Table of Contents [603543]

Table of Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1: Breaking the Ice
Chapter 2: Philosophy – The Love for
Knowledge
Chapter 3: The Road to Dakar
Chapter 4: A State of Mind
Chapter 5: Growing Up
Chapter 6: The Search Back to Myself
Chapter 7: Suomenlainen Sisu – Finnish
Power
Chapter 8: Super Powers
Chapter 9: El Gloces – A Canyon in the
Spanish Pyrenees
Chapter 10: Fear
Chapter 11: Camp Judson
Chapter 12: Half Marathon in Lapland
Chapter 13: Frostbite
Chapter 14: Who is The Iceman?
Chapter 15: Everest
Chapter 16: California
Chapter 17: USA
Chapter 18: The Cabin
Chapter 19: Kilimanjaro
Chapter 20: Hello Iceman
Chapter 21: Marathon Beyond the Polar Circle
Chapter 22: Hm… How Can I Train?
Chapter 23: Controlled Training
Chapter 24: Research
Chapter 25: The Invitation
Chapter 26: Workshops

Chapter 27: Patience
Chapter 28: Texel
Chapter 29: Almost There…
Chapter 30: Welcome to Poland
Chapter 31: Going Home
Chapter 32: The Endotoxin Experiment – A
Great Fight
Chapter 33: The Wind Tunnel Experiment
Chapter 34: Preparing for Mount Blanc
Chapter 35: Hello… Spain?
Chapter 36: The Spanish Pyrenees
Chapter 37: Returning Hopeful to America
Chapter 38: Lectures from the Iceman
Chapter 39: The New Year
Chapter 40: Strength and Honor
Chapter 41: Finland
Chapter 42: New Adventures
Chapter 43: THe Final Chapter
Chapter 44: Introduction to the Methods
Chapter 45: Wim's Method
Chapter 46: The Four Stages of the Cold
Chapter 47: Justin's Method
About the Authors

BECOMING THE ICEMAN
PUSHING PAST PERCEIVED LIMITS

WIM HOF

JUSTIN ROSALES
EDITED BY JUSTIN ROSALES AND
BROOKE ROBINSON

Copyright © 2011 by Justin Rosales
MIll City Press
212 3rd Ave North, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612.455.2294
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the written prior permission of the author.
ISBN: 978-1-937600-53-2

FOREWORD
B
ecoming the Iceman is a project inspired by Wim
and Justin to show the world that anyone can adopt
the ability to become an Iceman or Icewoman. The
project's goal is to show that the ability to control the
body's temperature is not a genetic defect in Wim,
but an ability that can be adopted by anyone.
For many generations, we have been taught to
fear the cold:
"Don't forget your jacket! You don't want
hypothermia, do you?"
"Put your gloves on before you get frostbite!"
Of course, these are consequences of extreme
cold exposure, but with the proper understanding,
anyone can learn to use the cold as a natural
teacher.
You may have seen Wim running around on
television, barefoot in the snow or swimming in ice-
cold waters. While he is doing those incredible feats,
he isn't worried about how cold it is; he is enjoying
himself.
Like any new tool, you must understand how it
works before you can use it efficiently. This pertains
to the cold as well. Wim is the epitome of what can
happen if someone uses the cold to train the body.
You might ask, "How can you prove that anyone
can learn this ability?" We're glad you asked…
As of Fall 2009, Justin Rosales had no
experience with the cold whatsoever. He was a
college student: [anonimizat]'s friend, Jarrett, showed him one of
Wim's videos on YouTube, they became exceedingly
interested in understanding this ability. They wanted
to see if it was possible for anyone to learn. So they
thought, "Why not test it on ourselves?"
In Spring 2010, after speaking to Wim for several
months via email, Wim invited Justin to attend a
workshop in Poland for ten days. After many days of
working as a dishwasher, Justin was able to pay for
his trip to Poland and learn the technique of the
Iceman.
With more training and countless experiences
with the cold, Justin began to slowly adapt. The
length of time he could remain exposed to the cold
increased dramatically. He quickly realized that the
technique to withstand the cold was, indeed, an
ability that could be harnessed by anyone.
This book tells the tale of Wim and Justin's
journey to
Becoming the Iceman!

CHAPTER 1:
BREAKING THE ICE
"Just do it! Right on!" That's what I always say.
I
have come to a point in my journey where I can
finally say, "I did it." Now is the time to write about my
experiences. I have been a pioneer all my life and I
think it is best to finally share my wisdom with the
rest of the world.
Fear and trust are the components of the human
psyche. Though the path may be to ascend up steep
mountains, I use no auxiliary tools, only my mind.
Many years ago, I lived in the Spanish Pyrenees,
making money by working as a canyoning instructor.
The beautiful canyons that surrounded me were
made when water excavated natural doorways into
the massive mountains of the Spanish Pyrenees.
To go canyoning safely, you need ropes,
wetsuits, watertight buckets, backpacks, and a lust
for adventure. These are the essential things needed
to safely guide people through the labyrinths of rocks
and steep walls.
The feeling is always good after a strenuous day
in the canyons, simply because you have to comply
with whatever nature dictates. The aching muscles
are signs of a hard day's work.
When traveling through the canyons, it's
important to stay centered and focus within. Don't
worry about the fear; embrace it. Centering, instead
of thinking too much, creates a physiological

process that affects both the body and the mind. If
you're centered, vertigo is controlled and every
descent teaches you to trust the equipment and
yourself.
There comes a point when the vertigo is nothing
but a mathematical problem within the mind. Once
you know the proof, you can reach the solution with
practice. Doing this gives control over the mind and
an understanding of your limits.
Using that serene point of view, anyone can
begin to enjoy the grandeur of their surroundings
during their descent. This is the moment that most
people enjoy when they come to the Pyrenees.
I know the paths through mountains like a child
knows the shortest and nicest way to his favorite
spot. During our expeditions, I would point out the
flora (plants), fauna (animal life) and the geological
structures of the Pyrenees. In a way, it soothed the
people that I led because it gave them an
understanding of my experience and hopefully gave
them more of a reason to trust me.
When we would finally reach the upper part of a
canyon by focus, concentration and strength, my
followers would begin to feel the fear inside of them.
It is at this time that I would explain to them that the
journey was about overcoming that fear and
becoming stronger.
Overlooking the mountains, there are many
beautiful monoliths standing alone, as if an
enormous artist sculptured them. In my mind, one
monolith stands out among the rest: El Huso (The
Spindle). To me, it looks like one of the Stone Heads

on Easter Island. It is the mysteriousness that
catches my attention. Like a magnet, it draws me in.
One day, while I was traveling through the
Pyrenees alone, I decided to examine the behemoth.
As I got closer, the rock seemed bigger and bigger.
Touching it from all sides, I calculated her height and
the possible climbing routes. I then decided that I
would soon tackle this majestic entity and climb this
amazing rock with no rope or safeguards.
My fear and trust began to initiate their irrational
beliefs of a near-death reality. My body tightened at
the thought of falling. Now was not the time to climb.
Descending back the way I came, I contemplated
how I would approach my climb. I went deeper into
myself as I felt my determination growing stronger. I
told no one of my plan to ascend the mysterious
rock. It was my challenge and I had hoped that it
would help me look deeper into my soul.
I began to train my body, doing pushups on my
fingertips, pulling myself up on doorways using only
my fingertips, and meditating on the single thought of
climbing.
That's when the nightmares began. I dreamt that I
was climbing El Huso and I was controlled by fear. It
was an overwhelming sense of powerlessness that
seemed too impossible to overcome.
Fear does not go away by itself. You have to
confront your fear, mold it, then learn to control it in
it's own irrational reality. Every human being has the
power to do just that. To go deep within and confront
your inner being is a powerful act. Going deep and
developing the will power is the only way.

For days I continued training, visualizing the
climb, concentrating on the hunger inside of me. I
developed a determined focus that I knew would only
grow stronger. The nightmares slowly began to fade,
telling me that it was almost time to climb.
The day my nightmares stopped, I realized that
the fear was gone and my trust had replaced it. Trust
is the element needed to conquer fear. I went to
where El Huso was located and eyed up my worthy
adversary one last time. It was at that point that I
realized I forgot my climbing shoes, but there was no
turning back now!
I emptied my mind and just let go. It's important to
be mentally prepared before beginning. Being badly
prepared or not confident in something this
dangerous could lead to serious injury.
As I started to climb, I realized a light feeling of
being inside of me. I had a powerful grip in my hands
and there were no anxious thoughts holding me
back.
Just do it,
I thought.
Silence and emptiness aided my conquering of
fear. These elements are also present in meditation.
In a way, this was my own form of meditation.
After reaching the top I felt a wave of self-worth
and excitement! I climbed down and back up several
more times. I felt like a child and El Huso was my
playground.
A couple of years later my photographer, Henny
Boogert, traveled with me to the Pyrenees to do
some solo pictures for an outdoor magazine. We
went back to El Huso and Henny began to take many
pictures as I climbed without the aid ropes or gear.

He took a lot of beautiful shots, but I asked him if he
thought anything could be done better. He mentioned
that the lighting was a bit off, so the pictures were a
bit dimmer than he would have liked. So I said,
"Then I will climb it tomorrow!"
The next morning we returned and I prepared
myself as I had before. After climbing for a bit and
reaching a height that would definitely kill me if I fell, I
developed a cramp in my right calf! I was rendered
motionless as the pain quickly became crippling. I
really could do nothing but hold on to the rock for
dear life. I tried to shake my leg, but there was no
space, only a few centimeters.
I had no room for error; otherwise, I would quickly
meet my demise. I was on the edge of losing control
and one mistake could end it all.
Out of options, I tried something new. I tried to
think
my cramp away. Visualizing the part of my leg
that was throbbing, I began to loosen that area in my
mind. Soon enough, the muscle in my leg began to
relax. For the first time ever, I realized that I could
consciously think away a muscle cramp. I believe it
was a direct result of knowing the body with my
mind.
That experience made me realize that
overcoming fear, by trusting the body and mind, can
increase the potential for success as long as you
just do it.

CHAPTER 2:
PHILOSOPHY – THE LOVE FOR
KNOWLEDGE
W
hen I was thirteen, I spent my autumn holiday
reading a book about Psychology. It was a book with
mysterious concepts that I hoped I would soon
understand. I knew the text held value, so I
committed my time and separated myself from the
world to gain a better understanding.
The psychological terminology gave birth to my
inquisitive mind and the urge to philosophy
everything around me. It was then that I began to see
the world in a different light. All at once, I wanted to
learn about different cultures, traditions and new
languages.
I applied for a passport as soon as I was of age,
excited when I finally received it. I packed my bright
orange backpack and with my thumbs up, I
hitchhiked to Morocco.
When I was traveling through Belgium, I thought it
would be helpful to learn a few catch phrases that
would help me survive. I was taught French in school,
but it wasn't enough to get by. Luckily, the people I
met while traveling were willing to teach me a few
important phrases, like:
"Are you going to Paris?"
"Thank you."
"Where is the bathroom?"
"Where am I?"

Using this method, I progressively learned
French. Later on in my life, I came to learn many
other languages through similar methods, such as
Spanish; Portuguese; Italian; Japanese; Sanskrit
(from a teacher), and Polish. I had also learned
German from living one kilometer away from the
border of Germany. Dutch, however, is my native
language.
I've come to understand that if you want to learn
something badly enough, you'll find a way to make it
happen. Having the will to search and succeed is
very important.
Even though I had learned many languages, I still
felt like there was something missing. As I
approached my adolescence, I became more
inquisitive. I knew about the great philosophers, the
seers, traditions, cultures and esoteric disciplines,
yet, something was still missing.
I believe an inquisitive mind always finds what it's
looking for. It's the irrational curiosity that ultimately
stumbles upon the answer.
I found my answer in December when I was
seventeen. I was home thinking about this hole in
myself when I suddenly noticed the snow outside. As
the snowflakes began to cover the multicolored
environment in a beautiful white blanket, a warm
feeling washed over me.
I watched until the snow grew thick on the ground.
I embraced the white desert as the snow began to
fall harder. I needed to go out into it. So after I put on
my shoes and a thick pullover jacket, I was off.
That crispy sound when walking over a new lair of

snow filled my ears as the strange, but beautiful,
white blanket changed the appearance of the land.
There was intimacy and a sort of mysticism that filled
the cool air. Nearby, a couple of kids were rolling
around in the snow, wrestling with each other. This
moment called me to reminisce about my past.
When the first snow fell three years prior to this
experience, I had a similar urgency to go out into it.
I took off my shoes and began walking around the
nearby park with my wife and son.
After about an hour of walking around, Noah,
my son, bent over to make a snowball. Noah
finished his creation and we continued walking
while he held it at his side. My wife and I laughed
and talked as we admired the newly covered
Amsterdam.
An hour later, we returned home. I went to take
off my son's jacket when I realized that he was still
holding the ball of snow in his hands! He told me
he wanted to put it in the fridge and store it. Like
most children, they want things to last forever. So,
we let him cherish the memory by storing the
snowball in the freezer.
I grew curious as to how he was able to hold
onto the chilled ball for that long and not complain
about the pain. I asked Noah to show me his hands
so that I could see if there was any damage. To my
surprise, his hands weren't cold at all. In fact, they
were incredibly warm! I'll never forget my son's first
experience with the cold.
Anyway, there I was in the snow-covered pasture,
when I felt an irrational urge to take off my socks and

shoes. Barefooted, I became strangely aware that it
was not cold, just soft. There was an absence of
pain. Instead, I felt a great feeling of joy and power.
My conceptual being was flabbergasted. I wandered
around in the snow for hours, taking in the vast
whiteness. It inspired me.
Whenever something touches me in a way that
makes me reflect, I don't feel like quitting; I don't feel
limits, just a greater sense of being. That is the
essence of meditation, where thoughts are no longer
consciously driven.
That moment made a monumental impact in my
life. The experience changed the way I thought about
the cold. At the time, I couldn't understand how, but it
changed the way I perceived it. It was my new friend.
To me, expanding consciousness is the path to
true knowledge. The material you learn from books
ultimately leads to an expanding consciousness.
That experience finally quenched my thirst for
knowledge. I now felt peace within and my mind was
still.
Everyone will experience theses moments at
some point in his or her life. I am convinced that
these moments are meant to show us that there is
more to life than satisfying our desires.
Sometime after this experience, I traveled 200
km up north to Amsterdam, the cosmopolitan city. I
wanted to meet fresh, new minds. I had hoped to
meet poets, writers, painters, Holland's best yoga
teachers, karate experts, and more.
The thirst for knowledge continued to grow inside
me and Amsterdam couldn't fix it. I was clueless as

to how to quench that thirst. I quickly became
lethargic. That's when I began to think about
challenges. I wanted to conquer something that
would make me feel more productive.
That's when the idea came to me. I would travel
from Amsterdam to Dakar Senegal on bicycles with
my brother, Andre. The idea had the potential to
break the pattern, yet powerful enough to get me
back on my feet. I had found hope.

CHAPTER 3:
THE ROAD TO DAKAR
A
msterdam is a city with a lot of channels. The city
was built on a marsh 700 years ago, 25 kilometers
from the North Sea. Since Amsterdam is adjacent to
many bodies of water, we have a lot of rainy days.
Our people are known for their tolerance to the near-
constant rainfall.
Although Amsterdam is a nice and colorful city, it
was too crowded for me. The center of Amsterdam
was always clustered with cars and everything just
seemed so… busy. After a while, I became fed up
with it all.
The idea of traveling to Dakar Senegal quickly
shifted from just an idea to a reality. Andre and I
threw our old newspaper delivery bags onto the back
of our bikes and set forth on an adventure.
In October, you can expect a lot of rainfall here in
the Netherlands. The first few days of our travel were
no different. When we arrived in Ardennes, Belgium,
the air turned cold and the atmosphere had a chilling
effect. We found shelter under a small overhang on
the side of the road.
As cars passed by, they splashed water onto our
bikes parked against the wall. We were extremely
fatigued from pedaling through hilly regions and our
stomachs were growling. I remember sitting there
with Andre in the darkness, drenched and starving.
The only food we had to eat was dry cornflakes.
We brought the food to our mouths and ate in

silence. Usually, we're very talkative and enjoy
conversing over a good meal; however, due to our
immense exertion, we simply looked at the road and
concentrated on savoring every bite of our food.
It was a cold night, but we traveled a bit more
until we found shelter at a bus stop. With a full
stomach and the comfort of each other's presence,
we fell asleep. Our bodies may have been cold and
wet, but we slept like rocks.
We went hard that day. The meal and the sleep
were well deserved. Moments like those put my mind
at ease. It's a resting place for my mind, so that I may
feel accomplished, yet relaxed.
When we woke up, we shrugged off the fatigue,
hopped on our bikes and took off at the break of
dawn. It was a new day and the rain had finally
stopped. We picked up a lot of distance while we
biked over the hilly countryside.
The northern part of France was also chilly when
we arrived, but luckily, there was no rain. We biked
through the northern part of France in two days and
arrived in Lyon. There was a noticeable change in
the atmosphere. The houses were no longer made
of bricks, but instead, replaced with stones and
wooden beams.
The landscapes changed even more as we
continued. There were different varieties of trees and
flowers. We could tell that we were getting farther
and farther into the southern part of Europe by the
vastness of the Mediterranean Sea. There was an
overabundance of colors as we passed palm trees,
fig trees, bright sunshine, and good food.

As a Dutch guy who hadn't seen much of the
outside world, cycling by the Mediterranean Sea
opened my eyes. I was enjoying the breeze blowing
through my hair, the rush of not knowing what would
happen next, and embracing the differences of the
new, but wonderful world outside of my home. I felt a
change coming.
A lot of the world may view me as the one and
only, Wim Hof, but that's not entirely true. Andre is
my identical twin brother. We are genetically the
same and look exactly alike. Because of the
genetic similarities, we know each other extremely
well. This drives our sharing for the love of plants,
trees, rocks, the sun, and beautiful landscapes.
On our adventure, Andre and I spoke of a lot of
things. One of the topics that we spoke of was a
change we felt inside. We discussed the changes of
mind, the mind itself, and enlightenment. While
pondering the purpose of our trip, I felt something
shift inside. I didn't know what it was, but it was
powerful.
We continued on, pedaling through the majestic
mountains of the Pyrenees, along the coast of Spain.
Here, we met a German cyclist named Wolfgang.
Wolfgang told us that he had ridden his bike through
Africa. Our minds clicked as we shared inspirational
stories.
He started by telling us a story of when he was
traveling through the Nubian Desert. He was walking
through the desert, with his bike by his side, when he

noticed a lion lying behind the bush he had just
passed. When he gazed into the lion's eyes, his
body became paralyzed. After a couple minutes, the
lion turned away and fled!
This story really impressed me and I was
interested in learning more from the man I had just
met. So, while biking along the coast of Spain,
Wolfgang, Andre and myself discussed our interest
in Zen. Specifically, we spoke of the spirit behind it
and the different religions, cultures, and traditions it
relates to. The discussions gave us understanding of
what contemplation was all about.
Contemplation is the state of mind where your
focus resides in the mind, moving your focus as
you talk. It is a state of mind that exercises the real
understanding of the self. If you exercise the mind
by making sense of what is said, while
contemplating your own thoughts, the mind
becomes lighter and understanding is possible. A
good point to get to is when the thinking process
stops and energy dissipates consciously. This is
known as "sama-dhi" in yoga.
We talked for days and contemplated even more.
We tried to understand the meaning of life and the
purpose of all of us traveling together. We had no
books, no seers and no references. Luckily, I believe
that true wisdom lies inside one's self. That evening
we slept in a melon field near Valencia.
Consciousness is a physical state of being that
is aware of one's self and one's own surroundings. If

this state of mind is exercised, it becomes simpler
to navigate, like a child gaining motor-skill
experience by tinkering around with different ways
of movement.
If you believe in an omnipresence, this is the
way to make an ethereal connection. Similar to the
way a GPS navigates the direct route to our
destination, your mind can find the best way for you
to connect with that omnipresence. To get to that
point, one needs to go within and gather the energy
to just do it. There is no false mysticism needed to
explain what it's all about. If it's inside you, just do it!
If you want conviction, dig within yourself. If you
want clarity, strive for understanding. If you want
understanding, get wisdom and gain experience by
just doing it!
You cannot bring yourself to understanding
while you constantly worry. It happens when you are
able to consciously let go. Don't think your goal is
untouchable, something that has to be understood
by science. It is very simple for those who want to
make it a reality because once they find their path
they will stay on it at all costs. I came to this
realization during one of the days we were riding
through the Spanish countryside.
By the time I had woken, Andre and Wolfgang
had already left to grab a cup of coffee from a local
cafe. I lay there for a while exploring the epiphany I
had discovered the day before. It was the first time in
my life that I realized, I was aware of
everything.
Pure awareness is something to strive for. You

will understand the meaning of this altered state if
you choose to go for it. It is literally, an eye-opening
experience. For those who adopt pure awareness,
they believe it is the best experience able to be
gained during their life. It is a simple, but unique
experience. We are all unique.
Don't think it is difficult; it's just a different state of
mind. Anyone is able to get it like the fruit from a tree
once it's ripe. This true nature of perception is
simple and has never left us. Just look within.
Understand, contemplate and exercise this state of
mind until it makes sense. Once the resource is
tapped into, the wonders of life begin to appear to
you.
Try it.
…
We went our separate ways when Wolfgang caught
a boat transfer from Valencia to Tunisia. Andre and I
continued traveling south through Spain and into
Elche, which has the largest population of palm trees
in Europe. We then decided to cycle to Almeria
through the Sierra Nevada. When we were on the
coast about 50 kilometers from Almeria, we stopped
for a day to enjoy the beach.
"Andre the Practical", as I called him, made an
oven from stones so we could bake our own bread.
A Danish man saw us baking our bread on the
beach and sat down to talk with us for a while. He
told us that he had bought a place up the coast and
that there were cheap properties nearby.
Splendid,
I
thought.

Andre and I decided to purchase a property and
live in the area for a bit. The place was ruined, but
there were large amounts of banana trees, figs,
crapes and cacti surrounding us. It was like our own
botanical paradise!
We never did make it to Dakar, but we both had
found our true paths: The way to the Self… and a
botanical paradise.

CHAPTER 4:
A STATE OF MIND
O

nce you know the way to your spiritual destiny,
you can change.
Once you realize that there are no limits in your
mind
Once you realize there are no boundaries to
what is possible, you can change.
Moving toward change is important. It will
become evident once you begin to work for it.
Achieving success is the result of the right practice
(no matter what that may be), the right discipline, and
the right road.
"Para mi solo recorrer los caminos que tienen
corazbn que alcanzar la iluminacibn."
This roughly translates to:
"The path my heart chooses will lead me to
enlightenment."
It all depends on the path you choose and the
decisions you make. In the end, it will all make
sense. Until then, the heart is your guide. I trust this
wisdom as truth in nature. It pushed me through
every challenge, fear and obstacle.
Now, my final challenge is to go beyond and get
in contact with my omnipresence, where we all live,
but from which many are disconnected. I am not
saying that I alone have the right to become

connected. I believe anyone and everyone can do it!

