Leo's Fiercest Moments Fierce Earth

'On today's Fierce Earth Special Edition,

'it's my top ten most extreme moments ever.

'The hottest...'

Agh! Brutal.

'..the coldest...' I can't handle it! Aggh!

'..the fastest.'

Plus, a brand-new challenge you won't have seen before,

and I've saved the biggest and fiercest till last.

Three, two, one, exit.

What happens when the ground shakes,

the seas rise up and the air tears itself apart?

The Fierce Earth team move in,

taking on the most powerful forces on the planet.

Get ready for Fierce Earth.

The Earth and how to survive it.

My name is Leo Houlding. I know all about life on the edge.

I've climbed to the top of the world's highest mountain,

frozen in the Antarctic,

and parachuted off the planet's tallest cliffs.

And then, things got REALLY tough.

Over the course of two series of Fierce Earth,

I've taken on the very worst that our planet could throw at me.

Today, I'm looking back over my most extreme challenges,

and I want you to come along for the ride.

Hup!

Whoa!

'The time I got stuck in...' Help...!

'..in the Sahara Desert, climbing a sheer wall of ice in Canada,

'and pushing it to the limit in Death Valley.

'All this and more is in today's countdown of my top ten moments.

'Will one of your favourites have made it in?'

But that's not all.

I've also saved up a very special challenge until last.

One you won't have seen before.

My number one challenge.

It's big, it's scary and it's as fierce as it gets.

Wind conditions are good. We're ready to jump.

But first, let's kick off my top ten in the hottest spot on the planet -

Death Valley in the USA.

Temperatures here can hit 57 degrees Celsius.

Phenomenal heat that very nearly got the better of me.

Each year in Death Valley, runners come together to compete

in one of the most extreme races on the planet...

-CHEERING

-..the Badwater Ultramarathon.

It gets so hot during the race,

people can only stop their trainers from melting

by running on the heat-reflecting white lines!

I'm going to run a section of the race

to find out what ferocious heat really feels like.

Normally, I find running boring. It's not extreme enough for me,

but in Death Valley, it's going to be plenty extreme.

What I'm doing today isn't just tough, it's dangerous.

Exercising in this heat can put incredible strain on the body

and I have the full support of the medical team.

Do not force yourself to run in strong heat at home, ever.

I'm ready to go!

Three, two,

one, zero!

Mo Farah, eat your heart out!

It's 44 degrees Celsius,

hot enough to fry an egg on the roof of my support vehicle.

I've only been running for five minutes and already I'm dehydrated.

It's so hot and dry, your body loses water at an incredible rate

and replacing it is difficult.

It's really hard to drink,

cos it makes you feel sick.

It's like someone has a hairdryer on you.

Perhaps running is more extreme than I gave it credit for. Brutal.

'This is one of the toughest things I've done.

'You're not just battling the heat,

'you're forcing your body to move when all it wants to do is stop.

'Just five kilometres from the start, there is a serious moment.'

Ah, hang on a minute, Dr Maz, Dr Maz. He's stopped.

'The fierce heat has taken its toll.'

-How you doing?

-I'm OK. Is there any ice?

-Let's get some ice water.

-I am on it.

-I think he's exhausted.

I'm giving it five minutes, and then it would be foolish to continue.

Yeah, we'll see how far we've got. Right, then, I'm set.

A scary moment, and I don't think I've ever felt that bad before.

But I've never let anything beat me in the past,

and I'm not going to now.

I've run 8km in 48 minutes,

and the finishing line is just 500 metres away.

Come on, you're almost there! This is the finishing line.

CHEERING He's our hero.

It's just relentless.

It really feels like you're a chicken in an oven.

But a chicken that's running in an oven.

That's one of the toughest things I've done.

Running is far more extreme than I gave it credit for.

Especially here in Death Valley.

Back in the UK, the heat is less of a problem

and we're much more likely to be drenched in rain.

Soggy scenes like this are a familiar sight.

Storms often cause floods that strike fast and cost lives.

Challenge number nine put me in the middle

of one of these raging torrents.

I'm about to experience what it's like to be caught in a flash flood.

Just 25 centimetres of water, barely up to your knees,

is enough to knock you off your feet.

Release the hounds! Agh!

It's not too bad right now, but I can see it coming. Look at that.

That's starting to feel heavy, it feels like you've got lead boots on.

My heart is really beating fast. It's quite intense.

'14 tonnes of water are flowing past me every second.

'That's the equivalent weight of about nine buses.'

It's not even at my knees yet and I can barely stand up.

Oh, my goodness, look at that. I'm going. I'm going.

