Our viewers have inquisitive minds and therefore, lots of questions. Take a look at the most common inquiries below, and answers by Les Stroud himself!
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Q. What was the toughest location you’ve done yet?
Les: The arctic was the toughest... I asked my local Inuit guide - Sam Omik, when the toughest time to survive up there was and he said 'right now' It was too early for eggs or plant life and wildlife and too warm for good igloo making snow...I also had the psychological element of the presence of polar bears to deal with.
Q. How do you survive without eating for such a long time?
Les: In some ways you can say it's just like fasting for a week which many people do - however when you add in the extremely hard work of building shelters, climbing through thick bush and running cameras 16 hours a day, it goes well beyond a simple fast. Usually by the third day I become quite drained of energy and it takes an awful lot of inner convincing to get up and film the next element of survival.
Q. What is your back up emergency plan?
Les: I'm supposed to be able to pull the plug whenever I need to and so I carry an emergency satellite phone...however I have discovered as I do random testing that it has only been operational 50% of the time...which is quite discomforting as I lay in a rock cave in the thickest mountain lion territory, or sleep beside fresh polar bear tracks, or drift miles from anywhere in a raft on the ocean.
Q. Do you really run all the equipment yourself ? Isn't there a crew with you?
Les: I have a crew come in with me for the first introduction day only - then they leave me alone to do my thing for the week. That's the way it has to be or I don't have a show. So I run all the cameras myself - set ups and tear downs...build my shelters and try to catch game...start my fires...all completely alone. Sometimes the crew knows where I am...sometimes they don't...and sometimes there has been no back up crew - I'm out there on my own until the end of the week.
Q. How do you deal with the psychological aspect of these challenges?
Les: I can't pretend to be going through actual survival psychology...I know I am going home after seven days...none the less by the third day of these things I am always ready to quit...to get out of there...to go home. I miss my family...I'm tired of sleeping on a rock, or the snow...and I'm hungry and lethargic. It's then that I always wonder; 'why the heck am I doing this'. Then I remember my passion for filming and creating compelling and inspirational art as well as my passion for the ancient primitive and also modern high tech survival skills I have the privilege of sharing.