CHAPTER 5:
GROWING UP
W
hen I was younger, I didn't know what I wanted to
do with my life. Honestly, I still don't have a plan;
however, I feel that's what makes me who I am today.
There are a lot of things that happened to me
throughout the years that have shaped my
perspective, character, and determination. I guess a
good place to start would be my childhood.
I grew up with a normal family. My brother,
Preston, and I were born in Miami, Florida. We
moved to Pennsylvania after hurricane Andrew
destroyed our home. Our first move was to
Philadelphia, PA where my next brother, Julian, was
born.
We stuck around in Philadelphia for about a year
before moving across the state to Sharon,
Pennsylvania. My mom and dad moved us to Sharon
so that we could be closer to our grandparents.
When I first arrived in Sharon, I was 5 years old.
A few years later, my parents had three more
children. Their names were Brandon, Christian, and
Natelie. I was the oldest and Natelie was the
youngest. Everyone assumed that she would
become spoiled with five older brothers, but they
were wrong. She is now one of the most caring and
considerate women I know and we're blessed to
have her in our family.
It wasn't easy being the oldest. I always had to
keep an eye on my siblings when all I wanted to do

was play video games. As much as I wish I had been
doing
anything
else, it taught me a lot. It gave me
responsibility. I felt like it was my job to be a good
example to my younger siblings. Although
sometimes I made mistakes, my intentions were
always pure.
Growing up in a household of five other kids can
get pretty hectic, especially when living in our small
ranch house in Sharon. When we first moved in,
there were only five of us. Three kids later, we were
short on bedrooms.
I learned how to be a very social person from
always being surrounded by others. In the long run, it
was worth all of the chaotic screaming and yelling
from my siblings, as they'd play games together. At
the time, I couldn't understand how my parents put up
with it.
My dad has been a car salesman for almost all of
the years that I have lived in the house. Growing up, I
felt like he blamed me for everything, like I was the
only one to ever get in trouble. I remember him telling
me on multiple occasions, "It's your responsibility to
act mature. You should know better because you're
older." A lot of the time, I would feel a lot of angst
toward my father. I constantly told myself, "I never
wanted to be like him". Actually, I may have told him
that as well. Now, I realize that everyone has their
own flaws and that my father's intentions were to give
me responsibility to help me become successful.
I know I won't grow up to be like him because
he's unique. He has raised six children and was
willing to sacrifice all of his time to make sure that

we were able to live life happily. We were nowhere
close to wealthy, but we never would have survived if
it weren't for my father's dedication.
During his many hours of driving back and forth
to work, my father would listen to inspirational
speakers like Tony Robbins and Jim Rohn. On
Sundays, he would make us listen to several of their
seminars. We
hated
it, but I now admire his
perseverance and understand his purpose in doing
all of that. He was trying to give us the knowledge
that we needed to become successful if he should
ever pass away. I now see it as the greatest gift he
has ever given us.
Suffice to say, my dad didn't do it all alone.
Throughout my lifetime, my mother has always been
there as my guardian angel. I believe she is that way
to all of us. During my earlier years, she was the
typical stay-at-home mom. She picked out our
clothes, tucked us in, said our prayers, and even
made us whatever food we wanted because we
were all so picky. She was always willing to go out of
her way to make sure that we were happy.
When my parents lived in Miami, my mom
worked as a nurse, but she gave it up to spend more
time with the family when she became pregnant with
me. Around the year 2000, my mom wanted to
become active again. She wanted to help raise
money for the family, but still be there for us. So, she
decided to do something that the family could enjoy
while still making money. She began her own
business called Party Zone for Kids.
It all started with one moon bounce, also known

as a "bouncer," that she rented out to families. As
the business grew, she bought 14 more bouncers,
cotton candy machines, popcorn machines, snow
cone machines, and a facility to store the equipment
and have parties at during the winter. Now,
averaging over 300 parties a year, Party Zone for
Kids is a stable business that provides for the
community as well as our family.
My mother has always been our hero and the
person we go to with our problems. I am really proud
of my mom for putting up with everything we put her
through. Now that the business is stable, she has
returned to nursing school to become a Registered
Nurse. We will always cherish the lessons she taught
us. Even though she will one day pass on, the love
she gave to us will never cease to reflect in our
actions.
As you could probably tell, my parents had an
incredible impact on my life. Although I never really
had a set goal, I knew the
type
of person I wanted to
become. Ever since I could remember, my mother
would always tell me, "Anything is possible." She
would also tell me that if I could simply
think
of an
idea, then I would be able to find a way to make it a
reality. Each night, before I fell asleep, my mother
would whisper the following phrase into my ear.
"If you can learn how to use your mind, anything
is possible."
That phrase continues to resonate in
my mind every second of every day.

CHAPTER 6:
THE SEARCH BACK TO MYSELF
January 1999
W
hile reading the newspaper one day, I noticed
one relatively short article. It was a column that
included a photo of a person doing their job in the
cold. Each day there was a new person in the paper
doing a different job. Since it was the middle of
winter, I'm sure the newspaper thought it would be
nice to write about people who were willing to brave
the cold for their jobs.
There were articles on merchants, window-
washers, firefighters, farmers, and even prostitutes! I
was initially interested in this section of the paper
because I swim in ice water everyday. I thought that it
would be a good idea to give the newspaper
company a call and talk to them about my hobby. It
turned out to be a great idea, as they were very
interested to hear my story. One of their journalists
scheduled an appointment to meet at the lake where
I regularly partake in my activity.
When the journalist arrived, we headed out to the
lake, so I could show him my hobby. Typically, when I
go for these cold swims, I start by cutting a hole into
the frozen ice and then submerse myself. After I
completed this, the journalist took a couple pictures
of me treading in the water. He then asked me some
questions and I shared many stories of my
experiences with the cold.

The next day, I was in the national newspaper!
Wim Hof in the newspaper! It was awesome! What I
was not aware of at the time, however, was the
impact of the news on the media as a whole.
Apparently, every television station had read the
article.
Ten days after the article was released,
television crews began to visit my daily swims and
started filming my cold exercises. At least twice a
day, television stations, magazines and newspapers
were interviewing me; the media had entered my life.
I remember one specific interview quite vividly.
During this particular interview, I was being filmed
doing some swimming and yoga exercises. I began
by cutting two holes out of the ice that were 7 meters
apart. The exercise consisted of me entering the first
hole, swimming underneath the frozen ice, and
emerging from the other side. When I came out of
the water, my body was steaming! Afterwards, I
showed that I had remained completely flexible by
doing yoga-flexibility exercises.
As the camera crew was packing up, I began to
put on my clothes. I glanced out over the lake and
saw a man walking in the middle of the ice. A
moment later, the ice started to crack below his feet
and he fell through! Since it was windy that day, a lot
of the ice was not equally thick around the lake.
Apparently, this man didn't know that.
Everyone around me just stood and watched; no
one did anything to help. The man was struggling
and couldn't get himself out of the hole. Every time
he tried to pull himself out, the ice would break

beneath him. Half-dressed, I sprinted toward the
man in peril. He was about 100 meters out. As soon
as I reached him, I offered my hand to help pull him
out. Just as we grasped hands, the ice cracked
beneath me and I too fell through.
It caught me off guard, but I did not panic. I
wanted to remain calm in the presence of this
anxious-looking man. I started talking to him in an
attempt to calm him down. I thought this would help
bring him back to his senses. I said, "I am going to
push you up onto the ice, but you have to equally
divide the weight of your body so the ice doesn't
break again." He followed my instructions obedi11
as I pushed him onto the ice. When all was said and
done, he ended up suffering from only a mild case of
hypothermia, but at least he was safe and had done
no serious damage.
In dangerous situations like these, you should
always try to regain control and calm your senses.
Most of the time, you can get yourself out of the
dilemma by finding a logical solution.
Meanwhile, the cameras had been rolling for the
entire event; it was all over the news that evening.
The next day, I was in the paper and had even more
media representatives visiting me. Many other
articles were published and more of my yoga, ice
climbing, swimming, and running experiences were
spread throughout Europe. One of the articles even
coined the name that most know me as today: "The
Iceman."

Soon after, I, The Iceman, began to prepare for a
high altitude run. I was going to attempt my first half
marathon. The run would take place in Tibet, on the
northern side of Everest, where I would run
barefooted in the snow, wearing only shorts.
At 5,000 meters (16,500 feet), there is only half
the amount of oxygen density in the air. We need
oxygen for combustion to create warmth in the body.
To be able to survive in higher altitudes, we need to
acclimatize, a process whereby more red blood cells
are produced in the body to allow for more oxygen to
be carried by the blood. This will compensate for the
lower amount of oxygen in the air at this level. At
7,200 meters (23,760 feet), the body reaches the
threshold of its ability to adapt. It's known as the
"death zone." At that altitude, the body begins to
deteriorate.
During my preparation for the run, I met with a
professor who had heard of my feats through recent
publicity. He was connected to a research institute
called TNO. He invited me to take part in an
interesting experiment. I accepted his invitation
because I was deeply interested in the research and
the results it would produce. When I arrived at the
research center to meet with the professor, he led
me to the spot where the experiment would take
place: the thermo-physiological area.
During our walk, the professor explained to me
that his field was thermo-physiological sciences.
Even though he had taught material on different
temperatures and how the body reacts to them, he
wasn't very fond of the cold. For the professor, like

most other humans, the warmth is a comfort zone
that he has problems stepping out of – somewhat of
a primordial nature. I told him that I liked the cold
simply because it awakens all kinds of powerful
feelings within me.
He then began to explain what would happen in
his experiment. The name of it was "Cold-Induced
Vasodilation (CIV)." As I was listening, I became
more attentive and began to prepare myself to
perform the best I could in the coming experiment.
Preparing oneself to perform well is typically a
mental challenge that one must craft. You must
make sure the body is focused 100% of the time.
Where each limb moves, your mind must be there.
Where you mind moves, your body must follow.
He then proceeded to show me the experiment
itself. I was astonished at how intricate the layout
looked. What was so interesting was that the
experiment would only consist of the upper part of
my index and middle fingers. I would need to place
the two fingers inside of a little Perspex box filled
with ice water.
He told me that people who work regularly in the
cold, like fishermen who need to work with their
hands cleaning fish at sea, have incredible
vasodilation in their hands. Vasodilation has to do
with the opening of veins and arteries to help
increase blood flow to certain areas of the body.
When exposed to the cold, there is a natural
constriction of the veins in the extremities. It kicks in

to protect and maintain the heat of the inner core
temperature. The blood that circulates around the
core is very important because it helps maintain
functioning in the liver, heart, lungs and brain.
Therefore, the core must remain around 37°C
(98.6°F) for the body to function properly. If the core
temperature raises or drops even two degrees, the
body begins to malfunction.
When exposed to the cold, the blood's
temperature can drop below 10°C (50°F), and the
veins in the hand constrict. When the hand warms
up, the veins open back up. Usually, it's an automatic
physiological mechanism of the body that we are
unable to influence. By training through regular
exposure, however, we are able to influence that
mechanism dramatically. At first, that was merely my
opinion. Later on, I would be backed up by several
cold physiological experiments at Radboud
University Hospital, but I will speak more about that
later.
The professor then told me that the veins in the
extremities of a person well conditioned to the cold,
like those found in the hand of a fisherman, will open
up after 2 minutes, on average. For someone that is
somewhat able to withstand the cold, it could take up
to 4 minutes. For a normal individual, it could take up
to 8 minutes.
In my case, the professor was convinced that my
veins were well conditioned. He knew I was
someone who regularly exposed himself to the
extreme cold. He then sat me behind an iron table
where the little Perspex box laid. I saw the ice water

inside and a few ice cubes sitting on top of the box.
He connected my index and middle finger to a
couple of iron receptors that would be able to gauge
the temperature of my fingers, as they were exposed
to the ice water. He would be able to monitor the
data on a nearby screen.
As soon as I placed my fingers into the ice water
inside of the tiny Perspex box, the experiment
began. The temperature in my fingers soon dropped
to 10°C (50°F) and we waited. After 2 minutes, my
veins didn't open. Not even after 4, 8, or even 10
minutes! The temperature continued to drop and
there was no movement in my veins whatsoever.
After 16 minutes with my veins closed, I fainted and
fell to the ground.
.. .The experiment was over…
What happened?
Results like this implied that the conditioning of
my veins was not very good at all. After explaining
my intention to run a half marathon, barefooted
through the snow at an altitude of 5,000 meters
(16,500 feet), the professor told me that I would have
many difficulties with my veins not opening. If I were
to do my run with my veins in this condition, I would
be susceptible to severe cold injuries, especially
because I would be exposing my body to freezing
temperatures and high altitudes simultaneously.
I went home, extremely concerned and worried.
The results made me feel a little hesitant about
performing a new challenge, especially one that no
one had attempted before. I was not sure whether or
not I would be able to achieve success. What I did
know, however, was that no matter what, I would

always give my best, until it is impossible for me to
proceed. Even though what had happened at the
research center may have concerned me, I was not
the kind of person to give up that easily. My heart is
strong, but my mind is stronger.
Before all the research, I had believed I could do
it. Call it intuition if you will. I've learned how to trust
my mind in its direct contact with the nervous system,
immune system, blood circulation and heart and this
would be the key to my success for the upcoming
challenge.
The time finally came for me to leave for my half
marathon. With the research at TNO still on my mind,
I surrendered my emotions and bent like a bow, to
which my success would be the arrow released. I
knew I could leave nothing behind and had to give it
my all.
When we interact with nature, miraculous things
can happen. Whenever you go beyond the rigid
patterns of thinking, challenging yourself, you can
receive a bounty of experience from hard nature.
With a camera team from a national television
broadcaster, I flew from Amsterdam into Abu Dhabi,
and then to Kathmandu. Kath-mandu was a very
beautiful place with a vivid society. In a town with little
money in circulation and a small infrastructure, the
townspeople seemed to be carefree. Like many
other towns with little to no money, people are happy
with less. Many of us take our belongings for
granted, but these people survive with only the bare

necessities, and that makes most of them content.
It's a remarkable experience to see their smiling
faces in an environment where most of us would feel
uncomfortable living, without the access to normal
technology (television, cell phones, video games,
etc).
From Kathmandu, we drove through Nepal and
its hilly countryside full of banana trees. There were
many colorful trees along the way and just as many
flowers, dusty roads and rivers. I loved the beauty
and exuberance of it all. I am always delighted to see
how different things are in new places. If you're a
sensitive individual, beautiful sights bring about
extraordinary feelings. For me, this is typically true,
but I reminded myself that I was there with a mission.
While we were driving through the countryside,
the experiment at TNO crossed my mind a few more
times. Even though I was ready to do my best, I was
still wary of the possibility that things may go wrong.
We then stopped for a bit so the film crew could
record me crossing a big river with a strong current.
They thought it would be good footage for the
television special. When we got to the Tibetan
(China) border, we switched cars and went through
the immigration process. A young Chinese translator
and a large Tibetan driver accompanied us to the
Friendship Highway (also known as the "Gate to
Hell").
We passed a lot of steep, curvy roads as we
drove up from 1,200 to 3,800 meters (3,960 to
12,540 feet), to the Tibetan Plateau. As we drove
into the largest village on the mountain, we were

surrounded by a bunch of shacks, stony buildings
and chilly weather.
The Himalaya Hotel, which is where we stayed
that night, was nothing more than some dirty
curtains, a few beds with blankets to keep out the
cold, and warm tea. After eating dinner at a nearby
restaurant, we returned to our beds and attempted to
sleep.
I had never been at an altitude of such great
heights before. I didn't know what to expect. I felt
strange. My mouth was dry and tingling, I was
lightheaded. Overall, I just felt off. The feeling only got
worse as the night progressed; I had a splitting
headache for the better portion of the evening. I
cursed into the darkness yelling, "What the hell have I
gotten myself into?"
Eventually, I drifted off into sleep and awoke the
next morning feeling slightly better. My headache
disappeared and I felt like I had found some
newborn energy. It made me full of lust for the
coming adventure. I ate my breakfast with vigor and
joy. I was so excited that I couldn't keep my mouth
shut. I spoke at breakfast about the challenge to
come. Afterwards, we departed for La Lung La Pass
at 5,060 meters (16,698 feet). We needed to meet
with the translator and the driver again.
The rocky area of the Tibetan Plateau knows of
little plants or trees. The higher the altitude, the more
the vegetation diminishes. When you reach 5,000
meters (16,500 feet), there is no longer any
vegetation. The only things that remain are rocks, dirt
and you.

While driving up the mountain, we occasionally
passed Tibetan houses. Most of them were colored
purple or gray. It was an interesting sight when we
would pass a Tibetan's house because each time, it
would appear as if the wilderness had swallowed
their homes.
Climbing along the curves and turns of the
mountain, it began to snow. This made me excited. I
felt like I was grabbing the bull by the horns and
holding tightly. We reached the top and a rush of
adrenaline raced through me. I jumped out of the car,
took off my clothing and sandals, and began to run
through the snow.
The snow felt good between my toes and the
running was relatively easy to do. I was now fully
confident in my ability to run through the snow. I
believed that whatever happened in the experiment
must have been a mistake. I ran for an hour while the
film crew recorded. The day was a success, but
more important, I had finally shaken my uncertainty!
Running at sea level is easy, but when you're
running at high altitudes, the rules are different,
especially when you aren't completely acclimatized.
Usually, a person will get exhausted after running for
just five minutes. I did surprisingly well and ran for a
full hour and felt energetic the entire time.
After the run, however, the headache kicked in
again. This time it stayed for days. It was absolutely
terrible. I felt like my head was going to explode!
Just before reaching 5,000 meters (16,500 feet),
we stopped at a little village to rest for the night. One
of the crewmembers got sick from the high altitude

and the team decided that it would be best to take
her back to Kathmandu. The only person that stayed
from their team was Jasper, the cameraman.
We stayed in the village for a couple more days
to adjust. Each day we would climb a little bit higher
to get used to the altitude, and then return to the
village. Climbing each day got me used to the lack of
oxygen. Finally, I was able to function normally and
headache-free, making me confident that the run
would be a breeze.
On a side note, I'd like to mention something
that struck me as bizarre, yet very interesting, while
in Tibet. I noticed a lot of the Tibetan children
collecting cow dung in the fields that surrounded
the village. They usually had a calm expression on
their face while performing this task and gave off a
sense of tranquility unlike any other place I've seen
around the world. Though the Tibetans lead a
completely different lifestyle, compared to people
in the West, I had never before witnessed this kind
of intrinsic peace that they were expressing. It was
the most impressive thing that I have ever
witnessed in Tibet. It's something that I try to
achieve myself, each time I prepare for a
challenge.
Meanwhile, the day finally came when I would run
my half marathon. We drove up past the 5,000-meter
mark (16,500 feet), over frozen dirt, snow and ice.
Eventually, we came to a point in the road where it
was impossible for us to drive anymore; there was

too much snow. We stopped and began looking
around for a starting point. We decided to put my
clothes and other belongings behind a rock near the
car so that I could run without carrying anything. We
found a good spot and placed my things down. Here,
I began my run, barefoot and in shorts, while Jasper
was fully clothed holding his camera.
I felt remarkably good, gaining confidence as we
moved forward. As we progressed through the snow
and icy ground, I actually began to enjoy it all. While
jogging along, I met a Tibetan woman singing on the
slopes; her song sounded sacred and beautiful. I
greeted her in a respectful way with wholehearted
gestures and continued on.
After five hours of walking and jogging through
the snow and ice, I realized that I was going to
complete the challenge! I finished it with no problem
whatsoever. Jasper said that all of the shots looked
beautiful and the footage was all on tape; we were
both content.
After the challenge, we drove back over the
Friendship Highway through the Nepalese valleys
and arrived at Kathmandu. We then drove out to the
Stairway to Heaven. The Stairway to Heaven is at
the banks of the Ganges, where they sacredly burn
those who have passed away on a pile of firewood. I
showed a couple yoga postures to some Sadhus
who lived in the area and then we went on our way
back to the Netherlands.
With the marathon completed and my confidence
restored, all was well. I was ready for a new
challenge

CHAPTER 7:
SUOMENLAINEN SISU – FINNISH
POWER
March 2000: Kolari Lappish, Finland
A
nationally distributed magazine contacted me
with an interest in taking a couple photos and
performing an interview. The article's content would
discuss natural drugs, such as adrenaline,
melatonin, endorphins, dopamine and more. I
agreed, did the interview, and received a copy of the
magazine later on. The article talked about
adrenaline junkies, such as, skydivers, free climbers
(rock climbers without safety gear), adventurists, and
other people of this sort. The largest portion of the
article covered my piece. It elaborated on many of
my outdoor activities, such as running in the snow,
swimming in ice water, and climbing snowy
mountains, barefooted. The authors of the article
believe that a high amount of dopamine and
endorphins fuel my body for these cold-endurance
challenges.
After the magazine was published, a lot of
television stations became highly interested in me.
They thought they could create a good television
special by recording me perform the activities
mentioned in the magazine article. Soon after, a
television crew was sent to my front door.
Willibrord Frequin was one of these people that I

had the pleasure to work with. Willibrord is a very
well known television presenter. He does a lot of
interviews and is famous for unmasking people. I
was surprised to find Mr. Frequin standing in my
doorway. I had recently seen him on television during
his weekly program interviewing a cardinal of the
Catholic Church. Frequin told the Cardinal, "You shit
like everybody else, so what makes you so
different?" Of course, Frequin said these words with
respect, but he always digs deep for the truth. He
does this to go beyond a person's appearance or
status. I liked that quality about him, so I treated him
with great respect.
Willibrord was a professional. He knew exactly
how he wanted everything to look. He was very
meticulous with his camera crew and he constantly
tried to get perfect shots. He challenged me. I
started the interview by doing my yoga postures; he
was amazed. He had never seen a body bend and
twist the way mine had. I then dove into the icy
waters and swam to the middle of the lake. I even
held my breath for a few minutes under the ice. He
was thoroughly impressed. Mr. Frequin was also
nice enough to let me talk about my new book for the
television special. He had his shots and I got free
advertising out of it. It was a fantastic experience. A
couple of days later, the special aired and even
more people became interested in my life.
About a month later, a team of people contacted
me. They said they were highly interested in taking
Willibrord and me to the northern part of Finland to
swim under the ice. I was more than happy to go.