I can't stand up any more!

HE YELLS

I can't!

Oh!

'I stay upright for just one minute and 29 seconds.'

'The power of this rushing water is sweeping me down the river.

'If this is a pretend experience, it's scary enough.

'I can't imagine what it would be like for real.'

Quite tiring.

You know, it's not the depth, it's the force of the water.

You just... You know, you're fighting for your life in no time.

It's dangerous. You need to treat it with respect

and try and stay out the way.

If you think the weather in the UK is fierce,

wait until you see my number one challenge,

when I experience the awesome power of a typhoon.

But in some parts of the world,

no rain can be as dangerous as too much rain.

Droughts can turn whole forests into a tinderbox.

If a fire starts, it can burn for days, weeks,

or even months at a time.

These wildfires destroy everything in their path. Unimaginable heat.

Until I felt it for real.

Challenge eight took me

to the International Fire Training Centre in Darlington.

It's the closest you can get

to experiencing the terrifying heat of a wildfire.

I'm about to find out what it's like

to come face-to-face with this fierce element.

I'm going into the belly of this beast.

'The temperature is going to reach 800 degrees.

'That's four times hotter than your oven at home.

'It's essential that I have the right protective equipment.'

OK, I'm about to find out what it's like

to be in the centre of a wildfire. Here we go.

GAS HISSES

'The flames burned just 50 centimetres away from my head.

'I feel scorching heat for 19 seconds.

'The power of the fire is awesome.'

Wow! Totally surreal, really hot.

It doesn't feel real.

It's the weirdest sensation, look at that.

It's really hot.

Argh. It's starting to burn, whoa, it's like a wall of heat. Boof!

It's like being hit by a freight train of heat, oh!

That was intense.

Terrifying, but really beautiful at the same time.

I've never experienced anything like that before.

This is a test environment and you do feel pretty safe

with these guys, but it's so unusual being that close to a massive fire.

Not far beneath our feet, the Earth gets even hotter.

5,430 degrees Celsius.

Pretty much as hot as the surface of the sun.

The results are awe-inspiring volcanoes and geysers.

Challenge number seven saw me

turning the power of the geyser on its head.

Geysers are natural fountains that can shoot thousands of gallons

of boiling water up to 60 metres into the air.

The jetovator is part-geyser, part-jet ski,

and uses high-powered jets of water to propel a rider

over seven metres in the air at speeds approaching 25mph.

It's the nearest thing you can get to riding the boiling Earth.

Hah! Ah, I'm proud of that. I thought it was going to be...

This geezer is having trouble on the geyser!

Oh, well, you can't be good at everything.

Time for me to try something I'm better at - climbing.

Mousetrap Zawn is a sea cliff on Anglesey in Wales.

It's around 100 metres high -

nearly as tall as two Nelson's Columns on top of each other.

The incredible folds in the rock here

were caused by the Earth's giant tectonic plates

slowly pushing against each other.

The same forces that cause earthquakes.

I went climbing to see these amazing rock formations close up.

Remember, you should never try climbing on your own.

Even an expert like me has brought along a support team,

specialist cameraman and a very special buddy

who's no slouch at climbing himself - my dad.

I'm the lead climber in the team.

It's my job to set the route, clipping in safety ropes as I go.

And the second climber, Dad, follows my path.

We're climbing with our bare hands.

The ropes are only to stop us falling too far if we slip.

That's the idea, anyway.

It was a thrill to get so close to such amazing folded rock.

Crushed and raised by unimaginably powerful seismic forces.

This dangerous, exhilarating climb took us well over three hours.

A challenge worthy of a place in my top ten.

Before things get any tougher, let's have a quick recap.

Challenge ten had me feeling the heat in Death Valley.

At nine, I was knocked over by a flash flood.

Eight, feeling the heat of a wildfire.

Seven, turning the power of a geyser on its head.

Six, climbing up sheer, folded rock.

'And still to come in the top half of my chart, fierce cold...'

Aaah!

'..fierce heat. Plus my brand-new, spectacular number one challenge.'

Time for me to catch my breath for a moment.

You don't have to go to extremes to experience our incredible planet.

Fierce Earth has also been Fun Earth.

With all the planning in the world,

it doesn't always work out the way you expect.

Whoo!

Agh!

Not exactly the ride I was hoping for!

Fierce Earth has allowed me to meet people having fun

in extreme environments all over the world.

Challenge five took me into the mountains,

where they've turned treacherous ice

into the most thrilling winter sport of them all.

Switzerland, in the European Alps.

This is where the sport of bobsleighing was born.

