Wim Hof is know as ‘The Iceman’ for his ability to withstand extremely cold temperatures.

WIM Hof’s countless ice endeavours have seen him up to his neck in a cylinder filled with ice cubes for over 90 minutes, swimming large distances under polar ice, running a marathon barefoot and climbing Everest in nothing more than a pair of shorts. 

In this fascinating interview Wim, who is from the Netherlands, took the time to talk to us about his belief in the human body and its limitless capabilities. He went on to describe his passion to pass on to others his method of finding the flow within his physical and mental state.

To find out more about Wim and how you can benefit from one of his workshops visit www.icemanwimhof.com.

Could you tell us a little about your early life and what outdoor pursuits you were involved in?

As a young man I was really deeply interested in the depth of human physiology. I practised all kinds of disciplines like yoga, kung fu, karate, climbing, free soloing, running barefoot in the snow, swimming in freezing waters, languages, cultures and religions.

Wim has found a method which allows him to control his body temperature.

When did you first realise you had a method of controlling your body temperature and could you tell us more about what’s involved in the practice?

After five years of yoga, kung fu, and other disciplines like Buddhism, and religion in general, I found that it was cold water that opened the deeper layers of my physiology. The coldness is direct, merciless but righteous, thoughts are silenced and the deepest part of the brain starts to be activated. Being outdoors is about reprimanding the brain. Fight, flight, food, reproduce and freeze. We alienate this area of the brain and being in the outdoors brings back this connection.

The cold does a great job bringing back the primordial within our control. Breathing changes to become conscious and deeper when we are exposed to the cold. It reconnects the neural path, both in our brain and body, to its natural state.

A deep sense of CONTROL is the positive consequence of this, which we have shown scientifically. Scientists compared the blood results of people who had done a bungee jump and one of the most remarkable findings in the scientific study was that the instructed group lying in bed produced more adrenaline than those fearful of going bungee jumping for the first time! Outdoors is about exceeding the SO called limits.

They don’t call him the Iceman for nothing!

How tough was climbing Everest in nothing more than a pair of shorts and what were biggest obstacles you faced during that challenge?

Everest in shorts was like going into the unknown. I had already walked and ran eight hours barefoot through the snow at 5,000 meters (1,5000 feet) with no problems. The next step was climbing Everest in shorts. I got to 7,500 meters with no problem except for a problem in my left forefoot. Three months before climbing Everest I ran half a marathon barefoot beyond the polar circle in January and got frostbite and my vascular system was not yet completely healed when I climbed Everest.

As one goes up the slopes of Everest, you need the flexibility of the vascular system to adapt to the thinner air concentrations. Therefore the veins and arteries need to open and close all the time (adaptation). Because of my cold injury three months before Everest, my vascular system could not adapt as quickly as it should have during the ascend. As a result I stopped at 7,500 meters and went back. Now I am fully healed and would be able to go higher in shorts.

Once on Everest I was WITHOUT a guide or any company, no path, only snow and there was a whiteout on the slopes at the intermediate camp at 6,000 meters. Once again just in shorts, alone.

I felt confident, strong within, and took up the journey to the intermediate camp and that was where I lost my anxious insecurity towards the unknown of the Everest climb in shorts. I had faced my fears and adapted easily to the mountain.

We are able to do SO much more, and that’s the way it revealed itself to me on Everest.

It was a great journey.

One of Wim’s challenges has seen him attempt to climb Everest in shorts.

What have been your other biggest achievements in the world of sport and endurance?

26 Guinness World records.

Swimming in nothing but swimming trunks beneath the ice in Lapland, while losing my way. As I was not wearing goggles my retina froze and I could no longer see, this resulted in me swimming much more than the planned record distance of 50 meters.

I swam until I fell unconscious. I never felt the agony of drowning, I swam into unconsciousness, then a diver grabbed me by the ankle and brought me back up through the 50m hole to the surface. I had faced and conquered my fear of death. That was my greatest accomplishment, absolutely.

Could you tell us more about your passion to pass on your method of finding your flow to others and how you intend to do this?

My mission it is to show that everybody is more than capable of going into the deepest layers of their physiology and brain. We do that by scientific research and have shown that we are able as humans to go into the autonomic nervous system and endocrine system far deeper than ever shown before in science.

We have written a full chapter ‘Testing the Iceman’ in a biology text book called Biology Now, which is used by universities in the US to teach about the immune and endocrine systems. 

Wim has provided much scientific research to back up and give his method credibility.

Do you have any exciting challenges set for the rest of the year and how are you currently spending your time?

We are currently pursuing new research and our results are being analysed now.

I always will find my trigger in nature, that will never stop as we found the way to feel the mammalian brain and the reptilian brain functions that need to be triggered, as it is part of our physiology and mind. It is the way to feel all of who I am. And that feels right and good and is also logical.

Wim feels one of the benefits of his method is to help prevent disease in the human body.

If you could sum up your message to the world in no more than ten words what would those words be?

We can do more than we think – and also show it scientifically.