whitetaildreamer

I don't doubt Bear's credentials but he does get loads of support in the wild. He has to,inorderto createan effective high budgetprogram. And yes, okodoka,I probably could climb Mt. Everest since I climbed Mt. McKinlythree years ago (though not as high as Everest, a larger mountain with it's own specific difficulties). But I could not have climbed it alone. It was a great team effort. Climbs such as these require many people, each having refined experience and skill, all working togetheras one. That is why I know that Bear could not climb Mt. Everest alone either.I have been on many wilderness expeditions including paddling the Albany to James Bay (last 2days we had to stay in the middle of the river and couldn't come to shore due to the large amount of polar bears)and the Mackenzie to the Arctic (before leaving the RCMP check to make sure you have an extensive first aid kit and a rifle, as we paddled along the arctic had a very large Kodiak follow us for the better part of a day. The tripended in Tuktiuktuk). In each case I was part of a team and not alone. Thoughvery enjoyable and memorable experiences I could not imagine the difficulty ofsuch expeditions alone (not doing such adventures totempt fate, I have a wife and kids to come home to). This is why I believe that Les is far better than Bear in the bush. He does it alone. I will never doubt the survival ability of those with specialized military training butwhen it comes to survival in the wilderness as far as I am concerned itcomes down to"time in". The best that I have ever seen is a guy that I have paddled with for the last 25 years. He is in his early 60's and his skills in the bush are amazing.His credentialshave been refined bynear 50 years of trekking through the Canadian wilderness.