The Toughest Experience Les Stroud Has Ever Had On Survivorman

As the star, creator, and film crew of Discovery's hit TV series "Survivorman," Les Stroud is no stranger to difficult experiences and tough situations. In fact, tough situations are one of the main draws of the reality show, which prides itself on showing real survival scenarios and skills. With no camera crew to protect him, Stroud has gotten himself into sticky situations in the past including when he chased by a jaguar in the Amazon rainforest and got heat stroke in the Kalahari Desert. However, Stroud's scariest experience happened in a place you probably wouldn't expect — Norway.

As the Stroud himself explained in an interview with Outside, filming "Survivorman" in Norway was frightening because he ended up completely disoriented and lost in the middle of a forest in winter with the sun going down quickly. These factors combined caused him to become emotional in the episode. However, what made it into the show isn't the whole picture because this was the only time during the production of "Survivorman" that Stroud ever asked his editor to leave some bits of footage out "because it was almost too embarrassing" (via Outside). Considering that being lost is one of the most common causes of death in the wilderness, it's understandable why such an experienced survivalist got so worked up.

What made the situation in Norway particularly bad was that Stroud's clothes were soaking wet in below-freezing temperatures — which makes hypothermia a real threat. Hypothermia is dangerous because it can not only kill you but can also affect your ability to think and make decisions (here's what to do if you ever get hypothermia). On top of this, according to Stroud in an "Ask me Anything" post on Reddit, in emergencies, he normally uses a radio to contact a nearby rescue team, but in this instance the radio wasn't working. This made the Norway situation much more serious because no one would be able to come and save him if something really did go sideways.

Luckily, being an experienced survivalist, Stroud was able to calm himself down and then make a shelter and get a fire going so that he could make it through the night. The next morning he continued walking through the forest and eventually came across an abandoned cabin with provisions, ending his search for civilization. This close call even had viewers feeling nervous, with one commenter on Reddit explaining that the episode "was an eye opener that anything can happen to anyone in those situations."