Wim Hof is a 57-year-old daredevil from the Netherlands who can accomplish things that no other human being can. When you hear the term daredevil you think of people who jump off of buildings or get into car crashes purposely while filming movies or just seeking out attention from the public. Hof is a different kind of daredevil. He certainly puts his life in danger but he does it mostly in extreme cold. He forgoes a jump from a building or a purposely caused car accident for a tub of ice. Being submerged in a tub of ice longer than anyone else is only one of his feats, however. Hof is the current holder of twenty world records. His self-taught breathing technique apparently doesn’t allow his body temperature to drop like the normal human being, and he is able to withstand extremely cold temperature for unbelievable amounts of time. In 2012, he was featured on a television show called *Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files*. He was matched up against a guy named Austin and they each sat in a tank filled with ice for twenty minutes. When Austin got out of the tank, it was revealed that his body temperature was four degrees Celsius. During the same time, Hof’s body temperature and heart rate remained completely unchanged. He actually stayed in the tank for about ninety minutes. It’s completely amazing the things that he can get his body to do and he goes into pretty good detail in the video below. Grab a coat because you’re going to get cold just watching the video!He climbed Mount Everest wearing only shorts and sandals in 2007.
He once stayed in a tub of ice for nearly ninety minutes on a television show.
Most of us would brush off the snow immediately because of the cold. For Hof, it’s just part of his daily routine.
Hof says that his breathing technique allows him to “turn his own thermostat up.”
In 2010, he broke his own record in Tokyo by standing in a tub of ice, fully submerged, for 104 minutes.
While most of his challenges are done in the extreme cold, Hof does other things as well. He once ran a full marathon in the Namib Desert without taking a drink of water!
In 2009, Hof climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in two days. He accomplished the feat wearing nothing but shorts!
In order to pull off a stunt like this you need deep concentration. Now you know why they call Hof “The Iceman”!
One time Hof ran a full marathon (26.2 miles) in Finland above the arctic circle. The temperatures were around -20 degrees Celcius and he did it in five hours and twenty five minutes. Again, he did it wearing only shorts.
Back in 2011, he broke his own record again by staying submerged in a tank of ice for one hour and fifty two minutes!
Hof holds 20 world records, most of which have to do with extreme cold.
His practices are not without criticism, however. Earlier in 2016, his techniques were blamed for the deaths of four men. They drowned while attempting his breathing practices. Hof responded by saying he warns people not to practice in water. It should only be done in safe environments.
Hof explains some of the things that he does, why he does them and most importantly HOW he does them!