Wim Hof is able to withstand, and even thrive, in temperatures that could be fatal to the average person. Known as 'The Ice Man', Hof has spent the past 20 years testing his talent in the most extreme conditions, from scaling mountain tops wearing nothing but a pair of shorts to swimming under sheets of ice in the North Pole.
Now he is set to break his own world record by submerging himself in a Plexiglas container filled with ice at temperatures as low as -20 degrees for more than one hour 45 minutes.
Hof discovered his unusual talent over 20 years ago during a stroll in the park in his native Holland.
'I had a stroll like this in the park with somebody and I saw the ice and I thought, what would happen if I go in there,' revealed the 48-year-old.
'I was really attracted to it. I went in, got rid of my clothes. Thirty seconds I was in, and a tremendous good feeling when I came out and since then, I repeated it every day,' said Hof of the moment he knew that his body was different.
The Dutchman began a lifelong quest to see just how far his abilities would take him. In 2000, dressed only in a swimsuit, he dove under the ice at the North Pole and earned a Guinness World Record for the longest amount of time swimming under the ice.
Braving temperatures of minus three degrees, the temperature dropped to as low as minus 30 on leaving the water.
'The first big challenge was to swim a distance of 60 metres under an ice-deck of a metre thick beyond the Polar Circle,' he revealed. 'My goggles froze and I lost the track and so I went off course a little. I probably did the best record ever - around 80 metres.
'I missed the 60 metre hole and must have swam double the distance before a diver gripped my almost unconscious body, and drew me back to the 60 metre hole.
In 2002 Hof travelled 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle to run a half-marathon in his bare feet. In the same year, he also completed four additional half marathons as he travelled across Europe.
'I completed five half marathons in 2002,' he said. 'The first was a the base of Mount Everest at 5,000 metres, then two in Finland, the Alps at 3,500 metres, and here in Holland.
'I can tell you it was cold - the floor temperature was minus 30 degrees and the air temperature was as low as minus 15-20 degrees.'
In April 2007, Hof returned to Everest when he became the first man to scale 7,400 metres wearing nothing but shorts. 'I stayed in the area for a few weeks to acclimatise,' he said. 'But the walk itself was very quick - only a few hours.'
While many scientists around the world find Hof's ability an anomaly, he says it is merely a case of mind over matter. Practising an ancient Himalayan meditation called 'Tummo,' or Inner Fire, he says he is able to generate inner heat.
Hof now travels the world teaching the technique through his record attempts, lectures and talks.
'As one can solve maths by concentrating, so I focus on certain places in my body and generate heat because of it,' he says.
'Every body has mind power, I have learned to direct it toward my body and thus influence the cold and heating-system of my metabolism.
'Mind power is like electricity, it is a potential (current) which I have learned to use toward different places in my body - that is the real yoga.'
During a recent world record attempt in New York, Dr Ken Kamler, author of Surviving The Extremes, also attempted to explain Hof's unusual ability.
Studying him as he sat in a container of ice for one hour and 12 minutes, Dr Kamler observed 'He's not moving, he's not generating heat, he's not dressed for it, and he's immersed in ice water.
'As water will transmit heat 30 times faster than air, it literally sucks the life right out of you. Despite all those negative factors, Wim was very calm, very comfortable the entire time that he was immersed in that water.'
On December 20, Hof will travel to Cologne, Germany, where he will attempt to break the world record he set in New York earlier this year by sitting in a container filled with ice for one hour and 45 minutes.
Typically he doesn't foresee any problems with the impending attempt.
'For that I need to train the mind by focusing and concentrating the mind-power within,' he said.
'The danger is that when skin comes into direct contact with ice the body releases a lot of energy. The heat will release 30 per cent more quickly when you come into direct contact with the ice.
'My belief is that a certain cold exposure results in better working arteries and veins, which results in feeling better, stronger, and prevents from many diseases.
'My message for the western world or any people living where cold is to learn about the cold because it is a warm friend. It makes you life better, costs nothing more than a little time, and results absolutely in life-enriching dimensions.'
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