Can you swim in an iced cold water? Can you stand inside the bin filled with ice? Can you climb an icy cold mountain wearing only shorts? Can you? I’ll tell you who can. His name is Wim Hof.  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. He plans another attempt in 2008.

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. He was subjected to an experiment where they drew blood from him whilst in meditation and found out that he creates antibodies, which implicates a possible breakthrough in medicine and fighting disease.

via [Wikipedia]

See Iceman in action, watch the video below.