I had never swum large distances under the ice in
the Netherlands, partly because the water isn't
transparent. Also, swimming alone under the ice can
be very dangerous and I never wanted to take any
extreme risks. The crew, however, wanted me to
swim 50 meters under a layer of ice one meter thick
in Lapland.
When we finally left for our journey, I was excited.
We arrived in Rovaniemi on the Polar Circle and
there, I saw a lot of snow and ice. Actually, those
were the only things that were visible. I really wanted
to get out and enjoy the snow, but we still had to
drive further north for another 200 kilometers (124
miles) to reach Pello.
Occupied by 10,000 people, Pello is a village
beyond the Arctic Circle. When we arrived, the
village was in the middle of an international ice-
sculpting competition. The sculptures were beautiful.
It's amazing what people can do with ice.
That night, from the room where I was sleeping, I
saw thick snow falling with a silent presence. It was
coming down harder than I had ever seen before. It
made me ponder the event to come. According to
our records, no one had ever swum 50 meters under
ice water before, not even me. I would be the first to
do it. Physically, I was prepared, but inside me, there
was tension and fear.
The following day, we went to the lake to see
where the event would take place. We found a nice
spot next to a deserted mine. The layer of ice on top
of the water was, indeed, almost one meter thick.
The local diver's club happily dug us a 4×4 meter

hole out of the ice. They then placed an old Russian
tent over it to prevent the ice from freezing again.
Inside the tent, the hole looked like a blue
diamond. The water was so clear that you could
easily see the bottom of the lake 13 meters (39.6
feet) below. Even though it was beautiful, I was
scared. I attempted to rid my fears by going into the
water for a few minutes. I undressed, climbed down
the steps that the divers had carved out of the ice,
and submerged myself into the blue diamond.
It was a powerful experience. The thick ice that
surrounded me was intimidating, yet inspiring. I had
never seen ice that thick before. In the Netherlands,
the ice was usually about 20 cm thick, possibly
reaching 30 cm during the coldest winters. Even the
water itself was somehow different than the water in
Holland. I felt a sense of claustrophobia. It was an
eerie feeling, so I just floated in the water and did not
dive under.
For the next few days, I returned to the tent to
better associate myself with the water. There was a
void in the abyss that intimidated me.
During one of those days while I was sitting in the
water, I decided to dip my head under and take a
look around. The water was clear and beautiful. My
stomach eased as I felt adrenaline pour through me;
I felt alive.
It is moments like this that one needs to face his
fears. The best way to have such a moment is to
gradually confront the fear and approach it in a way
that is both exciting and inspiring. You have to be

decisive and physically prepared to do your best.
After that, little by little, you will see progress.
The progress I made each day in understanding
the water made me more prepared for my dive. My
nervous system has learned how to change things on
a cellular level. Your nervous system has the
potential to do the same. When there is more activity
in your cells, it can create a feeling of power and
control. This feeling can supply confidence to help
you reach your goal.
A couple of days after I had embraced my fears,
the day came for me to go for a test swim. Nerves
and determination were my silent allies. I remember
beginning the day with a cup of coffee while I gazed
out the window. We were to rehearse the record
attempt with only a couple of people from the team.
The goal was to see where all of the cameras should
be set up, in order to get the best shot, and also for
me to do a test swim. The crew's plan was to set up
the cameras and then I would swim 25 meters. In my
head, I was determined to do the 50 meters, but I
didn't tell anyone.
Spontaneous events are puzzles in the mind
that you have to figure out on the go. It's a part of
living in the present. You have to be at your best
and be alert to potential mistakes, because in that
moment, the mind and its thinking process are one.
You have to be ready to mold yourself to whatever
life gives you. To be ready, you must be alert
within.

When we arrived at the frozen lake, we
discussed the way things were going to happen.
Inside, I was plotting how I was going to achieve 50
meters on the practice swim, not just the 25. Nobody
noticed that my mind was elsewhere; I kept to
myself. A few minutes later, everyone was at their
posts. The cameras were ready and it was almost
time for me to attempt my dive. During my final
moments of preparation, I went within. You cannot be
more ready for a challenge than when you trust
yourself and your actions… and I did.
I began my breathing exercises and drew more
oxygen into myself. More oxygen in the muscles
creates a form of insulation and an ability to exercise
for longer periods of time. This would help in two
ways. First, having more oxygen would allow me to
be able to swim longer distances, and second, the
insulation would be helpful for swimming in ice-cold
water. With the sharp and beautiful diamond in the
ice inviting me, I finished the final steps of my
preparation and slowly entered the water with
determination.
With my back against the ice wall, I took a few
deep breaths to focus on my goal: 50 meters. I made
sure to take careful breaths so I wouldn't disturb the
oxygen saturating in my body. With one last
inhalation, I let go and dove under.
I remember being glad that I had access to the
ice water days before that rehearsal, because at that
moment, I was completely comfortable and felt no
cold whatsoever. The adrenaline had taken over my
body and with each stroke, I felt more confident in my

ability to succeed.
The water was refreshing. The crystal-clear lake
offered a beautiful view. I started counting my
strokes as I swam:
1, 2, 3
… A few moments later I
passed the 25 meter hole and continued on like a
torpedo:
28… 29.
It was at the 29th stroke where my
vision began to get blurry.
From my experience with swimming, I knew that
each one of my strokes represented one meter and
20 cm of distance. This meant that I was at about 35
meters when my vision became blurry. I didn't realize
that the freezing water had the potential to damage
my retina. With my vision foggy, I couldn't see where I
was going, but I kept moving:
47…48.
Wait a second…
I realized that I had gone too far.
42 strokes represented 50 meters. I calculated this
before my swim, but due to the unexpected
blindness, I had lost my focus and passed the 50-
meter hole. Now, I was at least 57 meters away from
where I had started. There were only three holes cut
out of the ice, which meant there were only three
ways out: the starting point, the 25-meter mark, and
the 50-meter mark; I was trapped.
I decided to make a 180° turn to put myself back
in the direction of the 50-meter hole. I then swam 6
strokes in an attempt to get back to stroke 42. I felt
all around the ice above me and couldn't find the
hole. It was at this point that I realized the magnitude
of the situation. Oddly enough, I felt no panic. I swam
in different directions trying to find the hole, but all of
my attempts were in vain.
My body began to feel light and I felt my mind

slipping. The energy in my body diminished little by
little as I swam around helplessly. As strange as it
may sound, there was no pain whatsoever. I was
swimming into unconsciousness when all of a
sudden, I felt a hand grip me by the ankle and begin
to pull me backwards. Jari, a member of the team,
had saved my life and was dragging me back to the
50-meter hole. I went limp, relaxed, and about 30
seconds later we surfaced. Even though I was
completely exhausted, I pulled myself out of the hole
on my own.
I just sat there on the frozen lake for a while,
playing over what had just happened in my head. My
body felt no pain and no cold, just exhaustion. After a
few good breaths, I eventually came back to my
senses and the exhaustion faded away.
An annoyance built up inside of me and I yelled,
"Damn you people! Where was the emergency
diver? You had everything but my safety planned
out."
Even though I was annoyed, there was a place in
my mind where I was extremely happy. Not only did I
swim the 50 meters that would break the record, I
swam more than 80 meters trying to get out of that
hole! I was now completely confident in my ability to
perform the world record with ease. As I looked into
the eyes of death, I had overcome my fear once
again. I thought to myself, "Wow, what a powerful
experience." We then packed our things into the car
and made our way back to town.
…

The next morning when I woke up, I was
completely at ease. Due to the events that had
occurred the day before, I figured nothing else could
go wrong. I had swum 80 meters before I began to
pass out; 50 meters should be a piece of cake.
Everyone's attention was focused on making
beautiful footage for the event. When I arrived at the
site, they had a heated tent set up for me. The tent
was more than I needed, as I prefer to do things my
own way, so I just sat on the ground and took notice
of everyone else around me.
The tension was high, like it usually is when there
are expectations to fulfill. Everyone was working on
something different. They were preparing the
cameras, setting up the angles, and checking the
water. They all were making preparations to make
sure that the event ran smoothly, and so did I.
I stayed there on the ground for a bit, meditating
and focusing on the event to come. After some last
minute preparations by the crew, the time of action
had arrived. The divers, who would be watching over
my safety underwater, dove in. They opened the flap
to the old Russian tent and told me they were ready
to go.
During those last five minutes as I walked over to
the tent and prepared myself, I could feel the tension
around me. Everyone was focused on that moment
and what could go wrong; I was completely focused
on reaching the 50-meter hole.
When I reached the diamond shaped hole, I
began to undress. The cameras were already rolling
at this point so it was time to go. I joked with

Willibrord once more as I walked down the steps
and then brought my attention to the icy water. 50
meters would be no problem as long as I remained
focused. I took a few more careful breaths and dove
under.
I was under the ice again, with a conviction. This
time, I felt no stress. There was no question as to
whether or not it was possible. I swam freely, not
really focusing much because I knew I could reach
50 meters with no problem.
At about the 40-meter mark, I realized something
had changed. This swim felt completely different than
the day before and I was already tired. What had
changed? I soon realized my
focus
was the problem.
Focus is a delicate matter and it is very
important when provoking the mind to stay alert. My
nervous system, immune system and blood
circulation need to all be working together in order
to make my internal heating mechanisms function
properly.
If I don't focus or give all my effort, everything
will begin to unravel. This is what started to happen
to me under the icy depths.
I finally made it to the 50-meter hole, but it was a
lot harder compared to the 80 meters that I had
completed the day before. As I emerged from the
water, people on all sides congratulated me. Even
though I ended up breaking the world record, I had
learned an important lesson once again:
Do your best at all times!

CHAPTER 8:
SUPER POWERS
E
very day, after my brothers and I arrived home
from school, we would play video games. It was one
of the ways we bonded together. We especially
enjoyed games that were challenging and involved
characters with special abilities. The idea of having
super powers fascinated us. Often times we would
use our imagination to pretend we were the
characters in the video games.
I would assume that this is where my mother's
philosophies fused with what I did in my spare time.
If someone is able to perform superhuman feats in
a video game,
I thought,
shouldn't we be able to do
the same in reality?
This idea began to give me
some strange dreams.
At the time, there was this girl I liked. I was in 5th
grade and the only time I would see her was during
lunch period in the cafeteria. In one of my dreams, I
was sitting in lunch and I wanted to do something
spectacular to impress this girl. So, I stood on my
seat, jumped in the air, and began flying around.
Everyone clapped and cheered. "I didn't know he
could fly," they said. As I landed next to the girl, she
wrapped her arms around me and I woke up.
I had other strange dreams where I was able to
move objects with my mind or was able to play back
any piece of music after only listening to it once. I
loved my dreams, they really inspired me, however,
my parents emphasized that school was important

and I needed to focus on my homework. So, I
resorted to living vicariously through my video game
characters.
A few months after my dreams began, my mother
told me a story that she once heard over the radio.
Apparently, a man froze to death after being locked
inside a train with traveling cargo. As the story goes,
the scientists concluded that the temperature
couldn't have dropped below 60°F (15.5°C) that
night. Yet somehow, this man froze to death.
The psychologists deduced that the man must
have panicked and simply
thought
himself to death. I
assumed this meant that his mind made him believe
that it was colder than actually it was and his body
responded accordingly. I imagined each organ
slowly shutting down, as the man believed he was
freezing to death. My mother told me that they found
him curled up in a corner, his skin a deep shade of
blue.
It was a sad story, but it really got me thinking. If a
man could think himself to death by lowering his
body temperature, could he do the opposite and
warm himself up in a cold climate?
My mom and I spoke about it for a while and she
suggested I try it out. "Imagine yourself sitting in front
of a warm fireplace," she said, "or tanning at the
beach." I tried it, but didn't feel any effects. So, I did
what any other kid with a short attention span does
at that age – I gave up on the idea. Besides, "super
humans" only existed in video games.
Even though my initial attempt failed, my mother's
story remained engrained in my head. It just seemed

possible to me. I couldn't figure out why I believed
controlling your body's temperature was more
possible than the other powers, but it stuck with me.
The idea returned to me from time to time,
whenever I'd walk through winter's snow. I continually
thought about how awesome it would be to walk
outside without a jacket and create my own body
heat. Little did I know that one day, I would meet a
man who could do exactly this.

CHAPTER 9:
EL GLOCES – A CANYON IN THE
SPANISH PYRENEES
O
ur bus had just departed from Leiden, a city
famous for its old university. All around me filling the
seats were 16 and 17-year-old students. I was sitting
in the back of the bus, speaking to one of the
professors about the book she had just published. I
told her that I had also recently written and published
a book of my own.
It was a long drive full of conversation and
laughter. We drove through the southern part of
Holland, Belgium, and most of France. As the night
approached, everyone fell into a deep, peaceful
sleep.
The following morning, when we had reached the
southern part of France, we stopped at a rest stop
for fifteen minutes, so that everyone could get out of
their seats and use the restroom. While everyone did
their own thing, I walked to the other side of the
parking lot to stretch my legs. As I began my walk
back, I saw the bus leaving without me!
I tried to get the attention of the bus driver by
running and waving my hands violently, but my
attempt failed. No one on the bus must have noticed
that I was gone because it pulled away without me. I
thought to myself, "They will notice that I am missing
at some point and turn back for me." I waited and
waited, but the bus didn't come back; it had left me

behind.
Apparently, the professor, whom I had been
previously speaking with, had gone to a different
seat on the bus to sleep. She never realized my seat
was left vacant after our restroom break. As for
everyone else, they were too busy doing their own
thing to realize my absence. It wasn't until they were
about 400 kilometers from the rest stop when
someone first recognized my absence.
Once I acknowledged the fact that they weren't
coming back for me, I decided to hitchhike. Half an
hour passed before a car finally stopped; my travels
could finally continue. It went that way, from one car
to another, until I finally reached the Pyrenees in
Spain.
It was a strange way to travel, but it worked for
me. I didn't even have my rucksack; it was still on the
bus. The only thing I had on me was my passport. Yet
somehow, things seemed to work out in my favor. A
random stranger, once I told him of my predicament,
offered to rent me a hotel room for the night and pay
for my dinner! Wow!
The following day, I continued my hitchhiking in
three different cars. I spoke enthusiastically with the
drivers about all kinds of things: the weather, the
mountains, the geological structure of the canyons,
and even philosophy! After a long journey, I finally
arrived in the Pyrenees. It was an unexpected, yet
exciting adventure.
When I had finally arrived at the camping site in
Spain, I met up with the group again. They were
extremely surprised to see me. Reunited, we set out

on our adventure. They were ready to embark on
what we had traveled there to do: to rappel the
canyons and see beautiful sights. Our first stop
would be a canyon named,
El Gloces.
El Gloces is a wet canyon in the Pyrenees. A lot
of water passes through the canyon and people that
venture through tend to get very wet. The water that
flows down is typically cold because it drains from
the high mountains. Therefore, wetsuits are used as
a precaution when rappelling El Gloces.
With everyone prepared in their wetsuits,
fashioned with rucksacks, belts and ropes, we made
our way to the canyon. From there, we started
abseiling our way through the labyrinth of rocks and
water. The path inside the canyon was a narrow one
with steep walls. It was extremely dark, but a
beautiful sight. To get through the canyon, we had to
jump into pools of water, swim, balance on boulders,
cross large rocks and crevasses, jump gaps, and
rappel into the abyss. Everyone had a lot of fun,
despite the cold water that sprayed against us every
step of the way.
After many thrilling hours of canyoning, we
arrived at the bottom. From there, we had to walk for
another hour, up the mountain, to get back to the
parked bus. Everyone was exhausted, but our spirits
were high. That night, we all went to a local pub to
enjoy each other's company while we ate good food
and drank good wine.
Everyone enjoyed the impression that nature had
pressed upon us that day; even the professors had
enjoyed themselves. While in the pub, a wave of

excitement washed over me. I suggested that we go
back to the canyon, right in that moment, and do it all
again. This time, we would do it in the dark! Another
adventure!
The students were overwhelmed with excitement
and were ready to go; however, the professors shut
down my offer. Since the teachers felt responsible
for the students' safety, they did not want them to go
on this risky adventure. Canyoning in the dark is
extremely dangerous and could potentially have fatal
consequences if one isn't careful. Fortunately for me,
however, the idea was already locked into the mind
of one of the gym teachers, who happily agreed to
go with me.
Since the water in the canyon was going to be
colder than it was earlier that day, the gym teacher
completely covered himself up with his wetsuit. Only
the front part of his face was exposed. I simply went
in shorts. I was feeling great after the bottle of wine
and within a couple hours, we were running over the
stony path toward the canyon.
The canyon looked very different at night. The
trees and rocks cast immense shadows against the
earth. It wasn't intimidating, just different. As we
arrived at the beginning of the canyon, we saw
nothing but a black hole. There was no light in the
canyon whatsoever, only darkness.
I told Tom, the gym teacher, that if we abseil the
first rock, we're going to have to go all the way
through; there would be no turning back. After a
moment of hesitation, he replied, "Yeah, let's go!"
As we were descending into the black abyss, I

felt different. It was a completely different experience
than what we had encountered earlier that day.
Specifically, my senses were very alert and I was
aware of everything. Even though we were
surrounded by darkness, I knew the canyon by heart
and could visualize where each rock and crevasse
was on the path.
Although we could not see, we listened very
carefully to understand how the water stream was
moving. We followed the current silently and only
spoke to each other to detect the distance between
our bodies. As our voices echoed against the rocks,
we noted that it would be best to stray no more than
two meters apart from each other.
It was a great experience being there in the dark
with Tom. We, as humans, normally rely on our sight
to guide us, but both Tom and I realized that instead,
we could listen and feel our way through the canyon.
We were tapping into and relying on a different part
of our brain. Due to our new enhanced state of mind,
we were able to make alterations to help us continue
to stay alert. It all was natural.
A conditioned mind can cause narrowed
perception, especially when you only focus on one
sense and rarely use the others. Also, it's not about
simply using them; it's about forming your entire
perception through those other senses.
Subsequently, you can begin to see the world in a
different light. Tom and I discovered this as we
spoke during our progression through the canyon.

Everything was going smoothly and we were
really enjoying ourselves. The water was no longer
cold, as I had adapted by now, and my senses were
sharp. As Tom and I followed the current, our
surroundings emitted a tranquil feeling. We had just
arrived at a crucial spot in the canyon and though we
were in the dark, we were not blind. We found
ourselves on a rock and the only way for us to get
down was to jump. If we jumped too far, we would
slam into boulders. Luckily, I knew exactly what to do.
I made some calculations in my head and was ready
to jump. Tom, on the other hand, wasn't as familiar
with the terrain, so I thought it would be best to give
him explicit instructions.
"Listen very carefully to where I enter the water.
That way, you'll know how far and how hard you'll
have to push off the wall when you do it yourself."
He nodded, with a little hesitation, but told me he
understood. Since there was no light, he would have
to listen very carefully to the sound of my feet as they
entered the water. His hearing would have to be
sharp and model that of a submarine's radar. He
would have to trust me if it was going to work.
Without any further delay, I jumped. After a large
splash and submerging a few feet under the water, I
took two strokes to bring myself back to the surface.
I looked up and said to Tom, who was still up on the
slippery rock, "Tom, did you hear the distance?"
"Yes," he answered. I could still sense the
hesitation in his voice, but he was now determined to
jump; there was no other way. A few seconds later, I
could hear him take a step and then leap into the

darkness. He entered the water right next to me and
surfaced a moment later.
"Is everything okay?" I asked.
"Yes," Tom said, with a relieved tone.
His trust in me, and the way he surrendered to
the situation is what ultimately led him to success.
He could not have done it otherwise. Letting go of
his anxiety and freeing himself from hesitation was
also extremely helpful.
Obstacles in life consume energy. Because Tom
and I were able to overcome the obstacles in our
way, we experienced a new type of energy. We felt
powerful and full of vigor as we continued on. As we
approached the final part of the canyon, moonlight
began to peak through the rocky walls. It was a
beautiful sight as we began to regain our vision and
realize what we had just accomplished.
A few minutes later we were out of the canyon
and stood motionless in the valley. Our minds were
at peace and we felt immense joy. Tom and I
embraced each other without saying a word. We had
met a great challenge and conquered it.
By the time we reached where we were staying
for the night, the students and the professors had
already fallen asleep. I laid myself down in my bed,
closed my eyes, and slept like a rock.
The next day, I took the group to another canyon
in a warmer area. In the Pyrenees, the climate varies
all over the place. It could be very wet and cold in
one area, while very hot and dry in another. It all
changes, so must one adapt to new surroundings,
just as Tom and I had to adapt to master that canyon

without light.

CHAPTER 10:
FEAR
I
have the ability to climb steep rocks without gear
and have no fear of falling because I am always
prepared. Subconsciously, my mind clears itself in
its sleep the night before. But, I wasn't always like
this.
When I was younger, I suffered from nightmares.
Climbing terrified me, but by persevering through my
fears with training and meditation, I was able to
make those nightmares disappear.
At first, it started as me finding a rock that I was
afraid to climb. I would imagine myself climbing each
step, grabbing each hold. Eventually, I would feel that
I had climbed it multiple times and knew it like the
back of my hand, even though I had never actually
climbed it.
Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean my fear
completely disappeared, but after imagining it in my
head, I began to see it from a different angle. No
longer was I intimidated, but I felt like a child playing
on a Jungle Gym. I was able to climb it with ease and
my mind was finally free from the nightmare.
You might be asking yourself, how does this
relate to the cold? Well, let me explain. The rocks
can represent any challenge that appears in your life.
It may appear impossible to overcome at first, but
with a clear head and the will to press on, you will
find a way to reach success. Sometimes it may be
terrifying, but that is something you have to embrace.

We are rarely tested when we are afraid of stepping
outside of our comfort zones. That comfort zone can
hold us back from doing something great. So, if you
think it is possible, try it out. It's your mind; learn to
take control of it.
In the Bhagavad Gita they say, "The mind under
control is your best friend, the mind wandering about
is your worst enemy."
Make it your best friend, to the point where you
can rely on it. Your mind makes you strong from
within. It is your wise companion. The sacrifices you
make will be rewarded.
Life doesn't change, but your perception does.
It's all about what you focus on. Withdraw from the
world's influence and no longer be controlled by your
emotions. If you can grab the wheel of your mind, you
can steer the direction of where your life will go.
Once you can feel the steadiness of the mind, it
will convince you that it is the only way to live. Your
spirit and willingness to do more with your life will
become natural. Happiness and success doesn't
come from years of thinking about trying it, it comes
from taking action.
When you are "doing", each step you take will be
a firm one. It doesn't matter if you don't succeed;
confidence comes from experience. One of the
easiest ways to gain confidence is by finding ways
to get around obstacles. Failure is an option, but
what makes you stronger is choosing not to accept
it. Hesitation creates fear, increasing the likelihood
that you won't follow through. So if you can, don't
hesitate.

Becoming spiritual isn't about staring at a candle
for hours or repeatedly saying asanas or mantras,
it's how you express yourself. Believe in yourself and
know you have what it takes. Let go of all doubt and
anything in your life that is causing you stress.
At times, the feat may seem too impossible for
you to reach. I guarantee you that this is not the case.
It is a matter of finding a way to make it is possible.
In the beginning, that is all that matters. All who are
willing to seriously consider the possibility that there
is more to life than what is already in the textbooks
are capable of being the innovators that this
generation will write about.
Cleansing yourself of your emotions can take
time, so be patient. It may feel like you're losing a
part of yourself in the process, but that's only
temporary. In time, that feeling will turn into clarity.
The people that I know that have experienced this
change have never regretted their actions. They can
now see the potential in their lives, whereas they
could only see limits before. It is truly a magnificent
transition.
I won't lie to you; it does take practice and
perseverance. Make it simple for yourself by calming
your mind from anger, understanding what makes
you sad, and replicating the experiences that make
you happy. If you want strength and success, just do
it!

