Mental and physical agility, resourcefulness and a never-say-die spirit are just a few of the survival traits needed for participants to succeed in the inaugural Bear Grylls Survival Challenge, set to take place Saturday and Sunday, April 28 and 29, at the Blue Cloud Movie Ranch in Santa Clarita.

Participants will be the first in the world to receive a personal Bear Grylls Survival Score – an innovative deployment of RFID technology utilizing proprietary software that raises the bar for endurance sports.

The Bear Grylls Survival Challenge is the first-ever large-scale endurance event to test mental, physical and instinctual skills in controlled, competitive survival situations.

A data capture platform will use RFID technology to feed a proprietary algorithm to determine an individual’s on-course performance. Participants will be scored out of 100 maximum points, with penalties factored into each score.

Every challenge has a different point allocation measuring performance across key survival skills: strength, endurance, dexterity and decision-making.

“The Bear Grylls Survival Score will give participants a way to measure themselves against fellow survival competitors and deliver personal benchmarks,” Grylls said. “This first-of-its-kind challenge will incorporate technology to measure elements like never before. It’s about improving, digging deep and showing yourself you have what it takes to survive.”

RFID data captured will be fed into a leaderboard in real time, measuring the completion rate for each challenge plus overall on-course time. Each participant will receive a detailed summary of his or her very own Bear Grylls Survival Score.

Developers from fitness technology agency SweatWorks helped compose this innovative scoring system.

“RFID is a technology that has been around for decades, but together with IMG and the Bear Grylls team, we took it to the next level,” said Mohammed Ibqual, SweatWorks founder and CEO. “This is going way beyond traditional time-tracking in running races or triathlons. During the Bear Grylls Survival Challenge, more than 35 RFID gates will be deployed, the most we have ever utilized in a single race.”

Echo-Sigma, maker of hand-built premium survival kits, is providing ultra-durable, water-resistant backpacks to round out the premium course experience. “Having the right equipment is crucial in any situation, and we are thrilled to showcase our products as part of this survival experience,” said Chris Reidel, founder and CEO of Echo-Sigma.

On race day, every participant will receive an Echo-Sigma Survival Pack, containing familiar items, including a bandana, plastic bag, condom and more. Smart use of the Echo-Sigma pack (and its contents) during the Challenge will help each participant boost his or her score.

Participants will compete on a four-mile, off-road journey through 18 survival scenario challenges. The course will run across five distinct environments: apocalyptic highway, cave complex, deserted village, mountain ascent/descent and an infested swamp.

Registration is now open for Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29 races.

Visit beargryllssurvivalchallenge.com, @BearGryllsSurvivalChallenge on Instagram, @BGSChallenge on Twitter and www.facebook.com/beargryllssurvivalchallenge/.