St Moritz has one of the fastest bobsleigh tracks in the world,

and I'm about to ride it.

-I'm ready.

-OK. Let's go!

-Wey-hey!

'Into the first corner.

'At this speed, it's difficult to keep control.

'I've covered 800 metres in just 15 seconds.

'I'm just centimetres off the ground

'and travelling faster than your parents' car on the motorway,

'over 100 kilometres an hour.'

My goodness, you come down so quick.

That's so much fun. Can we do it again?

So, that's the fun side of ice,

but it can also be deadly.

Mountain rescue teams regularly use their climbing skills

to save people stuck on icy cliffs or trapped in crevasses.

So, I went to Canada to take on my very own wall of ice.

Today, this is my challenge.

A 15-metre-high tower of ice.

Slippery, cold and dangerous,

and I've got to get to the top.

It's -25 degrees Celsius.

This sheer wall of ice is covered with razor sharp icicles.

It's a real challenge, like climbing on glass.

This is one of the more difficult bits.

You can see it's overhanging. There's a lot of daggers.

-SHATTERING ICE

-Ugh!

And your arms start to get tired cos you're hanging off them...

..and your hands get really cold.

'And with a surface as loose and brittle as this,

'danger is never far away.'

ICE SHATTERS

Watch out for that!

'That was at least ten kilograms of ice.

'Big enough to knock me out if it had hit me in the face,

'rather than my shoulder.'

Pretty easy to give yourself

a broken nose or a black eye doing this.

'I've made it!'

Yes! That was great fun.

Thankfully, the Fierce Earth team set up a quick way down.

Sub-zero zipwire. Whoo-hoo!

Whoo-hoo!

We're not far from that brand-new number one challenge,

but I'm keeping my cool for number three.

Blizzards can bring cities and even whole countries to a standstill,

and wind chill can be deadly,

making cold weather REALLY cold.

So, to experience wind chill, I'm about to step into a blizzard,

wearing just my undies.

This room is a climatic wind tunnel.

It's used to put cars through their paces

in the nastiest weather imaginable.

'Today, the cars are being given a day off, and I'm the test subject.

'Unfortunately for me, the only way to show how wind chill works

'is for me to brave this sub-zero lab,

'wearing just one layer of clothing.'

I'm going to roast(!)

'Cold like this is dangerous, so I'll be monitored at all times,

'including with a thermal imaging camera.' Brisk.

'The guys start the fan at ten miles per hour.

'That's a light breeze, but the effect is immediate.'

It's like ten times worse immediately.

Oh!

'And it's about to get much worse.'

OK, the wind's going up to 20 miles an hour now, Leo.

OK. That's like quite a noticeable wind.

Now my face is freezing.

'It's now minus 15 degrees centigrade, and with the wind speed,

'my body feels like it's minus 27 degrees.

'And that's the same as the lowest temperature

'ever recorded in Britain.

'We haven't got long, so it's all or nothing

'as we increase the winds to blizzard speed - 35 miles per hour.'

'And, as a really nasty surprise, they turn on the snow.'

Whoo!

This is it, this is a proper blizzard!

35-mile-an-hour wind, minus 15 air temperature!

Combined with the wind chill,

that's minus 40, and I'm in my undies!

'Of course, you should never go out in temperatures like this

'without proper clothes. You could get very ill very quickly.

'I'm doing it for science and I've got a doctor with me.'

Ah! That is cold! I can't handle it!

Ah!

'This blizzard was a fierce experience for me,

'but it's part of everyday life for so many big cities,

'like Toronto, Moscow and New York.

'Apart from the underwear, that is.'

I need warming up after that challenge,

and a trip to the Sahara Desert will certainly do that.

We've seen that heat is one of the fiercest environments on Earth,

so it's no surprise it's made it into the top ten twice.

But it's not just the power of the sun that can be dangerous.

Check this out.

Looks just like any other bit of this vast desert out here.

But watch what happens when I poke it with a stick.

You see that?

Wobbles like jelly. That's because this isn't any ordinary sand.

This is quicksand.

I'm about to take the plunge.

I'm going to jump into this quicksand.

The challenge is, see if I can get out. Here we go.

Hup!

'Quicksand is dangerous.

'I've got a team of people in case I get into serious trouble.

'Do not try this at home or on the beach.'

Help.

'It doesn't take long before I sink up to my chest.

'The sand has a firm grip as I get pulled deeper

'and deeper.'

The more you wriggle,

the more you sink into it.

You might think that sinking in over your head

is what kills you in the quicksand.

But it's not.

It's the sun that gets you out here in the baking-hot desert.