CHAPTER 11:
CAMP JUDSON
A
lthough we never had a set denomination, my
family raised me as a Christian. My parents were
both raised catholic, but after a while they realized
that they weren't comfortable with a few of the
traditions. Therefore, they taught us about morality
and explained religion just enough to give us a
foundation. We say that we grew up in a Christian
home, but they never really forced to adopt those
beliefs; we had a choice.
For a long while, we only
occasionally
went to
church. Our highest attendance rates were around
Christmas Eve and Easter, however, we never went
to the same church. We hopped around, never
sticking to one place. My parents wanted to find a
church where we could all feel comfortable, but by
the time I had reached 9th grade, we still hadn't
settled.
At that time, I was dating a girl named Whitney.
She was an avid churchgoer and was there every
Sunday. Her, and a lot of my other friends who
attended that church, would always attend fun events
in the evenings for their "Youth Group". I joined her a
few times and found that I really enjoyed the
environment. I brought Preston along a couple of
times and he really enjoyed it as well.
We decided to start going to that church because
we felt comfortable there. That summer, the church
offered us an opportunity where they would pay to

send us to "camp" for a week. My parents were
extremely hesitant about letting us go to a place with
people they didn't know, but after they became more
informed, they embraced the opportunity and
encouraged us to go.
A few weeks later, we were on the bus driving
toward Camp Jud-son in Erie, Pennsylvania. The
week was full of memorable experiences. I enjoyed it
so much that I decided to volunteer as an assistant
counselor a couple weeks later. The people there
were really open and understanding. Plus, it was an
opportunity for me to learn more about Christianity.
For the next four summers, I returned to Judson
as a counselor. During that time, I made a lot of
good friends and even more memories. Judson was
a powerful motivator for me. I wanted to do more with
my life and understand how people worked and
functioned. That was about the time where I was
really able to focus on my passion that developed as
a child.
I still wanted to understand the mind and how it
worked. Judson was a very inspiring place and it
made me feel like I was capable of anything. While
there, I was detached from all the video games,
schoolwork, chores, and stupid things that I worried
about in high school. I felt free, and that's when my
mind began to wonder. It was one of the first few
times in my life where I was able to think on my own.
Petty things no longer influenced me. I wanted to
change the world in a positive way. I wanted to help
people.
At the beginning of my last year as a counselor at

Judson, I met someone that changed the way I
perceived the world. During staff training, I met a
mysterious fellow named Jarrett. He always kept to
himself and was very private, but when it came time
for capture the flag or dodge ball, he was an obvious
extrovert. When I had played against him in previous
sport classes, I realized that despite how quiet he
appeared to be, during any physical activity, he
exploded with unbelievable amount of energy. In
basketball, he was the quickest and most
enthusiastic person in the game. In Ultimate Frisbee,
he developed strategic plays while being a key part
of the scoring process. He seemed like a good guy,
but I really didn't know much about him, other than
what I had observed.
For the 4 years that I was at Judson, I never
spoke to Jarrett. Usually, Jarrett would sleep in the
quarters above the office, but on one night in
particular, Jarrett decided to join myself and a
couple of other staff members in the counselor's
cabin.
Sleeping in that cabin was Preston, Jarrett,
myself, and two other staff members. After a couple
minutes of talking about the day's events, the other
two staff member fell asleep and began snoring.
Jarrett, Preston, and myself continued conversing.
We spoke about our majors and other interests in
our lives. Then, the conversation moved to dreams
and escalated to childhood passions. As the
conversation continued, I realized that I wasn't
finishing my sentences – Jarrett was. Apparently, the
way he processed information was very similar to

mine. He was able to understand what I was saying
without me actually saying it because he previously
thought those things himself.
Actually, I found myself finishing his sentences as
well. We clicked; there was something resonating
inside both of us. It was as if my life and all of my
thoughts as a child were building up to that moment.
Jarrett and I realized that we had a lot of the same
goals and we felt that it could prove beneficial if we
worked together.
From that point on, my life would no longer
include a one-time attempt at an idea, followed by
nothingness. It would include the collaboration of
someone who had as much belief in an idea as I did.
We shared one mind and were willing to do anything
to press forward. We understood each other, but
more importantly, we had understood each other's
core belief:
Anything is possible.

CHAPTER 12:
HALF MARATHON IN LAPLAND
F
or a small portion of my life, I worked as a
postman. It was my job to drive boxes, letters,
parcels and advertisements to post offices so they
could then be delivered to their specified locations. I
worked alone during the nights. The solitude gave
me time to reflect on past events and encouraged
deeper thinking.
One day, while I was driving down the road, I
received a phone call from a Canadian producer,
representing the Discovery Channel. He asked me if
I was interested in doing a challenge in the cold. I
listened very attentively as he explained his
proposition.
I held back my excitement and calmly told the
gentleman, "Yes, I'd love to." He told me that he
would send me an email soon and that I should reply
at my convenience. I ended the call and continued
my work as a postman. I was thrilled.
The excitement lasted all day. As soon as I got
home, I turned on my computer and checked my
email. The message was already sitting in my inbox.
It explained that the challenge would be the center of
attention for a documentary. The event would take
place just beyond the Polar Circle.
At that time, it was November; the challenge was
set to take place in January. The only thing we had
left to figure out was the type of challenge I would
pursue. I had already swam under ice and ran a half

marathon on the slopes of Everest. However, my run
was only filmed by Dutch television and wasn't
internationally broadcasted. So, I sent an email back
to the producer and explained that I could run a
barefooted half marathon beyond the Polar Circle. It
fit their expectations perfectly.
Weeks went by, December came, and I hadn't
done any training whatsoever. As the date of the
challenge approached, I became really tense, as I
normally do. It's a natural reaction that occurs when
the mind worries. To ease my mind, I decided it was
time to start my training with a run. Since it was my
first run in a long time, I only ran 1.5 kilometers
(about .93 miles). It was just a quick jog around the
neighborhood where I lived.
The following day, I went for a 7 kilometer (4.3
mile) run. I felt a little sore afterwards so I didn't run
for the next two days. Instead, I went for a cold-water
swim to relax and regain my energy.
The third time I ran, I ran barefooted next to a
lake. I ran back and forth on a wooden boardwalk
along the shore. It was cold and windy that day so no
one was around when I did my run; it was nice to be
able to run in peace. I didn't stop my run until blisters
developed on the bottom of my feet. By that point, I
had run a total of 22 kilometers (13.6 miles).
Over the next week, I simply continued my work
as a postman. I would tend to my blisters from time
to time and take care of them so that they would heal
properly; it was a week of rejuvenation. After I
healed, I returned to the place on the shore to run.
Once again, it was cold and windy and the solitude

was nice. I ran 24 kilometers (14.9 miles) barefooted
and developed at least 20 new blisters. When I
returned home, I was more than satisfied with my run
and I knew that in time, my feet would heal.
Later that evening, my daughter stopped by my
house and asked if I wanted to run a few laps with
her around the park. I agreed and while we were
running, I told her all about my new challenge. My
legs were feeling great, so after two laps (8
kilometers/4.9 miles), I felt the urge to run faster.
When we were finished, the run had made me so
happy that I was extremely confident that the
challenge would be a success. I was so overjoyed
that I cried.
Challenges bring about the true nature within
me. It alerts my body and mind, altering my state of
being. It makes me feel so alive! It's like I always
say, "We can do more than what we think." At those
moments when I encounter a challenge, I become
extremely aware of the deeper layers of my soul.
Since the challenge was quickly approaching, the
camera team traveled to Amsterdam to take a few
video shots of where I lived and record the activities
that I do on a daily basis. There, we did an interview
and took a few shots in a local abattoir (slaughter
house). Afterward, the camera crew departed for
Lapland, Finland where I would be joining them two
days later.
Lapland can be a very, very cold place in the
winter. The temperature can drop as low as -50°

Celsius (-58° Fahrenheit). Even weak polar animals
may die in temperatures this cold. It is really a
survival of the fittest.
Two days after the crew visited my home, I had to
meet them in Helsinki. We then took a flight to Oulu,
about 800 kilometers north (497 miles). It was -20°C
(-4°F) outside when our flight landed. While we were
waiting for our ride to pick us up, I decided to take
off my shoes and try running a kilometer in the snow.
It felt great. The snow was in perfect condition for
running. My little test made me even more confident
for the challenge.
The next day, we went to the Finnish Institute of
Occupational Health for a cold-water experiment.
The experiment consisted of me sitting in a cold-
water basin, which was set up inside of their
laboratory. Professor Oksa, a world-renowned cold
physiologist, was the man who performed the
examination of my body. Oksa had a passion for the
outdoors. Though it was not as extreme as mine, it
was a pleasure meeting him and our discussions
were rich and fulfilling.
Before we even started the experiment, Oksa
first carried out a few baseline tests to get a general
reading. He saw that I had a very small percentage
of substance fat. He explained that it was an
interesting discovery because without much fat, I
don't have a lot of protection from the cold. He
announced that he was excited to see how I would
react when exposed to the cold-water basin.
To prepare for the experiment, the professor
connected my body to many different machines.

First, he connected me to an echocar-diogram. He
then gave me a pill to swallow, which would monitor
my core body temperature. He also connected a
blood pressure cuff to my arm and gave me a mask
to measure the acidification of my exhaled breaths.
When the cold begins to impact the body, the
extremities receive less oxygen and acidification
begins. The more conditioned the body is to the
cold, the less the body will be affected.
The vital organs need to have the body
operating at 37°C (98.6°F) in order to function
properly. If the temperature drops even a couple
degrees below this, the body will begin to shiver
and the blood will shunt from the extremities. That's
when the core temperature really begins to be
affected. The core temperature of the body
shouldn't drop below 35°C, (95°F) otherwise the
body will be more likely to suffer from hypothermia,
which can damage the liver, lungs, heart and brain.
When cold blood flows through the vital organs, the
body slowly becomes dysfunctional. The heart
beats irregularly, thinking processes and reflexes
are slowed down, and breathing becomes more
difficult.
When the blood temperature drops to about
30°C (86°F), the body begins
to shut down. During this time, the vital organs
could begin to fail, the heart could stop beating,
and one would have the potential of falling into a
coma. Ultimately, these final consequences could
lead to death.

The specialists who research the cold say that
sometimes, people can appear dead when they are
pulled out of the water, while they really are in a
comatose state. Sadly, sometimes people will
attempt to warm up hypother-mic victims too
quickly and this alone can cause the person to go
into shock and die.
We moved the experimentation process to the
basin. I was seated on an motorized chair, which
was controlled by a remote control in the hands of
Professor Oksa. There, I would be lowered down
into 8°C (46.4 °F) water. When we finished up the
connections, Dr. Oksa reviewed the monitors one
last time and we were ready to go. He began
lowering me into the water and the immersion
began.
Dr. Oksa's first reaction was surprise. He was
astonished that I had no gasping reflex when I first
entered the water. It meant that the veins around my
core had immediately closed and that they were
conditioned very well. My adaptation to the cold
water was excellent. Minutes past and my core
temperature stayed the same. After ten minutes,
Oksa noticed that my core temperature actually rose.
He thought this was a remarkable change in my
body. The powerful thing about the experience was
that everything felt under control. I felt great.
My attention was positioned toward a point on
the wall in front of me. It helped me stay focused in
my mind so that I could stay warm. As a result, my
core temperature remained stable despite the

freezing cold water. Since I was feeling comfortable,
I decided to enjoy it. I began asking the professor
questions about his life and his hobbies. Later on, I
realized that this caused me to lose my focus, which
had been what was maintaining my core
temperature. After 25 minutes, my core temperature
had fallen .5°C (.9°F) and Dr. Oksa decided to end
the experiment.
It was stupid of me to lose focus like that, but I
now know that it's important to always pay attention
and remain centered.
Cold water can be merciless and if you aren't
paying attention, you can quickly lose control of the
situation. Therefore, always remain focused and
attentive.
After the experiment, the crew stayed to interview
the professor. He stated his findings and said that he
believed I would be able to successfully complete the
half marathon due to the extraordinary control that I
had demonstrated in the cold-water experiment.
After we completed our mission in Oulu at the
institute, we went back to the hotel and I enjoyed a
nice, warm sauna.
The next day, we left for Kolari, where I would run
the barefooted half marathon. The temperature had
dropped to -30°C (-22 °F). When we arrived, we
stayed in a wooden lodge where we did a few shots
of the arrival for the documentary. There were only
two days left until the run, so we prepared the
itinerary and scheduled the sleds that would carry the

film crew.
Before we knew it, the day to run was upon us.
Everything was set and ready to go. Both local and
national journalists were present for the event. As
everyone was preparing for the event to begin, I
noticed the starting line was covered with reindeer
skin. It appeared as if it were some sort of primordial
spot, as if the skin was placed there in an attempt to
bring back the prehistoric men. I stood at the starting
line and gazed out into the horizon. It was time. I took
a deep breath, let out an excited yell, and took off.
While running over the snow and ice, barefooted,
and in such frigid temperatures, I honestly didn't
know how it would end. My expectations were that I
would complete the event with no problem, but I
stayed very alert. I stayed in a place where I had
heightened awareness. As I knocked away kilometer
after kilometer, everything felt fine. Physiologically
speaking, I was in control.
After 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), I checked myself
over in my head. My mind was strong, limbs felt
great, and my core was warm. There was nothing to
be concerned about, so I just continued on. I even
made jokes while I was jogging, sometimes
speaking to the camera crew as they recorded me
from the sled. I did this with caution though, so I could
make this experience different from the laboratory
and remain in constant control.
When you exert energy through talking, it's like
opening a door and letting the cold air into a house.
If you hold the door open for too long, the house will
lose all of its heat. I made sure that I didn't leave that

door open for too long so that I could remain focused
on my body and succeed.
While I continued on, the chemistry in my body
was working just fine. I had no problems whatsoever.
The journalists were confident that I was going to
make it!
That's when something began to change. I began
to have difficulties in the front part of my left foot. I
didn't know what was going on, but I could sense that
something was wrong. It continued to get worse and
worse until my whole foot resembled that of a
wooden stick. I couldn't feel it anymore! This was all
happening right as I passed the 18-kilometer mark
(11.1 miles). There were only 3 more kilometers to
go (1.8 miles).
I decided to just do it. Step after step, breath
after breath, I made my way forward and eventually, I
saw the finish line. It was another spot that was
covered with reindeer skin, just like the beginning.
"I'm going to make it," I thought.
The last 200 meters of my run were beautiful. As I
came closer, the sun broke through the trees and lit
up the sky. It was a magical coincidence. While
nearing the finish line, I gazed up at the sun. My gold
medal hung in the air before me.
Despite the injury to my foot, I had decided to
continue on until I crossed the finish line. At the
time, I didn't realize what kind of a sacrifice I had
made to finish the race, but it had opened the doors
to a devastating problem – a problem that would
take me weeks to recover from.

After the race, we went directly to the local
hospital. The dermatologist told me that I had third
degree frostbite! I showed my foot to the cameras so
that everyone could see what I had put my body
through to complete the race. I returned to Holland on
crutches…

CHAPTER 13:
FROSTBITE
S
oon after the dermatologist told me that I had done
irreparable damage to my foot, I was given a box full
of medication. He had said that the damage was
inflicted on the front part of my left foot and advised
that I take the medication to keep it dry. He had also
emphasized that it was very important to keep my
foot from getting wet.
By the time I returned to Amsterdam, the color of
my foot had turned to a dark, greenish-brown shade.
It was a devastating sight. I couldn't sleep. I sat in my
living room thinking about what could be done. I
knew there had to be a solution to my problem. I
wasn't going to just accept that my foot was
irreparably damaged!
No! I'm not going to take it!
I thought. I was so
frustrated that it filled me with rage. Something
inside of me began to fight from that moment on.
I was thinking about what the doctor had said
about not getting my foot wet when a strange idea
came over me. Cow balm! It's the grease that they
apply to cure a cow's irritated udders.
Even though it is the opposite of what the
dermatologist advised,
I thought,
if it could help the
irritated skin of a cow, it might be able to help my
foot!
It was at this point that my fight to heal began.
With a newly found determination, I lay down in my
bed, and slept like a rock.

The next morning, one of my friends went to the
store and purchased the cow balm for me. I began to
grease my foot and left no area dry. I felt that it was
the right thing to do, despite the doctor's orders. I
visualized myself getting better and stayed very
attentive to my foot.
A couple of days later, television cameras came
by to put The Iceman's terrible-looking foot on
television. On the outside, it was green and black,
but on the inside, the healing process was
beginning!
While tending to my foot, I thought about what I
had been able to achieve. With the help of the
Discovery Channel, I was now known as "the guy
who ran a half marathon beyond the Polar Circle,
barefoot in the snow."
Looking back on my success that day, I am
reminded of an old story I once heard:
The Story of Three Brothers:
Over a century ago, in the northern part of
Finland, there lived three brothers. There was a
sauna in a wooden hut near a large, frozen lake, ten
kilometers from their village. Every day, the three
brothers would travel out to the sauna and enjoy its
warmth.
One day, a sudden rush of flames interrupted
their relaxing sauna time. Something had caused a
fire inside of the wooden hut! They looked around
but couldn't find a way to extinguish the flames. The
three brothers escaped from the wooden hut with
only their lives. The fire had consumed their

clothes and belongings.
It was a large fire that could be seen from afar. It
was beautiful and warm, yet tragic and unexpected.
Naked, the three brothers were forced to run ten
kilometers through the snow, in the freezing cold of
the night, to get home to their village.
The story of the three brothers shows that my
marathon was nothing spectacular. The barefoot run
was just my way of showing the world that we are all
capable of doing more than what we had previously
thought possible.
It is a memorable story and so is mine. News of
my achievement spread all over the media. Despite
my damaged foot, I was a real hero in the eyes of the
public.
I didn't care about the media attention. My focus
was on healing my foot as fast as possible. Back in
December, right before I started training for the half
marathon, I received a phone call from a man who
was preparing for an expedition on Mount Everest.
He was the team leader and wanted to know if I was
interested in the ascent. Their idea was for me to
climb Mount Everest wearing only shorts and
sandals.
It was another opportunity to do a challenge that
no one had ever done before. I was very interested
and therefore, accepted his offer. What I didn't know
at the time was that just a month later I would have
"irreparable damage" done to my foot!
Initially, the sponsoring for the expedition wasn't
going well. Having just completed a world record and

receiving a lot of media attention related to the
frostbite, the money started flooding in from all
directions. 50,000 euro here, 50,000 euro there. It
was all flowing in and coming together. This,
however, did not change the condition of my foot.
I had three months to recover. The dermatologist
told me that there was no chance that I would be able
to make that climb, or even have slightly recovered
by that time. I decided to throw away all of the
medication and increase my fighting spirit to heal. I
started to grease up my foot on a daily basis. I
remained optimistic that it would help my foot get
better.
Despite everything the doctor said, a month later,
my foot was healed! The dead, calloused skin had
vanished and new, healthy skin turned my foot into a
new one. It was like the injury had never happened!
To help promote the Everest expedition and the
sponsors for the event, I stood in a box full of ice as a
publicity stunt. My event appeared in newspapers, in
magazines, on television, and even in the
marketplace, where huge banners hung to advertise
the expedition. It was all a part of the game and I was
along for the ride. Eventually, the day to depart for
Everest finally arrived.

CHAPTER 14:
WHO IS THE ICEMAN?
D
uring the summer of 2009, I was not able to return
to Camp Judson. I was forced to find a higher paying
job to pay for my apartment, so I picked up a job as
a dishwasher at The Deli, a local restaurant in State
College. When the fall semester began, I kept my job
to make some extra money on the side. I felt
rejuvenated and ready for another school year.
Jarrett and I spoke as often as we could, but
because I always had a lot of homework, our
conversations were usually cut short.
In one of our previous talks, I had mentioned to
Jarrett that I thought it would be interesting to control
body temperature. I told him the story of the man that
died of hypothermia in a 60°F (15.5°C) climate. He
enjoyed seeing the mind's potential just as much as
me. Even though his major was Computer Science,
he was very interested in learning everything that
was Psychology related.
After my first week of classes, I received an
email from Jarrett with a link to a YouTube video.
The video was about a man they called, "The
Iceman." It was a television special titled
Extraordinary People
featured on the Discovery
Channel. The clip showed The Iceman running a half
marathon barefoot through the snow, wearing only
shorts; I was intrigued.
Here was a man running in temperatures below
freezing, not 1 mile, not 5 miles, but 13 miles through

the snow. I was extremely impressed by his stamina
and how comfortable he looked while running. At one
point in the clip, Wim, The Iceman's real name,
explained that he controlled his internal thermostat
using only his mind. This meant that it wasn't some
genetic mutation or natural gift, but his conscious
control.
My mind immediately filled with thoughts like,
"I
knew it was possible!"
and
"Is this some sort of
trick?"
I wanted to believe it was real, but I also
wanted to view it from an objective perspective.
As I continued watching the video, I saw that Wim
suffered from frostbite in his left foot.
"Okay,"
I thought,
"maybe it wasn't a trick if he
actually got frostbite."
When the video ended, I called Jarrett and
expressed my excitement. We spoke of theories and
how it could be possible. After ending the call, I went
online and did some more research. I came across
an ancient Tibetan technique called "Tummo," also
known as "Inner Fire." This technique offered the
Tibetan Monks the ability to withstand extreme cold
and generate heat within their body, without any
external force.
The most known story, passed along with the
idea of Tummo, consists of Tibetan Monks sitting in
the snow with cold, wet sheets draped over their
backs. Allegedly, they would sit and mediate for
hours, in order to generate heat. Their goal was to
dry the wet sheets on their back, in the cold climate,
using only the heat from their bodies.
This technique sounded awesome and I wanted

to learn it as soon as possible. Winter would be
around in a couple months and I was extremely
interested in being able to keep myself warm,
without the aid of layered clothing.
Now at the time, I was a huge fan of a book
called
Way of the Peaceful Warrior
by Dan Millman
and I really looked up to him as a role model. I
followed a few of his seminars and read many of his
other books. The concept in this particular book
really inspired me to do more.
One day, I decided to email Mr. Millman, not
really thinking he'd respond. To my surprise his
secretary responded for him saying that Dan wasn't
familiar with Tummo and suggested that I do some
research on Wikipedia. So, I went to the webpage
for
"Tummo"
and checked the reference section.
There, I found a book called
The Bliss of Inner Fire.
The title intrigued me and I thought it was about time
to take my research a little more seriously. I
purchased the title and received the book a few days
later.
When the book came, I put aside my homework
and began reading. The text was kind of difficult to
read because it used a unique set of vocabulary
words that I didn't understand. I assumed it was
common knowledge to most of the audience that
followed yoga, but it was hard for me to
comprehend. I went online to define some of the
words I didn't know like
"prana", "chakra",
and
"kundalini".
I progressed through the book slowly and took
my time to understand each chapter. The first few

chapters expressed the background of Tummo and
the opinions of the author. After a few days of
sporadic reading, I finally came to the chapters
explaining the technique. It focused on a lot of
different breathing exercises and visualizations. It
seemed strange, but I blamed my opinion on my
ignorance.
After finishing the book, I didn't feel any closer to
understanding how to control my body heat. I'm the
type of person that likes to physically watch others
and then ask questions. Therefore, I felt like the book
was a dead end, so I threw it under my bed and
pulled out my homework.
For the next few weeks, I focused on my classes
and gave up on learning
Tummo.
I was
disappointed, but I resolved my dissonance by
watching videos of The Iceman on YouTube. One
day, I was sitting in my 9:00 AM class listening to a
professor speak on the subject of Personality
Theory. As he prepared the next few slides, I
decided to do a quick search on Tummo one more
time before I gave up completely. I don't know why I
felt compelled to do it right then in the middle of
class, but I tend to have those spontaneous
moments quite often.
I used Google's search engine to search for
"Tummo" and the usual listings came up: a few
websites with a definition, a forum site for those who
study Buddhism, and a few images of monks sitting
in the snow. I decided to revise my search and type
in "Tummo seminar," just for the heck of it.
One new listing popped up that I hadn't seen

before. It was a downloadable .pdf file containing a
flyer. My professor began talking again; I ignored the
last ten minutes of the lecture to investigate my new
discovery. The flyer advertised a seminar to teach
people the art of Tummo. The seminar was set to
take place during the weekend, a month and a half
later in Berkeley, California. The cost was about
$250 and registration needed to be completed by
the end of the month.
I was ecstatic! I had lost all my focus in class and
all I wanted to do was tell Jarrett. For rest of the class
period, I brainstormed ideas of how I could get to
Berkeley, California in a month and make it to that
seminar.
As I was leaving class, I told one of classmates
and best friend, David Haneman, about my idea of
going to California to study
Tummo.
He thought it
was a cool idea, but impractical, especially because
we were college kids with limited funds. Luckily, I
had my job as a dishwasher. Although maybe not the
most flattering job, dishwashing provided me with
the funds I needed to perform research.
I called Jarrett on the way to my next class and
told him about the opportunity. I had hoped he could
go with me, but sadly he had an appointment in his
hometown and was unable to reschedule. I would
have to go to California alone… I never flew before,
so the idea of flying alone across the country
intimidated me. Regardless, I was determined to do
whatever I needed to make it to that seminar.
Over the next couple weeks, I picked up a few
extra shifts to cover the potential expenses of my

trip. Each night, I'd come home from work with food
caked under my fingernails.
It's worth it,
I'd
repeatedly tell myself.
When my first check came in, I emailed the
people who were holding the seminar in Berkeley
and asked them if it was too late to sign up. They
told me that there were still spots open and if I sent
my $250 to them in the mail, they would send me the
information I needed and place me on the roster.
The next day I sent out a check and went online to
look for the price of plane tickets and hotels. The
cheapest plane ticket I found was a $220 flight from
Pittsburgh, PA to Oakland, CA. I called my parents
and told them that I was about to lock myself into the
trip. They didn't feel comfortable with the idea of me
traveling to California, especially because I had
never traveled alone before, let alone fly. After a long
conversation over the phone, they agreed to let me
go as long as I remained cautious and planned
everything out. So, I went online and purchased
airline tickets with the money I had earned from The
Deli.
At that point, I didn't have enough money to pay
for a hotel room, but I knew that they wouldn't give
me the bill until I checked out. Therefore, I went
online and searched for the closest hotel to the place
where the seminar would be held. I found 5 hotels in
a 5-mile radius of the building. I took the closest one
with the easiest walking route to the seminar.
I had one concern. I knew that in some states,
only people over the age of 21 could reserve and
stay in hotel rooms. Sadly, I still had a few months

until my 21
st
birthday. I called the hotel that I would be
staying at and spoke with their manager. They
assured me that it wouldn't be a problem; I was
relieved. I then proceeded to go online and find out
the distance from Oakland, CA to Berkeley, CA.
Google Maps told me that it would be a 35-minute
drive with traffic. With a taxi, it would be
approximately $40 total, each way.
I looked at the map again and searched for
nearby locations where I could buy food. Luckily,
there was a Walgreens just up the block. After calling
my manager to reserve that weekend off, I felt that I
had done enough in one day and went to sleep.
For the next two weeks, I focused on my studies
during the day and worked at The Deli during the
night. My next paycheck gave me enough money to
cover the cost of the two-night stay at the hotel, the
taxi fair, and the potential cost of food. Three days
before my flight left, I received a packet in the mail
explaining the material that would be covered at the
seminar. It also gave me the starting time and what
to do when I had arrived.
Everything was set in place, and I was ready to
take on my first big adventure. Other than my best
friends, my family, and my manager at work, no one
knew where I was going. I didn't even tell my
girlfriend, Brooke Robinson, until the day before I left;
I was afraid she'd think I was crazy. We had only
been dating for a few weeks and I wanted to be
really careful with who I told about my research
because I didn't anyone to put me down, say it was
ridiculous, or try to keep me from pursuing it.

