Record

Well we have finished filming at last for the summer - it has been a full on few months doing shows in Yukon, Dakota, Ireland, Louisiana and Mexico, but the current series is done and I have a short break now with my family. Alleluia! We are up on our small island in Wales - minimal danger and minimal discomfort! Bliss!

I also attach a pic from our Guinness world record that we broke last week, setting a new time for the longest ever continuous indoor freefall!

I had been back only a few days, we had announced our latest Antarctic expedition for this winter, I finished off a new book on great adventures for Dad's and kids (ie how to make treehouses, go scrambling, diving etc), and done a few talks. All was set for a quick record attempt in a wind tunnel then off on holiday! The truth is that I had no idea what I was letting myself in for!

The previous record was 1hr 36mins by a US team. I thought: 'how hard can it be!?' My two fellow skydivers, Al & Freddie, are excellent freeflyers, and they knew that the most efficient body position to maintain in the wind tunnel over such a long time would be on their backs. This requires a much stronger wind strength than normal skydiving (ie face down), in order to keep them up. This meant that it was much harder for me to maintain stability on my tummy as everything becomes so responsive in that wind strength. They weighted me down with a weight belt but still after 7minutes in the tunnel I was struggling!

By 50mins I was having to dig deeper than I had in a long time! The record was a record for good reason! And to stay in freefall for over an hour and a half is tough. This for me was becoming one of the hardest mental challenges I had ever known.

By 1hr 30 I was beginning to hallucinate. Several times I started to loose control and Freddie had to help me regain control. By 1hr 35 we were all at our limit and I was fighting to hold it together for a precious couple of minutes longer. At 1hr37 on the dot we all crashed together in a pile. We had broken the record by a matter of a few seconds! It had been touch and go but we had done it.

We were brilliantly supported by Airkix and were also raising awareness for the charity Global Angels that saves children's lives around the world.

I could hardly walk for an hour afterwards, I am still stiff 3 days later and my nose is still pouring with snot from the wind damage to my sinuses! But together we did it - just. Thank you to a great team.

Now...I am off on holiday!

We start filming again soon - location clues: the Lost World, the Heroes of Telemark, and the place of many US survival epics.

Have a brill summer!

Bear x