People Want To Know if Bear Grylls Has Ever Climbed Mount Everest

For more than 20 years, Bear Grylls has been having adventures and braving the elements on TV. But has Bear Grylls ever climbed Mount Everest? For some outdoorsmen, it's the ultimate test of strength and endurance. For others, it's not exactly high on their list when there are plenty of other physical challenges to overcome.

But when it comes to Bear, it would be surprising if he hadn't ever attempted the climb. Before audiences around the world were ever introduced to him, Bear served with the UK Special Forces Reserve. During his time in the service, he suffered his first major injury outdoors when his parachute failed to open, resulting in a 16,000-foot fall, according to BBC News. But that didn't stop him from continuing on in his adventures.

Unsurprisingly, Bear did climb Mount Everest once. He climbed the massive mountain when he was 23 years old, less than two years after he suffered a vertebral injury following his parachute accident. But, according to him, he probably wouldn't try to summit the mountain again, even if he completed it once.

Bear shared an Instagram video in 2025 about climbing the mountain and how he now sees the potential risk as far from worth the reward of being able to say they got to the top of a mountain, no matter how monumental it is.

He wrote in the caption that, even for him, an adventure is never worth risking your life or not being able to go home to loved ones.

"Is any mountain worth a life?" He questions in the video. "The clear answer is no. But at the time, sometimes your ambition is like, we're gonna go for it. And that's why I think now, kind of with better time and experience, would I do it now? Would I take a one in six chance of not coming home? No, because you have more to live for."

With a name like Bear Grylls, the Running Wild star almost had to make a career out of professional adventuring. It also made it easier for him to be able to star in different TV shows about his travels and the physical challenges he has endured. But is his actual birth name Bear Grylls? Or even Bear, for that matter? There have been doubts over the years.

His real first name is reportedly Edward. According to him, the name Bear came from a childhood nickname. He shared in a Wired video on Instagram that his older sister didn't like his name when he was a baby, and she began to call him Teddy or Teddy Bear.

And, over time, Bear stuck as his nickname, and it became what people know him as. It's probably a good thing too, since it's hard to imagine Edward Grylls as the professional adventurer we know today.