Even though I wished Jarrett could have gone
with me, I had to accept it and go on the behalf of
both of us. I wanted to understand Tummo beyond
what the Internet had to offer. Finally, I was going to
have that chance.

CHAPTER 15:
EVEREST
O
n April 1, 2007, we left for Everest. We took a
flight to Dubai and connected to Kathmandu. News
of my approaching arrival was booming.
"Some guy from Holland is going to climb
Everest in shorts!"
The news was everywhere.
My philosophy was:
Hillary and Tenzin did it with
clothes and oxygen. Messner did it without oxygen.
I will try it without oxygen and without clothes.
It was
a very controversial matter, but it spread throughout
the news all over the world.
The journalists were waiting for us as we arrived
at the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. There I was,
back in Nepal, with a new team. As we drove
through the crazy traffic in the streets, cars honked all
around us.
The expectations were high and this affected me,
but I didn't let my feelings show. Instead, I held it
inside, which only made me think of all the things that
could go wrong. I reminded myself that the only thing
I could do was to be ready and the rest would follow.
My main concern was my body. I needed to focus
my nervous system, immune system, blood
circulation, heart and mind to bring them all together.
I also did a lot of my own personal research by
speaking to the local Sherpas. They are very wise
and know the mountains like the back of their hand.
They told me, "We'll see how much you can do. Even
though it will be a long hike, you seem fast and

strong."
After they had witnessed me performing my
technique during one of my training sessions, they
approached me with questions. I decided to spend
some time with the Sherpas until the day I left for
Everest arrived.
The Chinese authorities greeted us as we
passed the border. We then drove down the
Friendship Highway toward the Tibetan Plateau.
From there, it was only a 4,000-meter drive (2.5
miles).
We planned to stay in the village for a couple
days so our bodies would be able to acclimatize.
Along with buying large portions of food for the trip,
we played football to help condition our bodies to the
new climate. To further practice and prepare our
bodies for the ascent, we also climbed nearby
mountains. Before we knew it, the day was upon us
when we would leave for the Everest base camp at
5,200 meters (17,060 feet).
We packed our jeeps and hit the road. Along the
way, we passed all kinds of Tibetan villages and
rocky pastures. After some time, we stopped at
Rongbuk Monastery at 4,800 meters (15,748 feet).
We filmed there for a bit, but didn't stay too long
because we didn't want to intrude on the people that
lived there. After an hour or so, we returned to our
jeeps and continued our drive to the base camp.
Finally, we were there: the base camp of Mount
Everest, Chomolungma (Chinese for
Everest),
Sagarmatha (Hindi for
Everest).
Here we would stay
to acclimatize for a few days. Tents surrounded us.

They weren't all just sleeping tents either. There was
a huge kitchen tent where everyone cooked, a tent
where people could purchase items and supplies, a
showering tent, a tent to eat in, and an office tent
where you could reserve your place on the grounds.
After we had found our spot and settled in, I went
exploring in the adjacent mountains. Everything went
well and I was excited for the things to come.
When I got back to camp, I started playing the
blues on a guitar. Many people heard it and came
over to listen. Afterwards, we played football again;
though, with half as much oxygen in the air, it was
hard to run for extended periods of time, so we didn't
play for very long.
It is important for one to relearn his body's limits
in a new environment.
When the team leader felt that the group was
acclimatized enough, he decided that it was time to
go to the Interim Camp at 5,800 meters (19,028
feet). I told the leader that we should look at the
weather forecast before we left; I had a feeling that it
was going to snow in the early afternoon. Since I was
climbing the mountain in shorts, I wanted to make
sure the weather conditions were perfect. This is
where we hit our first snag.
In my opinion, I think the leader's decision to
leave when we did wasn't a very good one. As we
departed from base camp, the clouds began to
cover the sky. The team leader told us to keep going
while the clouds only became denser. When we

arrived at 5,400 meters (17,716 feet), snow began
to fall.
I told the group that the overall pace was too slow
for me. I'm a lot faster when I'm in my rhythm and I
needed to follow what my body was telling me. So, I
continued on in shorts at my own pace, a fast pace.
The head Sherpa tried to get a hold of me and slow
me down, but I was ignited by my drive.
Finding a good pace can be the key to
continuing strong. It's also important to watch how
much oxygen you're consuming. You don't want to
waste all of your energy and have to stop for
breaths to recover. After a couple of times doing
this myself, I realized it wasn't efficient. By
monitoring your breathing and making sure you
never push past your breaking point, you can
continue on for hours at a steady, but strong pace.
The snow began to fall even harder and soon my
visibility became limited. I couldn't see the path. It
was my first time in shorts at an unknown height, in
an unknown place, where blankets of snow covered
the rocky terrain. Intuition and drive were my only
companions. I felt surprisingly good, despite the
situation, and continued my pace up the mountain
trail. I was in the snow for hours. The limited visibility
reminded me of my solitude, but I still felt remarkably
well.
I looked ahead of me and saw the outline of an
object through the snow. As I came closer, the shape
widened out and I realized that it was a tent. When I

was about a meter away, I saw a few Tibetans
staring at me. They were astounded at the
Caucasian man who had just emerged from the
blizzard wearing only shorts. They invited me inside
their tent, gave me some tea with sugar, and placed
a blanket around my shoulder.
After three quarters of an hour, the head Sherpa
arrived and looked in awe at me in total control of the
situation. He was worried because he was
responsible for everyone in his party; yet, I was
absolutely content.
I felt that I had shaken hands with Everest's
nature. I had connected with the mountain and its
people. I overcame my fear of the unknown and my
anxiety vanished. I also was able to see how fast I
could move without acquiring any form of mountain
sickness. The confidence I gained in my inner nature
made me feel that I was on the path to
accomplishing a lot more on that mountain. I had
optimistic thoughts and felt fully capable. After eating
in another tent across the riverbed, we returned to
our sleeping quarters and fell asleep at our 5,800-
meter mark (19,028 feet). I was ready to take on new
steps for mankind.
The next day, our team leader had us acclimatize
more by climbing in the neighboring areas. We
climbed and walked over a small path toward 6,000
meters (19,685 feet). It was the highest point I had
ever been on a mountain. It was also my personal
record for highest altitude while wearing shorts. We
then returned back to Interim Camp. The
acclimatization process must have gone well for me

because I felt great!
It was my personal goal to reach the highest point
on Everest and for it to happen in only shorts. I
wanted to show that being exposed, almost naked in
nature, is the way it's supposed to be, even in the
extremes. To me, clothing and artificial oxygen are
like using a car to get from point A to point B. Unlike
walking or riding a bike, you simply step on the gas,
and go. Of course, it's still difficult to climb Everest
even with auxiliary tools (oxygen and clothing), but
doing it the natural way makes things a lot simpler.
The following day, we began our climb to 6,400
meters (20,997 feet). There, we would enter the
Advanced Base Camp (ABC), where one can see
the beautiful North Col at its height of 7,060 meters
(23,162 feet). Tenzin (the head Sherpa) and I went
ahead of the others because our rhythm and pace
were much faster than the rest of the group. As we
climbed up the slopes, the leader of the camera
team filmed us. Tenzin told the camera that, despite
being fully clothed, he was still freezing. He said that
he was amazed at how I was still climbing in only
shorts.
This is not something that I am able to do
because I am fast and strong, but because I am
able to fight through my fears and interact with the
mountain. Instead, I am stronger and faster in a
natural way, where I remain connected to the
environment around me. My senses are more
perceptive in the mountain climate where my body
is exposed. My mind and body adjust naturally; it's

reflexive.
We stayed a couple of days at the ABC camp
and we were soon acclimatized. It's fairly easy to tell
how well the body has adapted to the environment.
All you need to do is monitor the oxygen saturation
and heart rate. High oxygen saturation and a low
heart rate are the ideal variables to be well
conditioned in high altitudes. It seemed that I had
both of these in my favor, as I had acclimatized
extremely well. One of the days at the ABC, I was
feeling so full of energy that I decided to climb the
North Col. Driven, I threw on my shorts and jogged
over to the base.
When I first arrived at North Col, the wind was
really bad. The wind speed was over 100 kilometers
per hour (62 mph). Of course, when you're wearing
shorts in wind speeds that high, you can really feel it
against the skin. I stayed there for about an hour, but
decided that it wasn't wise to go up any further. I had
no choice but to abort. I was disappointed, but I
knew that I would be back soon to try again.
Later on, I returned to North Col with Tenzin. His
pace was too fast and I was desperately trying to
follow.
What happened?
I was faster than him when
we first hiking to the Interim Camp, but now his
speed had far exceeded my own. It soon was
obvious who was more acclimatized in that terrain.
While trying to keep up with him during the
ascent, I collapsed regularly while trying to catch my
breath; I was exhausted. Slowly, but surely, I fought
my way up until I reached the peak of North Col at

7,060 meters (23,162 feet). It was my new personal
record in shorts!
At the peak, we set up flags around the area,
including a flag of a poet, Rob Tuankotta, who is a
dear friend of mine. Another flag we raised was the
United World flag, which exemplified enlightened
beings as the world's inhabitants. On the flag was a
big sun with bright beams, symbolizing the equality
of human beings. It was beautiful. Lastly, we took
some pictures for our sponsors.
After we got a few good shots of the necessary
material, we were content and headed back down to
ABC. We passed the news over satellite telephone
to inform the world of our recent achievement. We
found out the next day that we had made
international news! The headlines read, "Iceman
reaches North Col" and "Who can stop the Iceman?"
All was going well.
After several more ascents up North Col, I felt
more acclimatized. Everyone was very impressed by
my agility, speed and endurance. Also, the frequent
checkups with the medical team showed that my
oxygen saturation was high and my heart rate stayed
low.
Perfect.
One day, after returning from North Col, the team
leader decided to go down a little to recover before
the final ascent of Everest. It was a strategic way to
ascend. We were so used to the thin air of the higher
attitudes that at 4,600 meters (15,091 feet), the air
felt thick. We stayed there for three beautiful days,
barely eating anything. When you're in high altitudes,
your appetite is limited. The higher you climb, the

more your body shuts down the nonessential
functions to preserve energy for the vital organs; it's
a survival mode.
When we were completely recovered and felt
refreshed, we went back to the ABC and then began
travelling up to the 7,060-meter mark (23,162 feet) at
North Col. We spent the night there and then left for
the next marker. We made it up to the 7,200-meter
mark (23,622 feet) and it was here that I had again
accomplished a new personal record in shorts!
Finally, the day came for us to ascend up to the
7,800 and 8,300-meter marks (25,590 and 27,230
feet). Here, the Sherpas had set up a few tents for
us. There were also oxygen bottles waiting for us,
which we were to use when summiting.
That day, I felt great and went up the slope very
fast. I ascended 200 meters in one hour with Tenzin!
Then, I realized that something was wrong. I felt
something going on inside of my left foot. The
frostbite injury I had developed back in Finland was
healed, but apparently the veins were not as
conditioned as they used to be.
The entire circulation system, as well as the
veins, has to be able to constrict and dilate to be
able to adjust to the cold and altitude. Whenever
there is less oxygen in the air, the veins in the
extremities naturally close to reserve heat and
redirect blood flow to the core to preserve the
essential organs. Then, after adaptation, the veins
open up again and the extremities are filled with
warm blood. However, due to my recent cold injury,

the veins in my left foot weren't opening.
There was a tight pressure and I began to feel
pain. I could feel that the veins in my foot weren't
going to open back up so I was forced to turn
around. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that if I
didn't turn back at that moment, I would lose my foot
forever. I was not going make the same mistake
twice. Even though the expedition cost 250,000 euro
(about $340,000-$350,000) and completing this
challenge would have brought me everlasting honor,
being the only man to climb Everest in shorts, it was
not worth losing my foot over. I decided to think
rationally and listen to what my body was telling me.
I looked around on the roof of the world and felt
satisfied with what I had accomplished. I had fought
through my fears and set a new record height of
7,450 meters (24,442 feet) in only shorts.
The press brought the story and the pictures of
the expedition to the entire world. I returned to
Holland and prepared for my next attempt. In a
month's time, I was going to attempt a Guinness
World Record in a polar bear compound. By the time
I got home, I felt completely rejuvenated and healthy
in both body and mind. My foot thanked me for
taking the time to heal altogether.
Remember, we can do more than we think, but
only when we break through the inhibitions of fear
and other obstacles. Rationality keeps us alive.

CHAPTER 16:
CALIFORNIA
S
hortly after buying my plain ticket, I informed my
professors that I would be flying to California for a
few days. They were okay with me going as long as I
made up the work, which I gratefully accepted. After
getting my final things together and saying goodbye
to my girlfriend, I jumped in the car and started
driving home.
During the three-hour drive home from Penn
State, I contemplated many things. First, I thought
about everything that could go wrong, like missing a
flight, getting lost, or even getting mugged. It took me
a little while, but eventually I calmed myself down and
tried to be a little more optimistic.
I told myself that what I was doing was important
and helpful to my understanding of life. I felt mature
traveling alone and taking an opportunity to improve
my knowledge. To me, that was more important than
my college classes. In the past, I had considered
withdrawing from college to pursue knowledge on
my own. Of course, there are plenty of benefits to
attending a university, but I believe the structure is
flawed. Regardless, I really enjoyed the idea of
pursuing information that interested me. Not every
class in college inspired me to do more and become
better, but this opportunity did. I was ready to accept
whatever came my way. I was ready to take on
whatever challenge was ahead. More than anything
else, I was ready to learn, to understand, and to

hopefully gain wisdom.
My wandering thoughts on the three-hour drive
made it feel more like thirty minutes. When I got
home, it was almost midnight. My parents were
happy to see me when I walked through the door.
Even though I could see the fear in their eyes while
they considered my safety, I told them I would be
responsible and extremely cautious. "We're fine,"
they told me, but their body language said otherwise.
My flight was scheduled to leave the following
morning at 8:56 AM from Pittsburgh International
Airport. I was tired of driving and I wanted to get a
good night's sleep. I said goodnight to my family and
went to my room. After brushing my teeth, I fetched
my laptop to check my email before going to bed. I
searched through my backpack for my power cord to
charge my laptop, but it wasn't there.
I must have
forgotten it in my room at school,
I thought.
Immediately, the list of everything that could go
wrong flooded back into my head. My laptop was
one resource I didn't want to be without.
I took my laptop, plugged it into my family's
printer, and printed out everything I thought I would
need: directions, flight itineraries, and a map of the
area near my hotel. I returned to my bed and tried to
fall asleep. I was worried about not being able to use
my laptop in California. I soothed my worries by
switching my perspective. Instead, I viewed it as a
challenge. I would need to use my resources
effectively and be prepared for the unexpected. After
twenty minutes of thinking, I finally fell asleep.
The next morning, I woke up around 5:00 AM and

left soon after; my father bought me breakfast on the
way to the airport. I remember feeling nervous, yet
excited. By the end of the day, I would be in a hotel
room, by myself, thousands of miles away.
When we arrived at the airport, my dad hugged
me goodbye and wished me well. Going through
security made me nervous. For some reason, I was
expecting airport security to arrest me. I don't know
why, but I sort of expected something to go wrong;
luckily, nothing did.
My first flight took off from Pittsburgh International
Airport and arrived at Denver International. From
there, I flew to Oakland International. By the time I
touched down in Oakland, it was 5:00 PM (EST) and
2:00 PM (PST). It was strange being on the opposite
side of the country; I was nervous, but excited at the
same time. I was on my own.
I grabbed my luggage and jumped in a taxi. The
driver told me it would be a $40 trip; I gave him the
cash and the car started moving. I admired the
scenery as we drove through the busy streets of
California. Remembering that my parents wanted
me to call them when I landed, I pulled out my phone
and dialed their number. They told me that they were
worried, but glad I was safe and on my way to the
hotel. They asked me to call them when I arrived. By
the time the phone call ended, we had just parked in
front of the hotel.
I unloaded my bags and tipped the taxi driver. My
heart beat with anticipation as I walked over to the
office. Even though I had previously spoken to the
manager on the phone, I was still afraid that they

would turn me away because of my age. My worries
were swept away when the receptionist smiled and
handed me the key to my room. I gratefully thanked
her and left the office.
The hotel was, by no means, extravagant. There
was only one floor and about 30 rooms. The layout of
the complex was in a giant 'U' shape. The building
surrounded the parking lot where only a few cars
were parked. I found my room in the corner of the
parking lot. I opened the door and brought my
luggage inside.
The room had a cozy, simple layout. There was a
bed, TV, mini-fridge, table, lamps, sink, and two
beds. I unpacked my clothes and placed them in the
drawers beneath the television. After I got everything
settled, I called my parents once more to tell them I
was okay. I didn't stay on the phone too long
because there was a few more things I needed to
take care of before the sun set. I hung up the phone
and collapsed on my bed.
In the room adjacent to mine, I could hear a man
yelling angrily in a foreign language. I was really out
of my comfort zone, but I was excited to have the
opportunity to embrace it. All my expenses were
paid for and my only priority was to attend the
seminar. There would be no more worrying about
making the trip possible; I was finally
on
the trip. The
only thing I had left to do was enjoy it.
I rose back to my feet and pulled my laptop out of
my backpack. I placed it on the table and turned it
on. The hotel had free wireless Internet access. I
quickly checked my email to see if anyone sent me

anything about the seminar; there was nothing. My
laptop only had about ten minutes left of battery. I
shut it down to reserve the rest in case of an
emergency.
After grabbing my wallet and room key, I walked
out the door. I had a couple hours until sundown so I
decided to buy groceries. I walked to the office to
ask the receptionist if she knew of any places where
I could buy food. My map told me where Walgreens
was, but I wanted to make sure that it was still up to
date. I didn't want to wonder around aimlessly
looking for a building that was taken down years
ago. Luckily, she confirmed that the Walgreens was
still right down the street. I thanked her and went on
my way.
It was a cloudy day and the air was chilly. The
streets were busy with cars while children played on
the sidewalks. It took me about ten minutes to walk
to Walgreens. I bought a few microwaveable meals
and a couple of fruits. I called Jarrett while I was
shopping and updated him about what had
happened thus far. On my way out, I found several
"California" shirts on sale. I purchased two of them
as souvenirs.
Across the street from Walgreens was an Office
Depot. I stopped by to see if they sold laptop power
cords. They had them in stock but the prices were
outrageous. I decided to save my money and
continue on without a laptop.
After walking back to my apartment and putting
away the groceries, I changed into my running
clothes. I wanted to check out the exact location

where the seminar would be held later that evening.
So I glanced over the map once more and tried to
memorize the street names. When I felt comfortable
enough, I grabbed my iPod and left.
I felt slightly intimidated as I jogged through the
streets of Berkeley. I was worried that I would forget
the directions, so I kept repeating them over and
over again in my head. Eventually, I came to my first
turn with no problem; before I knew it, I was standing
in front of the building where the workshop would be
held. It only took me about 11 minutes to jog from my
hotel room to the building; I assumed that it would
take me no more than a half hour if I walked.
The place was locked and the lights were out. I
grabbed one of the pamphlets that were hanging
outside on the wall. After catching my breath for five
minutes, I turned around and started running back
the way I came.
Knowing where I was supposed to go in a few
hours made feel a lot more comfortable. It helped
sooth my worries of possibly getting lost. When I got
back into my hotel room, I threw my iPod on my bed
and took a shower.
A few hours later, I returned to the building. It was
a two-hour session where we were required to come
in and finish our registration. They would also
provide us with the information packet that we would
be using over the next couple days. After we
registered, a woman gave her testimony of how her
life was personally affected by Tummo.
It was 9:00 PM (PST) by the time I got out. Back
home it was 12:00 AM (EST). On the way back to

my hotel room, I called my parents to tell them about
my day and to wish them goodnight. I needed to be
at the workshop the following morning by 9:00 AM,
so as soon as I got back to my temporary home, I
went to bed.
The next morning I woke up at 6:00 AM; the sun
was just rising. I took a shower, ate breakfast, and
began making my way to the workshop. The warmth
of the sun's rays against my skin comforted me. The
dark clouds from the day before seemed to be long
gone. On my way over, I noticed a Popeye's
Louisiana Kitchen. One of my best friends, at the
time grew up in California and told me that Pop-
eye's food was fantastic. I made a note of the
restaurant's location and decided to stop by at some
point during my trip.
A short while later, I stood in front of the familiar
double doors leading to the workshop. I placed my
iPod back into my backpack and followed a couple
inside. Paintings of old people hung on the red walls.
Statues of Buddha lined the hallways. I deduced that
I was in some sort of Buddhist temple.
I began walking around, looking for the room
listed on the information sheet. I found it at the end of
a long hallway near a life-size statue of Buddha. I
entered the room, gave them my name, and took my
seat. Hundreds of people sat around me silently, all
facing the stage, waiting for something to happen.
After half an hour of silence, a woman finally
walked on to the stage and introduced the Tibetan
Monk that would be teaching Tummo. He spoke for a
couple hours about how Tummo is supposed to help

us transcend, strengthen the kundalini, and unblock
obstacles in our body. He then said something to the
effect of, "Some enjoy Tummo because it produces
a nice, warm heat in the stomach; however, the heat
is only a side effect. The real power comes when you
transcend."
After his speech, he had us perform breathing
exercises. Apparently, this was the final session of a
set of workshops that took place throughout the year.
In their previous workshops, they had spent their
time learning about Tummo's background, how it
related to Buddhism, and other various breathing
exercises. This session was the one where we were
supposed to learn the actual
form
of Tummo. The
breathing exercises were allegedly used in
preparation for Tum-mo. The breathing exercises
consisted of slow, focused breaths. Essentially, we
were supposed to hold our breath for a minute, while
sitting and doing some awkward movements with
our arms.
After a quick lunch break, we came back and
began learning Tummo. The form was not what I had
expected. It didn't seem to be much different from
the breathing exercises we had performed before
lunch. Instead of only the arms moving, while holding
our breath, we moved our upper torso as well. Our
instructor also had us practice visualizing a fire in the
center of our stomachs. With each breath, we were
told to imagine the flame growing with intensity.
I was happy to learn the technique, but I didn't feel
like I was getting any warmer. Also, I didn't feel
comfortable with all of the beliefs that surrounded

