Obama to get Alaska survival course on TV reality show

President Barack Obama will trek through Alaska's wilderness and get a "crash course in survival techniques" from insect-eating British adventurer Bear Grylls, US television producers announced Monday.

Obama -- who on Monday trades the comforts of the White House for the rigors of the Great White North -- will appear on an upcoming episode of "Running Wild With Bear Grylls," television network NBC said.

Grylls, a former special air service trooper, boasts that he pushes celebrities like New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and actress Kate Winslet "beyond their limits."

Tasks they have been given include eating mice, jumping out of planes and crossing desert canyons -- activities the Obama's security team, the Secret Service, would not normally allow the president.

His appearance on the show, which will air later this year, is just the latest in a series of White House efforts to reach new audiences.

Obama's visit to Alaska is meant to highlight the impact of climate change, and its impact in this vast and sparsely populated state, which has seen rising sea levels, shrinking glaciers, and melting permafrost.

The trip comes ahead of a major UN summit later this year that aims to cap global temperature increases by two degrees Celsius (3.6 degree Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.