"Ice Man" Wim Hof, conquering the mountains in only shorts

Most people endowed with supernatural abilities cannot rationally explain the nature of their gift. But not the famous Dutchman Wim Hof, who was nicknamed the "Ice Man" for his amazing ability to tolerate extremely low temperatures. He is convinced that his achievements are accessible to everyone. A couple of years ago, a journalist came to him, confident that Wim's records were rigged. He intended to write a revealing report, but after several classes he wandered through the snow with almost no clothes on.

Vim holds a number of official world records. In 2000, he swam about 60 meters under the water of a lake covered with ice.

A few years later, in Finland, beyond the Arctic Circle, I ran a full marathon at a temperature of 20 degrees below zero. Wearing only shorts.

In 2009, he climbed to the top of Kilimanjaro volcano in two days. In addition to shorts, he put on shoes: before that, his attempt to climb Mount Everest was unsuccessful due to frostbite on his fingers.

Vima does not take not only cold, but also heat. In 2011, in search of new sensations, he ran 42 kilometers through the Namib desert. Not the greatest achievement, if we take into account that the Dutchman did not drink a drop of water on the way.

Wim periodically appears on the pages of the Guinness Book of Records, repeatedly updating his achievement for the duration of his stay in the ice "bath". So far it has stopped at 1 hour 52 minutes.

In April, the "Ice Man" will be 60 years old. Many at this age become regulars of clinics, swallow pills by handfuls. Bad ecology, stress, viruses - there are plenty of external factors that worsen health. But Wim calls it all excuses. The reason for our illnesses, he believes, lies in the fact that we have broken contact with our own body and have forgotten how to listen to it.

Experts consider the Dutchman a phenomenon. Wim shrugs it off, calls himself a completely ordinary person and assures that his "superpowers" are subject to everyone. The record holder has published a book in which he described in detail the technique he developed called "Inner Flame", and also posted a series of video tutorials on the Internet.

"All you need is to control your body with your mind," says Wim. — I created a method, the components of which are breathing, the right attitude and cold. This optimizes the connection between body and mind."

To some, Vim's records seem to be a forgery. One of these was the American journalist Scott Carney. He came to Holland, agreeing to take an express training course in the technique of "Inner Flame".

"On the first day I stood with my bare feet in the snow for only 5 minutes, then there was terrible pain," Scott wrote when he returned home. - However, on the second day after practicing breathing with Vim, I stood for 20 minutes. On the third day — 45. And then Wim took us to an icy waterfall, and there we meditated on a bench until the snow around us completely melted from our own heat. In the end, we wandered through the snow for 8 hours, being only shod and dressed in shorts. And despite the icy wind, I was hot."

Sensational material did not work out, but during the training the journalist noticeably lost weight and got rid of long-standing health problems.

"Anyone can do it—" says Wim Hof— "you just become an alchemist of your own body. Just try it. Inhale — and exhale."