Tummo. I never studied Buddhism, but I understood
the basic premises. They were saying that the only
way you could perform Tummo was to follow their
methods, exactly. I begged to differ.
From that point on, I began viewing the workshop
from an objective point of view. I wanted to see if it
was possible to perform Tummo without their set
belief system. Sure, I did the visualizations of the
little flame in my stomach, as well as the movements,
but I remained detached from their views of
transcendence.
As a result of shifting perspectives and viewing
everything objectively, I found myself quickly growing
bored. Of the 10 hours we spent there on Saturday,
we practiced the breathing and Tum-mo exercises
for only two hours each. For the other six hours we
were there, the teacher elaborated on how Tummo
affects the body and clears any obstructions in life.
At one point, they asked us to imagine ourselves
turning into some transcendent female being. I
couldn't see how it could possibly relate to heating
up the body.
When Saturday's workshop was over, I walked
home. I was tempted to eat at Popeye's, but I
decided to save the $15.00 I had left in my wallet for
my final dinner in California. When I got back to the
hotel room, I phoned my parents to tell them how my
day went. I also reassured them of my safety. After
hanging up, I tried looking over the instructional
papers that they had given us on how to perform
Tummo, but I found it hard to follow with all of their
beliefs interlaced in the text. I decided that I would

bring a notebook with me the following day, to
objectively record the core concepts of Tummo.
When I woke up the next morning at 5:00 AM
(PST), I realized that I was in the mood to go for a
run. I used what was left of my laptop battery to find
the directions to the University of Berkeley. The
college was a mile and a half away from the hotel –
not too far for a run. After eating breakfast out of a
complementary plastic cup, I grabbed my iPod and
ran out the door.
Eventually, the campus was in sight. It took me
about 20 minutes to get to the University of Berkeley.
There was a lot of traffic on the road, making it hard
to cross intersections quickly. I crossed the street
and ran up toward the campus, alongside a wooden
fence. As I turned a corner to continue jogging uphill,
a speeding bicyclist struck me. Luckily, there was
just enough time to lower my shoulder and brace for
impact. A man flew through the air and yelled as his
body skidded across the concrete; he grabbed his
knee in pain.
He was screaming in some language I didn't
understand. I repeatedly tried to offer my help but it
appeared that the man didn't understand me. After I
apologized over thirty times, the man rose to his feet,
jumped on his bike, gave me a foul glare, and rode
off.
For the next few minutes I stood there feeling
guilty, contemplating if the man was seriously injured.
As my iPod clicked and the next song began to play
in my headphones, I snapped out of my daze and
returned to my run. By the time I reached the

campus, I had forgotten the incident.
In my opinion, the campus was much more
beautiful than Penn State's. There was luscious
grass everywhere and little pathways that extended
in every direction. I continued running uphill until I
found myself in the middle of a park. Students were
lying on benches and reading their textbooks. It
seemed like a very lovely place to study.
Near the end of my loop around campus, I found
myself running by the University of Berkeley's
Gymnasium. I remembered it as the place where
Dan Millman had trained in
Way of the Peaceful
Warrior.
It was a surreal moment for me to be
standing next to the gym where my favorite author
had trained for many years.
I continued running home and arrived 20 minutes
later. I took a shower, ate another quick breakfast,
and then made my way back to the workshop.
Mostly, the day consisted of more breathing
exercises and Tummo practice. The teacher also
taught us two more additional methods of Tummo,
but allegedly, Tummo experts should only attempt
them.
There is one moment in particular that I think is
important to share with you. We had just finished the
breathing exercises and began one of the Tummo
forms. After about ten minutes of doing the form, my
body felt warm. Ten more minutes went by and I
found myself sweating. By the end of the exercise,
my shirt and shorts were drenched with sweat.
Somehow, I had managed to tap into the side effect
of heat that comes with Tummo. I was ecstatic, yet

strangely disappointed.
Ever since I had seen The Iceman on YouTube, I
couldn't wait for the chance to consciously raise my
body temperature. When it had finally happened, I
expected more. I didn't like the idea that you had to
be sitting down to properly perform Tummo. In the
videos I had seen of The Iceman, he was running
around barefoot in the snow, submerging himself in
ice, and swimming around under ice water.
The only situation where I saw Tummo being
useful to survive would be if someone were forced to
be in extremely cold temperatures for an extended
period of time. That's the only time where I could see
sitting and warming yourself up as efficient. I now
understood why the Tibetan Monks saw Tummo's
main goal as transcendence, not heat.
When I exited the building where I spent most of
my time over those last few days, part of me felt like
the trip was worthless. The other part of me felt
accomplished.
Well, now I know that there is at least
one way to consciously warm up the body,
I thought.
On the way home, I stopped at Popeye's
Louisiana Kitchen for my final dinner in California.
Their chicken was delicious and I was extremely
satisfied. After I got home, I decided to go for a walk
around the city to help my stomach digest the food. I
remembered seeing a sign for a pier on my way to
the workshop, not too far off of the main street. I
figured it was worth checking out.
It was a little intimidating walking through the
streets of Berkeley at night. When I first diverged off
the familiar path, I called Jarrett to tell him about my

weekend. Having someone on the phone was also a
way to calm my nerves from walking through
unknown territory. I told him of my excitement that I
had on the first day, but also told him how I was
disappointed overall. In learning that the Tibetan way
of Tummo involved only sitting, I explained that I
wanted to learn more about how the The Iceman
could do what he did.
I finished my conversation with Jarrett as I
approached the Berkeley Marina Pier. To the side,
there was a path that crossed a giant interstate.
When I was on the bridge crossing the interstate, I
realized that it was the very same highway that goes
through my hometown. It was mind-blowing moment.
Thousands of miles away from my home and
college, I was standing on top of the interstate that
leads directly to my house.
I continued crossing the bridge and found myself
standing atop a hill facing a large body of water. At
the time, I didn't know which body of water I was
looking at. In the distance, I saw a long line of lights
outlining the structure of a bridge. It was an utterly
beautiful sight. I later came to learn that I was gazing
at the infamous Golden Gate Bridge.
I returned to my hotel room around midnight and
promptly fell asleep, but only after setting three
alarms. The next morning, I was happy to have
woken by my first alarm at 4:30 AM. I packed up my
belongings, ate breakfast, and called a taxi.
The taxi arrived around 7:00 AM. The driver was
a friendly fellow, very polite. While he helped me
place my bags into the trunk, I noticed he had a

twitch that shook his entire body. At first I thought my
eyes were playing tricks on me, but after several
more occurrences, I was convinced that the man
must suffered from some form of Tourette's
syndrome. I was worried about how it would affect
his driving, but I climbed into the car anyway. A few
minutes into the ride, I noticed the man jerk a few
more times, but luckily, his movements didn't affect
the momentum of the car. I safely made it to the
Oakland Airport with two hours to spare.
During those two hours, I called my family and
told them that I was coming home, safe. I also
checked into my flight and ate a second breakfast.
My first flight took me from Oakland, California to
Seattle, Washington. From Seattle's airport, I flew to
Chicago, Illinois. Finally, I left Chicago and arrived in
Pittsburgh's airport in the early evening. In total, it
took me almost 13 hours to finally reach my home in
Sharon, Pennsylvania.
When I arrived home, I reflected on my trip as a
whole. Although I hadn't learned what I was
expecting, I had acquired a very useful experience
and actually pursued understanding on my own. It
was the first time in my life that I felt… fulfilled. As
soon as I had known in my heart that I wanted to
pursue knowledge, the opportunity opened up for
me. All I had to do was follow the path. I was
extremely grateful for my safety, yet even more
thankful for the experience. It was the first leap in my
quest toward understanding The Iceman.

CHAPTER 17:
USA
I
first met Eric Mazer in Los Angeles when I was
invited by a Guinness World Records show to break
the existing ice-endurance record by half an hour.
Eric was an independent documentary producer who
did a lot of specials that aired on television. We had
spoken a lot through email prior to meeting in person
because he was interested in releasing a story on
some exciting footage for
Ripley's Believe It Or Not.
The emails were always warm and friendly and when
I arrived in LA, he offered to show me around the
city.
While I was in LA, I broke the record by half an
hour as I said I would, which brought the new world
record to 1 hour and 34 seconds. Feeling great after
my accomplishment, Eric took me out to sea to show
me some great views. We saw Beverly Hills and
talked about possibly working together in the future
for one of his documentaries.
Years later, Eric hadn't forgotten about me. I
received an email from him asking if I would be
willing to come to New York City to break the
existing Ice Endurance record. The event would take
place in front of the Rubin Museum of Tibetan Art. He
wanted me to be a part of a documentary that he
was producing on The Iceman… Me!
After catching up, we began planning for New
York. I had never been to New York City before so
this would be my first time visiting the Big Apple. I

was excited.
When I arrived in New York, I took note of the
amazing architecture. New York City is a legendary
place with impressive buildings that have
astonishing detail. The decorations around the city
were very beautiful and inspiring. I set my
amazement aside and realized that I was there for a
purpose: to break the existing Ice Endurance record
in the streets of Manhattan. An entire Dutch
television team accompanied me to NYC and
together, both Eric's camera crew and the Dutch
camera crew would be able to get a lot of great
footage.
Before the event took place, I met with the
director of the museum. I also had the opportunity to
meet Dr. Kenneth Kamler and Professor William
Bushell. The Rubin Museum of Art and The Today
Show hired both individuals for special interviews.
Together, they were going to enlighten the audience
on my ability to withstand the extreme cold.
Ken Kamler, who had recently published a book
entitled,
Surviving the Extremes,
was the main
speaker during the world record attempt and would
be helping to monitor my vitals. He would also be
narrating the event to the people watching in the
streets and at home in front of their televisions.
William Bushell, or Bill as I call him, is a well-
established professor who received his PhD in
anthropology. Through a lot of research, he remains
connected to the Tibet House. He is most well known
for his research on how esoteric eastern disciplines
can benefit the western society. He is attempting to

differentiate between the two societies with hopes to
find insights that will benefit humanity. Very soon
after meeting William, he gave me an extensive
booklet exemplifying scientific data related to his
research. I really felt honored.
Bill, if you're reading
this, thanks!
Two days after my arrival, I was asked to do a
demonstration for The Today Show. Everything was
set up in front of the studio. It was a cold morning in
New York and there was quite a lot of wind in the
streets. Before stepping into the Perspex box, I did
an interview in my shorts. When I got into the box,
they filled it up with 700 kilograms (1,543 pounds) of
ice. Bystanders were in awe as they watched a
normal guy subject himself to extremely cold
temperatures.
After 40 minutes passed, they opened the box
and frozen chunks of ice fell to the ground. I did one
last interview with a man who claimed I was a
"Human Popsicle" and then I went into a nearby
building to take a nice, warm shower.
Later that day, we did more filming in Madison
Square. After we finished filming, we all went for
drink to warm ourselves up in a nearby Havana Bar.
There, I saw myself televised on a big screen TV. I
was famous in New York!
Since I would be attempting to break the world
record at 2:00 PM sharp the following day, we all
went back to the hotel and found our own rooms. I
wanted to get a good night's sleep before the record
attempt.
The next morning, we all had to wake up and go

right to a meeting. The Dutch camera team and
Eric's camera team were both present. To our
surprise, a third camera team had shown up as well.
It was a crew from ABC news wanting to do a
documentary entitled,
Medical Mysteries.
As if three
television teams weren't enough, 15 other stations
ended up showing up at the Ice Endurance record
attempt in Manhattan! There were people
everywhere! Representatives from countries all over
the world had been sent to film my event so that it
could be internationally broadcasted.
Meanwhile, I just kept to myself and did what I
always do; I prepared mentally and focused on the
task at hand. In the final moments of preparation for
the world record attempt, cameras surrounded the
area and took their final positions.
I stepped into the Perspex box and I was ready to
go. Dr. Kenneth Kamler's future girlfriend, Granis
Stewart, hooked me up with some sensors, which
would be monitoring my vitals. Soon enough, a team
of people poured ice all around me. They poured the
ice in until it reached up past my shoulders. It was at
this point that they started the large digital clock,
which would display the elapsed time.
Dr. Kamler and his assistant, Granis, checked
my blood pressure every five minutes to monitor my
vitals. They also checked my core temperature and
my heartbeat. At one point, my core temperature
decreased a little, but never to a dangerous extent.
Things were under control. I didn't need the monitors
to tell me how my body was doing. I could feel and
understand everything that was happening. I know

the dangers of hypothermia and I can control my
body so that it doesn't reach that point.
The bystanders witnessed a man in control. The
director of the museum explained, "This westerner is
controlling his inner core temperature by using a
Tibetan technique called
Tummo.
This is also known
as
Inner Fire"
To maintain control over the core temperature,
you must influence the body by steering the
hypothalamus; you can think of the hypothalamus
as the thermostat in our brain. The veins around
the core need to remain perfectly closed in order to
maintain a 37°C (98.6°F) body temperature. The
blood needs to stay at that temperature to prevent
hypothermia and to keep the liver, lungs, heart and
brain from shutting down. While the skin
temperature may fall to 0°C (32°F), the core can
maintain the proper blood temperature to stay
alive. At this point, the body can generate heat
three times as much as it does when in stasis.
Researchers have suggested that because of my
cold training, I am able to control the autonomic
nervous system to a certain degree. Normally,
people are unable to directly influence the autonomic
nervous system, but with the proper training, it
becomes possible. I am convinced that anybody can
learn to do it. This is exactly what I did throughout the
record attempt; I remained in control. At the 50-
minute mark, I briefly sensed something strange
going on in one of my kidneys; it felt cold. Focusing

on that spot, I redirected blood flow to provide heat
to my kidney. Within minutes, the sensors in that
area detected a remarkable increase of 10°C
(50°F)! Needless to say, it was warm again.
After that, Kamler watched a steady line as my
core temperature stayed the same. He also watched
as my heart rate went up a little. In order to maintain
the blood's temperature, the heart rate
must
go up to
warm the body. With that being said, the heart rate is
something that should be carefully monitored to
make sure that the situation doesn't become life
threatening.
If my heart rate had exceeded 200 BPM (beats
per minute), we would have stopped immediately the
record attempt. Luckily, my heart rate never rose
above 130 beats per minute. Even at 130 BPM's I
was still able to generate enough heat and energy to
circulate around my body to keep it warm.
I looked at the large digital clock to see how
much time had elapsed. There was only one minute
left until I would set the new record! As the last ten
seconds approached, the crowd yelled in unison,
"Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four…
three… two. one!" I broke out of the box and threw my
arms up in triumph. I did it!
After a nice warm bath, I did an interview with
Ken Kamler in front of the audience. It was quite the
presentation. If you're interested in seeing the
extensive interview, feel free to go online and watch
it here:
http://www.thirteen.org/forum/topics/mystic-

fire/38/
The news of my new record traveled quickly
throughout the media, all around the world. That
evening, people even recognized me as I was
walking down the streets of New York!
It was a surreal feeling, being a celebrity. I had
seen a lot of television programs in my life, but now, I
felt like I was a part of it. I dared again and didn't
meet failure; my confidence took a step forward and
I was ready for more.
After my successful record, someone arranged a
meeting for me to meet with Dr. Kevin Tracey of
Feinstein Institute of Manhasset, New York.
Apparently, Dr. Tracey was extremely interested in
performing research to see if I could influence the
immune system. I didn't know what to expect, but
before I knew it, we were in a subway on our way to
Manhasset. It was about 35 kilometers (27.9 miles)
away.
On the ride over, I had a very interesting
discussion with Professor Bushell, a modest
gentleman who is extremely dedicated to science.
Bill and I spoke of the potential benefits of cold
exposure and how it could help individuals of the
western civilization. Many diseases are caused by
bad blood circulation, which can be extremely
uncomfortable. We discussed many ways that the
cold exposures could possibly help alleviate this
problem.
Bill and I shared many similar beliefs and ways of
thinking. It was a good conversation for the ride to

Manhasset. After getting off the subway, we jumped
on a bus, and before long, we arrived at the front
gates of the Feinstein Institute.
As we were entering the institute, the employees
informed us that it was prohibited to record anything
during our visit. We said we understood and they led
us to a large conference room where 12 individuals
were seated around a large table.
After all of the introductions, I began telling the
group about my vision of how using the cold correctly
could greatly benefit humanity. They were all
interested in what I had to say so they listened
attentively.
From the conference room, we all went down to
the testing room, where I sat in a cozy chair
connected to a lung monitor and cardiogram. During
the test, they actually had to switch out the lung
monitor twice because they thought it wasn't working
properly. When a lung monitor doesn't sense any air
or breaths at all, it reads the person connected as
dead, and I had went without breath for longer than
two and a half minutes! After switching to the third
monitor, I figured it would be best to stop my
breathing exercises.
Dr. Tracey's team was also interested in
watching my body work at the cellular level, so they
extracted blood before, during, and after my
experiment. The biochemical specialists planned to
identify and compare 310 different blood values from
the three samples.
After we finished the testing, we thanked Kevin
Tracey and his team of specialists for the invitation.

We made our way back to the entrance, where the
bus was waiting for us. We said goodbye and
returned to New York City.
Just as soon as we had returned to New York
City, we had to leave again. We flew from the JFK
Airport in Queens, to Saint Paul, Minnesota. As I
mentioned a while ago, ABC news was shooting a
documentary entitled,
Medical Mysteries,
and this
was where the filming would be taking place.
When we touched down in Saint Paul, you could
see just how cold it was outside by looking through
the plane's windows. Everything looked icy and there
was snow everywhere! The temperature read -30°C
(22°F); it was like I was in Lapland again! It was so
cold that the local elementary and high schools were
cancelled because of the weather, as I overheard
someone mention on the way to my hotel.
My hotel room was on the 26th floor, surrounded
by skyscrapers; it was what you'd expect from a
popular city. I got some sleep and the next morning,
the camera crew knocked on my door and asked if I
would mind if they did some filming.
I told them, "Of course not! That's why we're here,
isn't it?"
The camera team started their filming by having
me do a few meditative postures. I also did some
breathing exercises and some physical exercises.
They got some good footage and this also helped
prepare me for the rest of the day.
Out of nowhere, Joe Anger, who was leading the
team, sporadically had me go outside. He wanted
me to mingle with the public out in the snowy

weather, in my shorts, so he could record me asking
people questions about the cold to gather their
opinions. We recorded and interviewed with people
all day long at the university, in the streets, and in the
parks.
At the end of the day, we took a car to Duluth,
Minnesota. There, we met up with two world-
renowned medical professors. They wanted to
perform a cold experiment to measure the
physiological changes in my body.
When we arrived in Duluth, we checked in to a
cozy hotel and found our rooms. At the hotel, we
were greeted by one of the professors who would be
performing the experiment. He seemed liked a nice
guy and I was excited for the experiment to come.
After a good night's rest, we traveled to the
medical school where the professors taught. We met
in a laboratory that specifically studied the cold's
effect on the body. In the lab, the camera crew
poured some ice into a basin full of cold water. They
hoped the ice would exaggerate how cold the water
was so that the people at home would see that the
water was truly freezing.
Filming can be a challenge sometimes. It really
can test your patience with the amount of time it
takes to set up the equipment, get the proper shots,
and take down the equipment. Oh well, that's
television!
Finally, the cold experiment was ready. They
hooked me up to all kinds of wires in order to

monitor my vitals in the cold water. Once again, while
getting into the freezing water, I had no gasping
reflex. As time progressed, my core temperature
and my heart rate stayed the same. It looked like it
would be another successful experiment!
When we finished the experiment, the
researchers were more than happy with the results
and indeed declared the experiment a success. We
then flew back to New York, pleased with our
accomplishment. After arriving, we went to the frozen
shore off of the Hudson River to do a little more
filming. We were happy with the footage we
captured there, so we were able to relax for a bit. A
strenuous week had gone by and we all had done
extremely well.
When I got back from Minnesota, I was anxious
to receive a call from Ken Kamler with the results
from Dr. Kevin Tracey's experiments. Kamler finally
called and informed me that even though Dr. Tracey
was typically a very docile and calm man, he literally
jumped in the air when he saw the results!
The results showed that I had suppressed the
inflammatory marked bodies in the nervus vagus.
This meant that I had consciously influenced my
immune system, something widely seen as
impossible. If one is able to influence the immune
system by will, it could potentially have an enormous
impact on humanity for the fight against disease.
From that point on, my new mission in life was
to help people fight disease!

Half an hour later, after I had received the good
news, I received a phone call from my wife with
some very heartbreaking news. She informed me
that my mother had just passed away. With this
news, it took me back to the story of my birth.
Many years ago, when my mother was pregnant
with my brother and I, the doctors actually had no
idea that she was carrying twins. After my mother
gave birth to my brother, Andre, the doctors took
her to the recovery room, thinking she could relax.
Once there though, she sensed that there was
another baby on the way! The contractions were
strong and my mother screamed for help. The
nurse came to check on my mother and she too
was convinced that another baby was on the way.
The nurse ran to get the doctor as well as another
nurse. All together they pushed the bed to the
operating room where they would attempt to do a
cesarean section. My mother was extremely
hesitant of this kind of delivery due to some of the
things she had heard about it in the past, but it was
too late now. As a consistent churchgoer and a
devoted catholic, she prayed that her child would
make it out alive and eventually become a
missionary. Before they could even get my mother
on the operation table, she delivered the baby. By
sheer will and strength, she was able to deliver her
second twin, me. This is how I came into the world.
Now, my mother was gone. When I heard the sad
news, it felt like someone had punched me in the

stomach; I was breathless and there was a hole in
my heart.
There are no coincidences; everything happens
for a reason. It connects us to those we love, and
can provide peace in our heart. In this sad moment,
I tried to be strong and carry on with my new
mission in life.

