, so that worked.

It was definitely worth
building that shelter right.

Good. Okay.

Get packed up, get moving.

this really shows that having
the right survival skills

can make all the difference.

the snowcats make easy work
of these conditions.

and without them,

it would be a completely
different scenario.

In wintertime
with thick snow cover,

Moving anywhere on foot
is just hard, hard work.

You get deep snow
well up to your waist,

And your pace can reduce
to literally a crawl.

but on steep ground, pace is
the least of your worries.

slip here, and you'll be
heading downhill fast.

hitting rocks at speed
could be fatal.

you need to know
how to stop your slide.

as the convoy climbs,
the terrain gets steeper.

we're heading
for the mountain peaks,

where I'll face
my next challenge --

a high-speed glissade.

Okay, let's go, guys.

to show you how to survive
a fall in terrain

as demanding and steep
as this,

i'm gonna deliberately throw
myself down the mountain,

then try to arrest my descent.

but this deep winter snow
is too soft

to stand any chance of sliding.

our snowcat, though,
will soon fix that.

plowed out, the track will be
just like summer snow

that has thawed and refrozen --

hard and slippy.

Whenever I've glissaded before,

I've always had some means
of arresting myself.

But the reality is, most people
who fall don't have that.

And I've witnessed
that firsthand before,

With my wife and son.

I took a fall on a big mountain,

Only just stopped short of
a cliff, very nearly died.

You know, you can't
underestimate just how fast

You pick up speed
on these sort of slopes.

Unless you know
what you're doing,

You're not gonna beat gravity.

to see how fast I go,

the team have set up
a speed camera on the slope

and marked a line in the snow
where I'll start my arrest.

then we'll measure
how long it takes to stop.

and stopping fast
can sometimes be critical.

the slope's ready. The camera
crew are in position.

time to get up to the top
of the mountain.

Okay, well, this is the top
of the slope.

As is often the case
with mountains, though,

You get up the top
and look down,

It often looks much steeper.

Well, you see dave halfway down
with the radar g*n.

And I reckon this is gonna be
quite fast.

To make it even faster,
I'm gonna ditch the rucksack --

That's only gonna act
as resistance --

And then also tuck my jacket
into my trousers.

Okay. I kind of suspect
this is gonna get quite fast.

on this run,
I've got no ice ax.

to stop,
you got to roll over,

raise your body up,

and dig hard into the snow
with your hands and feet.

Whoo.

Very fast --
faster than expected.

but exactly how fast?



You'd get a ticket

In an urban place in the u.k.
With that speed.

with no ice ax,

stopping my slide
was a real challenge.

it took 180 feet.

that's half the length
of a football field.

now to head back to the top
and try again,

this time with an ice ax.

and how much quicker
can I stop?

An ice ax like this

Can massively help you
arrest the fall.

The danger is you're
traveling very fast,

You've got something very sharp

Very close to your body
and close to your head.

It just means you got to be

Absolutely certain
of your technique before you go.

Okay, hitch these up again,
do my simon cowell.

Okay, here we go.

this time,
I hit 43 miles an hour,

with cameraman simon filming
from a sledge right behind me.

using the ice ax,
I'm stopped dead in 53 feet.

but simon's
still going flat-out.

lost in the snow cloud...

[ Thud ]
ugh!

... He plows straight into me.

Man: is he okay?
Is he okay?

stunned,
the team fear the worst.

within seconds, the safety team
jump into action.

Bear, do you want
to lie down, buddy?

my leg has sustained
a massive impact.

the pain's intense, and the
worry is, has my femur broken.

[ Radio chatter ]

once I'm on the stretcher,

they move me to a snowcat
to assess the damage.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Rankin:
bear's got a bad leg injury.

We don't know
if it's broken or not.

We hope not, please.
Let's hope that it's not broken.

Simon's busted his nose.
He got the camera in the face.

What's left of the housing --
that's the front.

That's quarter-inch
plate glass, that.

That's like a shop window.

And that went
into bear's leg.

It could've been a lot worse.

I just thank god
they're both alive.

the priority is
to get off this mountain

and down to the e.r.

i need to assess this injury
properly.

the team scramble
a rescue chopper.

and, as we climb
towards the landing zone,

the heli arrives on site.

Man: standing here at
the hunter's drop right now.

The wind is light.

Copy that.
Light and out of the east.

once we get there,

the team start to move me
towards the helicopter.

[ Indistinct conversation ]

Hold the door.

but it's also clear

that cameraman simon's nose
is broken.

Okay, this is...

The first time
I've seen myself,

And that is
an interesting look.

despite his injuries,
he continues filming.

and soon we're out
of the mountains

and heading
down towards the hospital.

the x-rays show no break,

but my leg has
a severe hematoma,

swollen to twice
its normal size.

simon's nose is broken,

but both of us
are just glad to be alive.

Going over that brow,
over the red line,

And seeing him disappear
into the snow cloud --

Just the worst, worst feeling.

Then it just sort of played out
in slow motion.

And I tried to steer,
but I had no idea where he was,

So I thought immediately,

"Don't hit him, don't hit him,
don't hit him."

And as soon
as I was having that thought --

Bang -- I hit him.

It felt like hitting a wall.

[ Thud ]
grylls: ugh!

I thought I'd k*lled him.

I remember the impact,
and I remember screaming,

And I remember
my first emotion was,

"If that had hit my head,
I'd be dead."

Reay:
I was just looking at him,

And he was just in tears,
holding his leg.

And I just -- it's the worst,
worst feeling I've ever had.

Grylls: it wasn't the mountains
that got us.

It wasn't the crevasses
or the snakes.

Just this rare, rare occasion,
you know, it was the camera.

But, you know,
that's part of the job

And part of fighting
to get that camera
so close to the action.

You know, si looks like
he's been in a boxing match.

But the sun's shining,
and, you know, we're alive.

our expedition is over.

it's time to leave this frozen
land and head for home.

the last two days

have pushed me to the limit
and beyond.

Let's get into this.

i already had a huge respect
for the forces of nature.

but that respect has
just grown dramatically.

Okay, I'm wet, cold,
and I've got to act fast.

what I've learned is that even
when you control the elements,

you never have true control
over the environment.

[ Thud ]

and the worst can happen
at any time.