If you were trapped for a long time, you'd die of dehydration.

The trick is, don't panic and try not to fight it.

If you fight it,

it's quite scary and you feel like you're going to sink in.

But if you just relax, it feels a little bit like you're swimming

in a giant jelly or a blancmange.

So, what you need to do... is kind of like swimming.

Spread your weight out.

The more surface area you've got, the less likely you are to sink.

So, I can almost...

..lie on top of it. OK...

And then, you can almost push off...

..the quicksand itself.

Here we go.

HE GASPS

Ah, yes.

I made it.

That is how you escape from quicksand. Whoo!

Where do you go after that? Apart from a shower, of course.

It's almost time to reveal

my brand-new, number one ultimate challenge.

But which is your favourite of my fiercest moments so far?

Challenge ten, gasping for breath in Death Valley.

Nine, fighting to stay above water in a flash flood.

Eight, feeling the ferocious heat of a wildfire.

Seven, taking on the power of the geyser.

Six, clinging to folded rock created by earthquakes.

At five, sliding over ice at over 100 kilometres per hour.

Four, scaling a razor-sharp wall of frozen water.

Three, braving a blizzard in my pants.

And two, a narrow escape from quicksand.

So far, you've seen nine tough challenges,

taking on the worst that the fierce Earth can throw at me.

But for this special show,

I wanted to attempt one final challenge that would top them all.

If you don't like heights, look away now.

Typhoons are dangerous tropical storms that, like hurricanes,

cause devastation and destruction.

The force needed to take roofs off buildings

and uproot trees is incredible.

It's difficult to imagine just what typhoon winds feel like,

as this force of nature doesn't just happen anywhere.

They are strong enough to sweep you off your feet

and send you flying through the air.

I've travelled to Monte Brento in Italy

to experience first-hand the terrifying wind speeds of a typhoon.

For this to work, I'm going to need a massive cliff,

and this.

I'm going to take to the skies and fly like a bird.

I want to recreate the feeling of what it's like

to be in the heart of a typhoon,

flying at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour,

and I'm going to do it with wingsuit BASE jumping.

Wingsuit BASE jumping's a serious business.

It takes years to build up the skills,

experience and confidence necessary to do it safely.

I've done more than 400 skydives out of a plane

to learn how to fly your body and to fly a parachute.

Today, we're taking it to another level.

What we're about to do here is extremely dangerous.

I'm going to jump off a cliff more than 700 metres high.

But I wouldn't do it unless I thought it was totally safe.

To make sure that it is totally safe,

we've put together a team of experts

to look after my safety and the crew's safety.

This is Gary, a stunt coordinator and one of the best in the business.

Gary's here to make sure that the crew look after themselves

on the top of this giant cliff,

and make sure that we pull this off without any accidents.

Having all these lines everywhere, and people and equipment,

in an unfamiliar environment, to me, that's the most dangerous part.

He's also here to make sure

that I do everything correctly with the BASE jump.

Although it's still up here,

there may well be some winds down on the landing area,

so we'll make a call.

If it's too windy, we won't jump.

Obviously, safety's the most important thing on a job like this,

but we are here to make a film,

and a very important part of that film is this guy.

My mate James. He is one of the best wingsuit pilots in the world,

he's taught me a lot, and today,

he's going to be flying aerial camera, which will be amazing.

I've got my secret weapon, which is a camera helmet with two cameras,

both HD. I've got a ring sight here which is like a sniper's target,

and I have to keep this firmly pointed at Leo.

Safe jump.

'I'm almost ready, but once again, never try and copy this.

'What I'm doing is seriously dangerous.'

Wind conditions are good, we're ready to jump.

Cameras in position, all set.

Camera ready and set.

STEADY HEARTBEATS

Here we go, guys.

Jumping in three, two, one, exit.

-Whoo!

-HE LAUGHS

Whoo!

Jump off the top, and for the first two or three seconds,

you just kind of fall.

And then, suddenly, the suit pressurises,

and you go pfffff!

Going like a rocket ship, you just start flying across the sky.

Then we started really going. James is right next to me...

Totally soaring!

Whoof, that felt pretty quick.

Turns out it was pretty quick.

It took just 37 seconds to cover three-quarters of a mile,

and I hit a top speed of 114 miles per hour.

That's the equivalent of a Category 3 typhoon.

Mission accomplished.

So, that's it. I hope you've enjoyed my top ten fiercest moments.

This show has taken me all around the world,

and I feel really lucky to have seen some incredible sights.

But no matter how spectacular my challenge is,

the true star of the show is our planet,

the incredible, the powerful, fierce Earth.