CHAPTER 18:
THE CABIN
A
fter arriving back in State College, I returned to my
normal schedule. I went to class, did my homework,
worked in the research lab, and hung out with my
friends. No one, except for a few of my close peers,
knew about my trip to California. I acted as if nothing
had ever happened, even though I felt completely
different.
I was still interested in Tummo and hoped to
pursue it more, but I didn't know what more there
was for me to do. A few weekends after my trip, I
showed Preston, my brother, what the form of
Tummo looked like; he told me the motions looked
ridiculous.
The following weekend, Jarrett and I went to his
cabin to hang out and discuss my trip. While there, I
decided to take advantage of the 32°F (0°C)
weather and teach Jarrett the Tummo form I had
learned in California. There was no heat source
inside the cabin, so the temperature was the same
as outside.
When Jarrett and I first sat on the floor in only our
t-shirt and shorts, we felt relatively comfortable. We
had just taken off our sweatshirts and sweatpants, so
the cold temperature hadn't had a chance to affect
our bodies yet. We started out with the breathing
exercises, and then moved on to Tummo. My
memory was a little foggy, so I referred to notes I
took on the last day of the seminar.

After an hour of attempting the form, we didn't
feel any different. Jarrett told me that he felt the same
as he did when he first sat down. Disappointed, we
stood up and began making lunch. After several
minutes of moving around, Jarrett and I noticed
something interesting. We suddenly felt really, really
cold. It felt as if the temperature had dropped down
to 10°F (-12.2°C). I suggested that we sit back down
to see if the position we were sitting in was the
reason for our original warmth. It wasn't. Sitting on
the ground was even colder than standing up!
Jarrett and I were intrigued. We began
performing Tummo again, to see if it had anything to
do with the heat. We were amazed as we regained
our warmth a half hour later. Soon after, Jarrett
expressed the same disappointment that I had felt in
California. Tummo was stationary; The Iceman
wasn't. Even though Tummo seemed to give us heat,
our main goal was to become like The Iceman.
After starting a fire in the fireplace, Jarrett and I
discussed possible ways to transfer the effect of
Tummo into a moveable form. We thought about
changing our breathing patterns, visualizing a flame
in our stomach while moving, and even trying some
sort of hyper-ventilation technique. Even though we
had a lot of different ideas, we didn't have the time to
see them out. Jarrett and I were both very busy and
had to return to college the following morning. That
night, our excitement fizzled out with the fire as we
fell asleep.

CHAPTER 19:
KILIMANJARO
K
ilimanjaro, located in the middle of Africa, in the
country of Tanzania, stands 5,895 meters (19,340
feet) tall. It is Africa's tallest mountain. Jereon, a
Dutch cameraman and family friend, and I were on
our way there for a climb. I had arranged a
sponsorship deal with
Africa Safari
and
Natural
Beauties
in Tanzania.
Jereon and I boarded a plane in Frankfurt,
Germany and flew to Addis Abeba, the capital of
Ethiopia. From there we took a connecting flight to
the Kilimanjaro airport. As we made our descent into
Tanzania, we saw Kilimanjaro to our right. It was
easily viewable from the airplane windows and
Jeroen was able to get a great shot for the footage.
Tanzania is a country with a lot of game reserves,
Masaii, poverty and wildness. Even in rough times,
most of the people in the area remain nice and have
positive attitudes. Wherever we traveled, Tan-
zanians always greeted us with "Jambo," meaning
"Hello," every time we passed them. This made me
feel very welcomed.
My mission in Tanzania was to climb Kilimanjaro,
the world's tallest volcano. It would be a lot different
from any other mountain that I had climbed before
because Kilimanjaro is not part of a mountain range;
it is a freestanding, massive volcano that is almost 6
kilometers (3.7 miles) high.
Once we found ourselves in the right area, we

were supplied with outdoor gear from a local outdoor
shop and a camera from Nikon. Our shelter, which
looked like it was left over from the colonial times,
was in a secluded lodge. After settling into our
rooms, we met our guide for the mountain, John
Minja. From a porter, to a cook, to our transportation,
John was in charge of everything. I was able to see
the type of person he was from the moment I met
him. I was excited to see what was to come in the
next few days.
Before long, the day to climb was upon us. We
were charged with energy and ready to begin. I
became very anxious and excited, as I don't like the
waiting before an upcoming challenge.
My excitement and anxiety cause a drive to
succeed within me. This part of me always takes
control when I am climbing. I may not know what will
happen next, but I am always determined to
succeed.
The drive to Kilimanjaro National Park only took
us about two hours and thirty minutes, but it felt
longer than that. When we finally arrived at the front
gates, some last minute preparations were made.
We had to organize permits, divide our supplies,
and make our payments.
When we passed through the gates, a tropical
forest with large trees and a wide variety of flowers
suddenly surrounded us. There were monkeys in the
trees and birds in the sky. Everywhere I looked it
was a beautiful sight. I was most impressed by the

large tree ferns that reached 20 meters (65.6 feet)
high; they were enormous!
That day, we climbed from an altitude of 1,300
meters (4,265 feet) up to 3,200 meters (10,498
feet). As we progressed up the mountain, we took
notice of how the vegetation changed. Instead of the
large ferns and booming wildlife, small trees and
bushes surrounded us.
The African crew that guided us up the mountain
took very good care of us along our journey. Our
stomachs were full and our minds were content, as
we got ready to rest for the night. I am always eager
to climb as fast as possible, but I know that it is not
good to push an entire crew just to satisfy my desire,
so I cooled myself down. We all slept peacefully that
night.
The following day, we climbed up to 4,200
meters (13,779 feet) and collected stamps along the
way at the checkpoints. At 4,200 meters, the
vegetation changed even more drastically. Smaller
bushes, different flowers, and strange succulents
surrounded us.
As we traveled, John, our guide, made our
journey extremely interesting along the way. He knew
all the plants and trees by name in English, Latin,
and Swahili. He was also very intelligent about the
wildlife we saw as well. He knew the behavior of all
of the birds and animals, including what they ate, and
how strong and intelligent they were. We all learned
a great deal from John on our trip.
As we continued making our ascent, it began to
rain. The rocks and ground quickly became slippery.

Due to the rain, our progression slowed and we
were soon completely soaked and exhausted from
the frictionless ground.
Since we were all wet and tired, we headed back
to our camp at 4,200 meters and set up our tents. As
soon as the rain stopped, we were able to take
some beautiful pictures of the Kilimanjaro summit
and Mt. Kenya. The visibility was great with no plants
or trees to block our view.
Meanwhile, in my mind, I was concerned about
the slow pace that we were using to ascend the
mountain. I spoke with John about the slowness of
the expedition. He saw my determination and desire
for speed, so he told me that he and I could ascend
up the mountain together at 2:00 AM, while the
others were asleep.
I informed Jeroen of my plans to summit with
John. Jeroen, who has a completely different drive
and personality than I do, was confused by our
drastic change of plans. I explained to him that I
wasn't capable of going at such a slow pace and
how doing so took me away from the rhythm I
needed to succeed. I was a man on a mission with a
powerful drive. Therefore, I was happy that John was
willing to help me reach my goal.
We barely got any sleep that night before 2:00
AM came around. Luckily, everyone was in a deep
sleep as we tiptoed quietly out of the tent toward our
unknown adventure.
The moon lit up our path surprisingly well. The
drowsiness that was with us when we first awoke
was gone now that we were using an energetic

pace.
I must admit, I felt better being apart from the
group. I was excited to progress at a pace more to
my liking.
The mysteriousness of the mountain engulfed us
as we approached the western bridge. The western
bridge begins at 4,600 meters (15,091 feet). It is a
quick, but steep part of the Kilimanjaro trail. It was
covered in snow and very slick. I began to feel the
lack of oxygen; my body felt heavier. I had to force
myself to focus on the present and not think about
how much more of the journey was left. Will power
and determination pushed me through every step.
As we were climbing, I had only one word on my
mind:
summit.
Since there were no real paths up the
mountain, we had to find our own way up the steep
side of Kilimanjaro. The climbing seemed to go on
forever; it was endless.
Dawn came upon us rather quickly and the
massive mountain became much more visible with
the light from the sun. However, since we were on
the opposite side of the mountain, in reference to the
sun, the warmth of its rays couldn't touch us.
We pressed on, but without proper
acclimatization, it was a lot harder to climb than we
had initially anticipated. Even though John regularly
climbed the mountain as a profession, he was
having a very difficult time. To reach my goals, I
pushed myself to the limit with an incredible drive.
John was forced to keep up with my provoked

speed.
As we were nearing the summit, right before
entering a huge crater, we encountered a difficult
spot where the rocks and ground are completely
covered in ice and snow. Despite its danger, it is a
place that provides a marvelous view over Africa.
The view provided me with some unexpected joy,
despite the throbbing in my head from the lack of
oxygen. I did my best to ignore the pain and pressed
on as we reached the 5,600-meter mark (18,372
feet). We were approaching the summit, but it was
proving to be an incredible battle. Our bodies were
starving for oxygen and were quickly becoming
fatigued. Little by little we ascended up the steep hill
toward the summit.
Finally, through many breaths and streams of
sweat, we reached the Uhuru peak; we had won the
fight! Somehow, we had generated enough energy
to push us to the top, despite our deprivation of
oxygen.
At the top, John and I embraced each other,
feeling extremely connected now that we had
succeeded together. He had seen me at my
weakest and I had seen him at his. This journey was
a struggle of two men: John and the "Manaume
Barafu" ("Iceman" in Swahili).
For many years, I had an irrational hunger to
climb Kilimanjaro, always hearing about people who
have climbed it. I had wanted to become one of them
and now I was. Even though it was a lot harder than
any other challenge that I had attempted thus far, we
had succeeded. Our adventure had turned out with a

completely different outcome than we had planned;
however, it seems that many of my adventures turn
out this way.
Be expectant of this when you are on your own:
expect the unexpected!
The final steps of our adventure were hard and I
could've fallen unconscious many times, but sheer
will and determination had been my companions.
Due to this, I received great respect from many
porters on the path along the way. Together, they
sang, "Iceman, Iceman," as well as many other
songs. I even memorized one of the more famous
songs that most porters and guides know. It went like
this:
"Jambo, jambo bwana
Habarigani, ni suri sana
Wakeeni magaribishua
Kilimanjaro, Hakuna matata"
This song tells the story of a stranger who is
welcomed. It tells the stranger to do their very best
and take life as it comes on the strange Kilimanjaro.
I enjoyed the meaning of this song and it made me
think about all that I had accomplished.
After we took some pictures on the peak, John
and I went down the long trail to the other side,
passing an enormous glacier on the way. Tired and
relieved, we continued our way down. I could feel the
oxygen in the air increasing more and more as we
descended the mountain. I had finally won the battle

for oxygen; I could breathe comfortably again.
Since we had been out all day, I got some pretty
bad sunburn on my face. As we arrived back into
camp, Jeroen was really shocked seeing me in that
shape; he seemed worried. After explaining our
adventure to the others, we gathered up all the rest
of our things and descended the mountain together.
The next day, we arrived at the South Gate of the
Kilimanjaro National Park. When we got there, a
Tanzanian film crew was waiting for us. They had
heard that the Iceman climbed Kilimanjaro in shorts
in only two days and wanted to hear more about it!
When I got back to the Netherlands, there were a
lot of television appearances waiting for me. News
of the Iceman doing something extraordinary had
spread quickly; my story was at a high demand.
Soon after my return, the BBC called me, asking
if I was interested in doing a challenge in the cold. I
suggested a full marathon, in shorts, in Lapland,
Finland. This adventure on Kilimanjaro had given me
a lot of confidence and though I had never attempted
a full marathon in shorts, I was ready to challenge
myself. It would all be mind over matter.

CHAPTER 20:
HELLO ICEMAN
D
uring my last couple years at Penn State
University, I worked in a research lab that focused on
facial expressions and human emotion. As a
research assistant, my job was to run participants
through experiments. On December 2, 2009 in
between running participants, I re-watched old
YouTube videos of The Iceman. Eventually, I came
across a strange video that consisted of a slideshow
of pictures that were taken using an infrared camera.
The video was short and only had a few pictures of
The Iceman stretching in front of a large group of
people. I could tell from the white color emanating
from his body that he was generating a lot of heat.
I had seen the video before, but I had only
watched the first ten seconds of it. This time, I
decided to let it play all the way through. During the
last five seconds of the video, The Iceman's website
flashed across the screen []. I didn't know that he had
a website. I became very intrigued.
I checked out the website and found a small
section with contact information. Listed in the
contacts was Wim's email address; I was ecstatic! I
had always wanted the opportunity to talk to The
Iceman and now it was possible. Of course, I was
extremely doubtful that he would reply. I thought he
would never get back to me, being that he was a
really famous individual and probably very busy.
Even though I was extremely doubtful, I had a lot

of faith. I believed that if I were meant to speak to
The Iceman, he would get my email and send me
one back. If nothing happened and my email was left
unread, I would move on from Tummo forever. I felt
that this was my last chance to learn how to do it
properly, to understand what it was like to be able to
control my body temperature – like The Iceman.
Here is what I sent him:
"Hello Mr. Hof,
My name is Justin Rosales. I am a student at
Penn State University (Pennsylvania) and, well I
really don't know how to make this formal, but it's an
interesting topic and I'd like to be as open as
possible. My friend and I have been researching g
tum-mo (Tummo) for a while and I personally
traveled to Berkeley, California to find out more
information about Tummo to try to discover more
about this "inner fire". I found a workshop. The man
that led the workshop goes by the name of: Tenzin
Wangyal Rinpoche. It was a weekend seminar that
lasted about four days. However, they met several
times during the year to try to teach this art.
Personally, I only made it to the last session
because I was unaware of this seminar until a few
weeks before.
Anyways, they went over the 9 breathing
techniques, the warm ups for the chakras, the Tsa
Lung, the Bar Lung, and the Drak Lung. I feel that
there are different ways to perform Tummo. I have
already read a book called "Inner Fire." The

techniques were a bit different from the ones taught
at the workshop.
Mr. Hof, I am very interested in mastering the
art of Tummo. Of course my friend and I are
westerners, and based on the research that I've
done, the Tibetans aren't really friendly when it
comes to sharing Tummo with people in the
Western culture. I have heard they say "They put
everything in the wrong context." "They have no
imagination" and "It will not work." But to be honest
sir, my friend and I are veryyyy determined and
open-minded. We are really interested in this idea
and REALLY want to try to make this work, for
ourselves.
The reason I am emailing you sir, is that you
can do something that I haven't seen in the Tibetan
research that I have performed… Despite all of the
articles that I have come across, I have yet to see
anyone stand up, or even run while performing g
tum-mo, other than you.
So I was wondering if you were planning on
doing any workshops any time soon to teach your
methods of Tummo. My friend and I would love to
find a way to meet up with you to learn. We are
more than interested in your work, your way of life,
and everything. We wouldn't document this in any
papers or anything like that; we aren't with the news.
We are two students that are very interested in
bettering ourselves to learn, understand, and gain
knowledge. We just want to improve. Sir, we'd really
appreciate any response to this email, even being
turned down. We admire that you are someone that

isn't with Tibetan culture that has mastered this art
of Tummo. Thank you very much.
-Justin Rosales
Penn State University"
After sending the email, I returned to my lab work.
My friends in the lab knew about my research in
California. They also knew about my interest in The
Iceman. I told Anthony, the graduate student I work
for, that I sent The Iceman an email. I also mentioned
my doubt of not getting a response.
Ten minutes after sending the email, I received
this:
"Dear Justin
There are no secrets.
Everyone, every mind, can understand the
concepts. Especially, when it is taken in with an
open heart. I will get back to you.
In the meantime, try to learn by listening to the
lecture that I did in New York after performing in the
streets of Manhattan. Search for the Google video,
"mystic fire".
Greetings,
Wim Hof"
After reading this email, I said in a loud,
enthusiastic voice, "YES!" Anthony looked up from
his desk and asked me, "What happened?" I told
him The Iceman had just responded. I was clueless

as to which video Wim was talking about; I thought I
already seen them all. I also didn't know what "mystic
fire" was. So I used Google to search the words:
"mystic fire," "iceman," and "wim hof." A new result
popped up, one that I hadn't seen before. Here is a
link to the video that I had found:
http://www.thirteen.org/forum/topics/mystic-
fire/38/
The video starts out with a man named Kenneth
Kamler, describing what typically happens to
someone's body when they are exposed to the cold.
In his presentation, he transitions to how Wim's body
reacts differently to the cold. He then offers his
theories of how it is possible. Afterward, Wim is
called on stage and asked to speak.
Wim begins by telling the audience, "Science
can only go so far. We are humans, and humans can
go beyond science." Wim then goes into a long
explanation of what he's done in the past and what
he plans to do in the future.
Near the end of the video, Wim says that he has
a different philosophy now. He mentions that he has
done a considerable amount of record breaking and
achieved many goals. Now, he wants to teach others
what he has learned. He wants to help the unwise
understand what he experienced so that they can
experience it too. His new goal was to begin sharing
the opportunity to become The Iceman with the
world.
After seeing this video of Wim, I felt that I

understood him on a deeper level. I saw who he was,
beyond the celebrity that television made him out to
be. I saw him as someone who was willing to do
whatever it takes to change the world. He was a
future version of who Jarrett and I had hoped we
would become. Wim achieved the impossible and
was actively looking to do more.
I emailed the link to Jarrett and asked him to call
me after he watched it. The new information re-
inspired me to continue my quest for knowledge and
understanding. My laptop told me the temperature
outside was currently 32°F (0°C). I wanted to
immerse myself in my research and begin to gain
experience with the cold. So I took off my jacket,
packed up my things, and walked outside.
It was a twenty-minute walk to my apartment from
where I was and my t-shirt didn't do much to protect
me from the cold. A few seconds after walking
outside, I could feel the goose bumps popping up all
over my body. Shivers rolled up my spine and I could
see my breath each time I exhaled. It was cold, and
the 15 mph (24.1 kph) winds weren't helping. With
each gust, I felt as if someone or something was
sucking the heat from my body. After ten minutes of
walking outside, I lost all feeling in my fingertips. My
fingers felt like rocks when they rubbed together as I
formed fists. I was afraid that I was doing serious
damage to my body and I would have to deal with
consequences later.
As I continued my walk home, I received a lot of
attention from people. There were a lot of glares,
raised eyebrows and open mouths; almost everyone

stared. At first, I was really self-conscious, but then I
understood that what I was doing was going to be
bizarre to most people. This is why Wim is so
famous. Most people view what he does as a circus
act because they can't imagine doing it themselves.
When I finally reached my house, I slowly
managed to pull my keys out of my pocket. It was
incredibly hard to unlock the door as I fumbled
through each key with numbed hands. Eventually, the
lock turned and I pushed the door open.
As I walked in, the hot air from my home engulfed
my frozen hands; they began to sting. It felt as if the
tips of several hundred knives were positioned
around my hands and someone was applying
pressure to all of them at once. It was unbearable.
I felt dizzy, so I went to my bedroom and lay
down. I closed my eyes and tried to think the pain
away. It wasn't until twenty minutes later when I
started to feel some relief. Eventually, the pain dulled
nd faded away completely. Luckily, it appeared as if
no permanent damage was done to my hands. My
fear of frostbite had left me once I regained the
feeling back in my fingertips.
That night, I received a call from Jarrett. We
talked about how awesome the video was and he
told me that he had enjoyed seeing the different side
of Wim. Where the Discovery Channel's video of
Wim running the half marathon made him seem
superhuman, Wim's interview made him look more
normal. You could easily tell he was a regular guy
that just wanted to help people. That's what Jarrett
and I loved about Wim, that he was willing to make

sacrifices to show people their true potential.
At one point during our conversation, Jarrett and I
agreed that Wim was taking the world in a new
direction. He was looking for ways to help people
live more efficiently. Most of all, Wim was selfless,
humble, and more than willing to teach people his
technique.
I described to Jarrett my walk home earlier that
day and how painful it had been. I told him that I
thought the key to unlocking The Iceman's ability was
by conditioning our bodies through direct exposure; I
assumed that over time our bodies would adapt to
the harsh conditions.
Speaking of pain, I decided not to try any more
cold exposures until I spoke with Wim again. I didn't
want to do any damage to my body and ruin my
chances of ever learning to control its temperature.
The following day, I received an email from Wim
explaining how "the cold is a hard, but righteous
teacher." He told me that we, as humans, lost our
natural ability to adapt to the cold over time. To get it
back, we needed to naturally adapt through
progressive exposure.
In response, I sent him the following with my frigid
walk home in mind:
"Thank you Wim,
All of your thoughts are very enlightening and
good to hear. It makes sense and does feel natural.
My one question is. as I expose myself, how do I
know when to stop. I can accept the cold, and my

body feels fine, however, when outside in a t-shirt
and shorts… my fingers start to hurt… then burn…
and eventually lose feeling. At what point should I
stop? Or should I just wear gloves. Though, if I do
wear gloves, does it take away my ability to adjust?
I am sorry for my misunderstanding, but I'm
trying to do it as accurately as possible so I do not
hurt myself. Thank you for your continual support
and advice!!! My friend and I are happy to be
learning and regaining the natural mechanisms!
-Justin Rosales"
To which, he replied:
"Hi Justin
In the beginning you will feel the cold, your
fingers and toes will react. I am a rock climber who
climbs without gear. I need to have good control
and good blood circulation in my fingertips to hold
on.
Here is what helped me train my hands. Try it
out yourself:
Find a rock or cold item, touch it and let the
fingers react until it does not feel good anymore.
Then remove yourself from the cold and wait a
couple of minutes. This is when the veins in your
hands are opening up again, the natural way, and
make it possible, in my case, to climb for hours on
ice-cold rocks; it feels great!
Once again it is all natural, but you have to find
out through experience.

I helped many people heal their feet's reaction
to the cold by having them walk barefoot in the
snow for a quarter of a mile, with the right mental
attitude. After that, they didn't have any more
problems with cold feet.
The secret is that their veins were too small,
restricting blood flow. With exposure, you can
condition the veins to become larger and allow
more warm blood to reach your extremities. It is not
hocus-pocus.
You can condition the veins by exposing them
to extreme colds. When you first enter the cold, the
veins and arteries will constrict, restricting blood
flow immensely.
After they're conditioned, the veins and arteries
open back up again, while in the cold, and they can
continue to pump warm blood to exposed parts of
your feet. This increases the circumference of the
walls of both the veins and arteries… It's all natural.
Simple,
Wim"
This was the first time it was beginning to make
sense to me. Understanding that there was some
science behind the ability made it seem more
achievable. I viewed it as if I was going to train a
muscle or run a race, each time pushing
progressively farther.
I didn't have any cold slabs of rock available, so I
would have to be creative. Regardless, I was ready
to start training.

