Ice Man

Wim Hof (born April 20, 1959, Sittard) is a Dutch man, commonly nicknamed Iceman. He holds nine world records including a world record for longest ice bath. In 2007, he attempted, but failed, to climb Mount Everest wearing nothing but shorts.[ Hof has been criticized for his stated justifications for this attempt, "Edmund Hillary's ascent of Mount Everest was a testament to human achievement, my climb of Mount Everest in my shorts will be a monument to the frivolous, decadent nature of modern society."

Wim broke his previous world record by staying for 1 hour 13 minutes and 48 seconds immersed in ice at Guinness World Records 2008. The night before, he performed the act on the Today Show. Dr. Kenneth Kamler monitored the event to explain the effects of using the Tantric practice Tummo to control your body temperature. Tummo has been practiced by Yogi monks in Tibet. Apparently Wim is the only known non-monk to have mastered Tummo. Wim describes his ability to withstand extreme cold temperatures as being able to turn his own thermostat up by using his brain.

Wim Hof has recently broken the ice endurance record by standing fully immersed in ice for 1 hour and 31 minutes in Lelystad in May 2008.


In February 2009, Wim Hof reached the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in his shorts within 2 days. It took him only another 2 days to climb down.

His next challenge will be to do a marathon of 50 kilometres above the polar circle filmed by an English from firecrackerfilms, who work for both BBC and National Geographic.

He has four children with his late wife, and one child with his present girlfriend.