Bear Grylls Quote

VW Valley is one of the final mountains one climbs on Selection--but it’s among the worst.VW stands for Voluntary Withdrawal, and when you see the mountain you can understand why people have often quit here.Steep, windswept, and boggy--and at mile thirty it is the point where many recruits quit and remove themselves from the course--broken by the sheer distance, weight, and speed.But not me. Not now.On my backside, I slid down the first steep reentrant leading into the bowl of the valley. I was using the butt of my weapon to steer me as I glissaded down the snow, and I finally slowed at the bottom, near an iced-over stream.I crossed it and started straight up the face with Trucker behind me.On and on and on--until finally at the crest I collapsed and waited for him.Trux’s feet were both badly swollen. Later on he discovered that he’d broken both of his big toes somewhere around this point. It was purely from the incessant pounding his feet were taking. He was in agony.I heard him muttering under his breath. He was mumbling Bible verses to himself.We had often both quietly prayed together before the big marches. Now we needed that help more than ever.I am holding you by your right hand…Do not be afraid. I am here to help you. Isaiah, 41:13. If ever I needed to hear such words it was now.It is easy to be cynical and to think you do not need help when all is going your way; but if Selection taught me anything it is that we all have our limits. To push beyond those limits sometimes requires something beyond just ourselves.That is what my faith has given me--a secret strength and help when I have needed it most.

Bear Grylls

VW Valley is one of the final mountains one climbs on Selection--but it’s among the worst.VW stands for Voluntary Withdrawal, and when you see the mountain you can understand why people have often quit here.Steep, windswept, and boggy--and at mile thirty it is the point where many recruits quit and remove themselves from the course--broken by the sheer distance, weight, and speed.But not me. Not now.On my backside, I slid down the first steep reentrant leading into the bowl of the valley. I was using the butt of my weapon to steer me as I glissaded down the snow, and I finally slowed at the bottom, near an iced-over stream.I crossed it and started straight up the face with Trucker behind me.On and on and on--until finally at the crest I collapsed and waited for him.Trux’s feet were both badly swollen. Later on he discovered that he’d broken both of his big toes somewhere around this point. It was purely from the incessant pounding his feet were taking. He was in agony.I heard him muttering under his breath. He was mumbling Bible verses to himself.We had often both quietly prayed together before the big marches. Now we needed that help more than ever.I am holding you by your right hand…Do not be afraid. I am here to help you. Isaiah, 41:13. If ever I needed to hear such words it was now.It is easy to be cynical and to think you do not need help when all is going your way; but if Selection taught me anything it is that we all have our limits. To push beyond those limits sometimes requires something beyond just ourselves.That is what my faith has given me--a secret strength and help when I have needed it most.

Related Quotes

About Bear Grylls

Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls (; born 7 June 1974) is a British former SAS trooper who is a survival expert, adventurer, and television presenter. He first drew attention after embarking on a number of notable adventures, including several world records in hostile environments, and then became widely known for his television series Man vs. Wild (2006–2011). He is also involved in a number of wilderness survival television series in the UK and US, such as Running Wild with Bear Grylls and The Island with Bear Grylls. In July 2009, Grylls was appointed as The Scout Association’s youngest-ever Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories at age 35, a post he has held for a second term since 2015 and in 2024 became the 2nd longest serving Chief Scout after Robert Baden-Powell.