CHAPTER 21:
MARATHON BEYOND THE POLAR
CIRCLE
T
wo weeks after Kilimanjaro, I was on my way to
Lapland, Finland. After coordinating with an English
production company, we came up with the idea to
drive from Amsterdam to Lapland for a marathon.
Along the way, we drove through Germany,
Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and then finally Lapland.
Each country became colder as we traveled farther
north.
When we reached the southern part of Sweden,
the snow began to fall. Slippery roads and very cold
temperatures greeted us, yet we still had another
1,500 kilometers (932 miles) to travel before
reaching the Polar Circle!
Eventually, we reached our final destination: a
very small resort in Lapland. The place was made
out of wood, but it kept us very warm. Outside, wild
reindeer frolicked in the thick snow that surrounded
us; it felt like a scene right out of a Christmas tale.
When the temperature dropped down to -20°C (-
4°F), the condensed air froze, making the snow look
like beautiful, sharp diamonds.
Shortly after our arrival, we met a local fixer. A
fixer, as most television personnel call it, is a person
who arranges and plans out many different camera
angles at the location of the shoot. While the fixer
was attending to the angles, the rest of the crew

needed to find a way to make a track for the
marathon in the nearby hills. They had to figure out
what exactly had to happen, and where it would all
take place, so it was good that they were very keen
on the details. As I watched everyone working, I
began to feel very anxious and alert. This is how I
always feel before a challenge. It's a natural way to
prepare the mind.
The next day, we went to a reindeer farm and
spoke with the herder. He was dressed in reindeer
skin and lived in a typical, Lappish nomad tent. It
looked very similar to that of a tipi, very Indian-like.
The Lappish nomads are also very similar to the
North American Indians.
The herder told us stories about their traditions,
fire rituals, as well as their life and respect for nature
and reindeer. The nomads in the area were
diminishing quickly, as snow scooters removed the
necessity of transport by reindeer, leaving them with
no income. I honestly feel that it is a pity to see
modern times take over regions like this.
One of the stories the herder told us explained
how the Lappish people, also known as the Sami,
had developed telepathy to speak to their far away
neighbors. However, once the telephones were
invented, the telepathy disappeared with time.
Another pitiful loss.
The day before the run, we went to the track and
did some pick up shots. Pick up shots are the shots
that you can't actually shoot when the run is live
because the angle is too difficult. So, I took the
opportunity to get a good work out in, and ran for a

bit through the snow, just in my shorts.
The snow was neither hard, nor soft. It was a
different texture than what I had been used to, but I
ran for a while through the white, covered wilderness.
As I was running, the snow covered the ground in a
way that made it hard to see what kind of surface I
was stepping on. Everything seemed fine, when all
of a sudden I stepped on some uneven ground and
heard a "Krrrrrrik!!!"
My right ankle twisted and it began throbbing with
pain. The next day was the day I was supposed to
run my first full marathon ever and I had just severely
sprained my ankle! My confidence was shattered.
Would I be able to do the marathon?
I thought.
I was overwhelmed with insecurities and doubts,
but the only thing I could do was continue on with
determination; mind over matter. I told the crew that
we had to change the track on which I would be
performing my run. I explained to them that I had
sprained my ankle because the snow was too deep
and it would be impossible to run through. They
agreed to survey the surrounding areas and look at
some different trails with hardened snow layers. I
didn't sleep very well that night, but I was determined,
and that gave me energy.
The following morning, before my run, I had to
undergo a medical checkup. The professionals told
me that my physiology was much healthier than an
average young man. They told me that my resting
heart rate was extremely low, at 38 beats per minute,
with good blood pressure. Then… they saw my ankle.
Their suggestion to me was that I should not run the

marathon; of course, I disagreed. They saw my
determination and told me that if I chose to run, it
would be at my own risk. So, after taping my ankle,
the medical professionals wished me luck and sent
me on my way.
The newspaper and television reporters were
present when I arrived at the starting spot of the
newly plotted course. I mentally prepared myself one
last time before getting out of the car. When I was
ready, I went outside, had a piss, and started
running! I began my run so rapidly that it threw
everyone off guard. No one had expected me to
begin like that, so everyone had to quickly pack their
bags and follow me in a hurry to catch up.
The crew all sat in the back of the car with the
rear door propped open so they could film me as I
ran. They were driving a little bit ahead of me at a
slow pace, so they could get some good shots. They
filmed my feet from close up, far away, from the side,
with wide angles, and close angles. Everything was
going extremely well.
Kilometers passed and there were still no
problems whatsoever, so I kept on running. With
everything going so well, my worrying had stopped
and I was able to enjoy the environment; my
regained confidence helped me relax and enjoy the
nature that was in front of me.
Ten kilometers went by… 20 kilometers… and I
still had no problems. However, when I ran over the
25-kilometer mark (15 miles), the cold began to
have an influence on my muscles. The acid that
accumulated in my legs was really slowing me down.

This is where the determined mind began to play its
role. My mental preparation began to pay off, as the
run became a challenge of will power.
I pulled myself together and focused on every
numbed step through the snow; I would not succumb
to fatigue.
Remaining focused can pull you through
almost anything; it alerts the adrenaline in the
nervous system to kick in.
This run was a fight I needed to win, just like
Kilimanjaro. On Kilimanjaro, my fight was with the
lack of air, but there in Lapland, it was the cold and
my unprepared physical state.
Months before this run, I had prepared myself by
sitting in a horse stance, with my knees bent over for
a half hour, to practice getting rid of acid build up. It
took focus, but it worked. This is the kind of focus I
had to attain during my run. Despite the heavy
feeling that I still had in my legs, I made it past the
32-kilometer mark (19.8 miles). I stayed in my
trance, traveling the long distance through the
woods.
By the time I reached the last two kilometers, I
was almost walking. As my eyes fell upon the finish
line, I regained some of my energy. The final stretch
was adorned with cheering people and torches. My
goal was now in my reach. When I crossed the finish
line, I was engulfed in praise; I had done it!
After my first full marathon was successfully
completed, I was guided into a wooden hut where

my family was waiting; they cheered for me when I
entered. They sat me down by the fireside and
handed me a beer and cigarette.
"Like the Indians", I said, "A cigarette smoke is
for peace and accomplishment." Everyone around
me was flabbergasted when they realized that I was
a smoker and a drinker. Athletes don't typically have
these habits. They were shocked at what I was able
to achieve, despite my vices.
The reporters continued to ask me questions
while the film crew reviewed their footage. The run
was complete, and I was more than satisfied. I had
just taken another pioneering step deeper into my
mind. Once again, I was also able to overcome my
fears and insecurities. That night when I was relaxing
by the television, my run came on the news. It was a
beautiful thing to see.
The following day, my legs were incredibly sore; I
could barely walk. The following three-day car ride
was enough time for my legs to completely recover.
During the car ride home, I came up with a new
challenge that I would like to someday fulfill: to run 50
kilometers (31 miles) in the Sahara Desert without
drinking any water. I hope to accomplish this goal
sometime in the future.

CHAPTER 22:
HM… HOW CAN I TRAIN?
A
fter a few more exchanges of email with Wim, I
decided to construct my own training program. Wim
emphasized that any exposure to the cold leads to
improvement. So, I came up with the idea to make
miniature ice baths for extremity immersions. I
looked around my apartment for something small
that could hold water, ice, and one of my extremities.
Eventually, I decided to use a one-gallon plastic
garbage can that was stashed in my closet. I placed
it in my bathtub and filled it up with cold water. I then
went to my kitchen, grabbed two ice trays, a towel,
and a container of salt. I brought everything into my
bedroom and closed the door. After changing into
shorts, I dumped the two trays of ice into the water
and added salt. I had heard in the past that salt was
used to lower the freezing point of water; I didn't
know if it was true, but I wanted to do everything I
could to make the water as cold as possible. At the
time, I didn't have any thermometers to check the
temperature of the water, so I made a mental note to
order one online when the experiment was over.
After letting the ice and salt chill the water for a
couple minutes, I touched it with the tip of my finger
to see if it was ready. Immediately, I could feel the
blood rushing away from where my finger entered
the water. I was hesitant, but still excited to see what
would happen. After taking a few deep breaths to
calm my nerves, I started the timer on my stopwatch

and dove my right hand into the ice water.
The pain was immediate and intense. It felt as if
someone was cutting off my hand in multiple
sections. My body became extremely warm and I
soon felt lightheaded. I didn't know what was
happening. I was afraid, but I left my hand in the
water anyway. I kept waiting for the pain to dissipate,
but even after 60 seconds, it still remained.
During the time that my hand was in the water, a
lot of things flooded through my mind. At first, my
entire body was telling me to pull my hand out.
immediately. I tried talking myself through it and
telling myself that I would be fine, but everything
inside of me was screaming in agony. I was afraid I
was going to do damage, but then I remembered
that I had never heard of someone losing his or her
fingers after a couple minutes of cold-water
exposure; I doubted I would be the first. So, I
continued to fight through the pain.
Eventually, around 90 seconds after I had first
placed my hand in the water, the pain began to dull,
and then numb. My mind eased, but I questioned the
phenomena.
Can I not feel anything because I
damaged my nerves? Is the water just warmer now?
I checked the water with my left fingertip; it was
still freezing. Then, I tried moving my fingers; they
were slow, but still moved nonetheless. Not more
than two seconds after I moved my fingers, my
fingers began to burn again, just like when I had first
put my hand in. It seemed that any movement of my
immersed limb would take away the numbness and
bring me the immense pressure.

I stopped moving my hand and tried to reach the
numbing phase again. After another 20 seconds of
biting my lip, the pressure finally eased away, but
about a minute later, something else happened. I
began to feel tingling at my fingertips. It didn't feel
like pain; it was just unpleasant. I guess you could
say the feeling was comparable to when your hand
or foot falls asleep.
This sensation frightened me. I hadn't gone into
detail with Wim about what I was supposed to
experience, so I pulled my hand out. For my first
exposure, my hand was immersed for 3 minutes and
7 seconds. It seemed like a long time, but I had
nothing to compare it to.
After drying off my right hand, I sunk my left hand
into the water. The same thing happened as before.
The pain came, then the numbness, and then the
tingling. I pulled my left hand out at 1 minute and 30
seconds. I blamed my inability to keep my left hand
in as long as my right hand on my right-handedness.
I assumed the vascular system in my right hand was
stronger since I had used it more.
When I had finished putting away all of the things I
used for my test run, I got online and ordered two
thermometers. The first one I ordered was a digital
cooking thermometer that measured temperatures
from 10°F-250°F (-12.2°C-121.1°C) using a metal
rod. The second was an infrared thermometer that
could measure the air and skin temperature. I figured
if I was going to be serious about training, I might as
well document my experiments and watch my data
change over time. For that reason, I placed my

extremity immersions on hold until my thermometers
arrived.
A few days later, the first snow of the season fell.
We received several inches and it whited out the
State College area. Ever since I had watched Wim's
interview video, I had started trying to implement one
of Wim's philosophies into my life.
"If you want to withstand the cold, you must to
learn to enjoy it. Learn to like the cold. We have
taught our bodies to avoid the cold and to put on a
jacket when we feel uncomfortable. We are taught
that the cold can get us sick, so we try to evade it at
all costs. It's important to do away with this habitual
aversion and learn to enjoy it. With this state of
mind, you can begin to benefit from the cold and
enjoy adapting to it."
When I first woke up and saw the snow outside, I
came up with the idea to go out during the evening
and walk barefooted through the snow in a nearby
park. Before I did so, I wanted to ask Wim for his
advice. Before leaving for class that morning, I sent
Wim the following email:
"Hello Wim,
As I train more and more, I find myself
questioning the best way to possibly go about it.
Later on tonight, I plan on going for a walk in the
snow. We just had snow fall for the first time this
season, so I plan on walking to a nearby park in
sandals, a t-shirt, and shorts. Once I get there, I am

going to take off my sandals and walk barefooted
through the snow. One of my questions is would it
be better to walk around with a shirt on or off?
In a lot of your videos, you're only wearing
shorts. Should I do the same? I'll probably wear a
hat because I have short hair and I lose a lot of
heat through my head, but should I go without a
shirt?
-Justin
Ps. Sorry to bother you again"
Wim's response was sitting in my inbox by the
time I got home from class:
"Hi Justin
First of all, you are not bothering me. By the
time I was 17, I had been attracted to esoteric
disciplines for years. When the first snow fell, I went
out with new energy. It was childish simplicity; my
mind was empty. The snow showed itself to be
strong and good enough to run in, wearing only
shorts. I ran around in the un-trodden snow in a
wide circle for over an hour. It looked and felt like
magic; there was no pain in my extremities
whatsoever, but when I got back into the house
where the heat was, I feet began to feel immense
pain!
The veins had adapted themselves to the cold,
soft surface outside. Once inside, they had a hard
time readapting to the heat. That pain is caused
when blood is forced through the closed veins.

Your body and mind will learn how to overcome
it. Your determination and conviction should be
positive and strong. Never force your body to go
past its pain threshold. Listen to what your body is
telling you; it is your teacher and guide. It's an
intrinsic function, so use it.
When you go out, go without a t-shirt and at
least partially barefooted.
Greetings,
Wim"
I decided to wait for the sun to set before beginning
my adventure; I didn't want to draw any attention to
myself. Before leaving the house, I grabbed my
backpack and began putting things inside. I packed
a towel, two pairs of socks, a hoodie, my wallet, and
my phone. My attire consisted of shorts, socks,
sandals, sweatpants, a long-sleeved shirt, and a hat.
My computer told me that the temperature
outside was 29°F (-1.67°C). The snow was still
falling when I left my home. The sidewalks and roads
were covered as the white powder stuck to the
ground. In an attempt to stay warm, I immediately
began jogging as soon as I stepped off my front
porch. After five minutes of trotting through the snow,
I realized that my feet might be in danger. The socks
and sandals weren't doing much to protect my feet
from the chilling cold. I began to worry.
My feet were already burning and I hadn't even
run barefoot yet! With each step, it felt like I was
walking on needles. When I got to the park, I ran to

the closest bench and sat down. I took off my socks
and pressed my feet between my hands in an
attempt to warm them. It didn't do much, so I pulled
off my wet socks, opened my bag, withdrew my other
two pairs of dry socks, and put them on. But even
that didn't help! My feet were still freezing.
Being in the middle of a secluded park with was
no one around, I felt helpless. I considered calling
one of my friends to pick me up, but I didn't want him
to find me like that and ask questions. My mind
started to race. I imagined getting frostbite on my
feet and having to amputate my toes. I was
beginning to think I would never become like The
Iceman.
Despite the new pairs of dry socks, I began to
lose the feeling in my toes. In my last attempt to
warm up my feet, I pulled out my towel and wrapped
it around them. Suddenly, I noticed a light shining
from somewhere below and quickly realized it was
my phone! It must have fallen out when I pulled my
towel out of backpack. I reached down and tried to
get all of the snow out of the buttons. It was soaked
and the power wouldn't turn on.
Great,
I thought,
now even if I needed to get a
hold of someone to come and pick me up, I
couldn't because my phone is broken.
At this point, all I wanted to do was get back to
my house and warm my feet up. The only choice I
had was to run back through all of the snow, in my
sandals and socks, and hope that I could make it
home before my feet froze off. I packed up my towel,
put on my sandals, and started jogging.

Twenty minutes had passed from the time I had
first entered the park. In that amount of time, another
half an inch of snow had fallen onto the ground. I was
hoping to run in the footsteps I had made on the jog
up, but they were already refilling with snow. Also,
since I was running downhill this time, my stride
wasn't the same. Every few steps, I would slide,
shoving the snow into my sandals.
After five minutes of running, I realized a new
sensation in my feet. For the past half hour, I hadn't
felt anything; they were numb. Now, there was a
sharp, burning sensation spreading across the soles
of my feet. Assuming that they were on the verge of
frostbite, I concluded that I needed to find a place to
warm them up, immediately. Luckily, there was a
Burger King a couple hundred yards ahead. I
pressed harder, motivated to escape the frigid
weather as fast as possible. Within a couple
minutes, I finally entered the heated Burger King.
In different circumstances, I would have been
self-conscious about wearing socks and sandals in
the middle of a Burger King during a snow storm, but
do to the my presumed dire circumstances, I didn't
care what people though of me. Many stared, but I
ignored their looks and found a quiet place in the
corner to sit down. However, I did feel bad using the
warmth of Burger King without purchasing any food,
so I stood back up and ordered a coffee from the
cashier.
When the coffee was ready, I returned to my table
where I could be left alone and take the weight off my
feet. I pulled off my soaked socks and placed them

on the bench beside me. I pressed my feet together,
trying to warm them back up. The burning sensation
was consistent until that point, but after pressing my
feet together the burning sensation spread and grew
more intense. They felt like they were exploding from
the inside out. The pain lasted for minutes, making it
extremely hard for me to maintain my focus. I gritted
my teeth and attempted to look normal so the people
around me wouldn't notice my pain, but there's
nothing normal about a barefooted man in a
restaurant, in the middle of winter.
I felt dizzy and wanted to put my head down,
however, I was worried that the restaurant would call
the police if they thought I was sleeping. So, I kept
my head up and fought through the nausea. A lot of
things were going through my mind while I waited for
the pain to dissipate. Most of it was imagining what
it would be like to live a life without feet. I also
considered how upset my parents would be if they
knew what I had done. My most prominent thought,
however, was how I had failed to do what The
Iceman considered as easy. My feet hadn't adapted
to the cold at all; they suffered consistently.
After 45 minutes of sitting in the corner of Burger
King, I began to feel extremely awkward. The pain
was finally beginning to lessen in intensity. I decided
to suck it up and try to make it the remainder of the
way home. It was a seven-minute jog from Burger
King to my house and it looked like another inch had
fallen since I had first walked in. I was worried and
hesitant, but I continued to tell myself that it was
almost over. Soon, I would be out of the cold for the

night.
I took a deep breath, tightened the straps on my
backpack, pushed the front door of Burger King
open and began sprinting. I felt the familiar chill at my
feet as I pressed through the snow. It was slippery
and extremely hard to keep my balance. Several
times, I slipped and landed on my hands and knees.
My body was covered in snow and my feet burned; I
just wanted to escape it all.
Out of breath and discouraged, I finally made it to
my house. I threw my backpack on the couch,
stripped off my socks, and staggered into the
bathroom. After turning on the lukewarm water, I
stepped into the tub and waited. When the water
touched my feet, searing pain surged through my
legs. I held on to the shower door to prevent my
knees from collapsed. Somehow, even though the
water was only lukewarm, it felt like it was boiling my
feet. Once again, I took a few deep breaths, and
fought through the pain.
My feet were yelling at me to get out, but I waited.
Eventually, the pain dissipated and my muscles
began to relax. After my nerves settled, I lay in my
bed and contemplated giving up my goal of
becoming The Iceman. It was going to be really hard
to "like the cold" after that episode. Still, I did not
want to be like everyone else who had one bad
experience and then turned their backs forever. I
decided to stick with it. The least I could do was give
it one more try.
Not wanting to end the night with a failure, I rose
from my bed and went outside to the front porch. I

was wearing two pairs of socks and a several layers
of clothing. Disappointed that I hadn't been able to
get any
real
training in the cold, I tried to find a cold
rock near my porch. I planned to attempt the
exercise that Wim had explained in his email earlier
that day. Sadly, there weren't any rocks near my
porch, but then I noticed the large metal poles,
supporting the roof. I lightly touched the pole with my
index finger; it was
freezing.
Excited, I turned on my stopwatch and gripped
the pole with both hands. Immediately, I could feel
the blood rushing away from my fingertips and move
toward my chest. If my fingers could scream, they
would have. Because of my experience with ice-
water immersion a few days earlier, I knew there
would be a point where my hands would adjust, so I
continued to fight through the cold. After three
minutes of aggravating pain, it finally eased away –
first in my right hand, then my left. I left them there,
waiting for the pain to come back. As soon as they
began to ache two minutes later, I pulled them off the
pole. The pain stopped almost simultaneously.
Now that my feet were somewhat healed, I
wanted to train them too. With my stumbling fingers, I
took off both my socks, pushed the button on my
stopwatch, and stepped off my porch into the snow.
For the first two seconds, I felt fine, but then the pain
began to pour in. I buckled to my knees as imaginary
daggers stabbed the bottom of my feet. Despite
what I had just experienced in the cold, this felt much
worse. It wasn't a dull, numbing pain; it was sharp
and unbearable.

I couldn't take it anymore; I stopped my watch
and stepped out. Frantically I fumbled with putting my
socks back on. I only lasted 7 seconds!
What?
It felt
like at least 30 seconds. Apparently the pain had
altered my perception of time.
I went back inside and laid down in my bed,
reflecting on the night's events. My dangerous
encounter with the cold had taught me a valuable
lesson: To always train in conditions that I could
control. I never again wanted to willingly experience
being alone, in danger, and helpless in the cold.
From then on, I vowed to be extremely careful with
everything I did in relation to the cold. I would always
make sure I only performed tasks that I was
confident I could complete. If I wasn't confident, I
would train at a lesser intensity, or train a different
part of my body until I
was
confident.
Strangely enough, this experience didn't tear me
away from the cold, but instead made me much
more interested. I really wanted to understand how
someone could not suffer from running barefoot in
the snow for hours. I couldn't even last ten minutes
while wearing two pairs of socks! I gained a lot more
respect for Wim that night. Now that I had seen what
the snow could do to me without training, I was ready
to see what it could do
with
training.

CHAPTER 23:
CONTROLLED TRAINING
A
fter my cold episode in the park near Burger King, I
decided I should be more careful during my training
exercises. I planned to control the conditions as
much as possible so that I could focus on progress,
rather than survival. Therefore, I came up with as few
ideas that, hopefully, I would be safe doing.
Even though I told myself I wouldn't do any more
submerging of my extremities in cold water until my
thermometers arrived, I wanted to try again. Instead
of doing my hands, I was interested in finding out
what it would be like to put my feet in. Now, at the
time, my feet were really sensitive and had no
training whatsoever. I rarely wore sandals because
socks and shoes always felt more comfortable to
me. Therefore, I thought it would be extremely painful
if I started by submerging my feet in ice water.
Instead, I decided to take it easy and start with only
cold water, no added ice.
Despite my lack of thermometers, I still wanted to
document my exercises. I grabbed my stopwatch
and opened a blank Word document on my
computer, that way I could at least view my records
in the future.
December 5, 2009 was the first time I put my feet
into cold water. At first, I was a little intimidated, but
then I just wanted to get it over with. Being that my
feet were extremely sensitive, I had a feeling they
were going to "burn" more than when I had put my

hands in. I set up my timer and placed my right foot
into the one-gallon bucket of cold water.
At first I felt nothing. Then, after about 2 seconds,
the pain started to creep up my foot into my knee. It
felt like it was exploding from the inside. My entire
body heated up and I felt lightheaded. I couldn't sit
still; my body was twitching. I tried rubbing my knees
to ease the pain. Eventually, the pain subsided. I
noticed that the "numbness phase" began at 1
minute and 23 seconds and wrote it down in my
notes.
During the time that my foot was numb, I tried to
keep it very still. I recalled from the first time that
moving any part of the exposed limb would,
essentially, "reset" the cold. It was a strange
phenomenon, but it remained to be true. The pain
was absent until I reached 40 minutes and 30
seconds. Only then did I begin to feel the cold tingle
in my toes. I was afraid that this meant I was doing
damage to my foot. Instead of pulling out, I tested my
theory by leaving my foot in the water a little longer
until the cold, tingling feeling spread.
I withdrew my foot when the tingling feeling had
reached my ankle. The foot was bright red and stiff
when I removed it from the water. I tested the
flexibility by bending my toes. They moved slowly, but
seemed to be just fine. I dried off my foot with a
nearby towel and placed it into a sock to warm up.
I proceeded to prepare my left foot for the cold
water. Despite the pain in my right foot, I considered
what it would be like to put my left foot in ice water. I
knew it would probably hurt a lot more, but I had

hope that I would be able to fight through the pain. I
filled the bucket with a tray of ice cubes and dove my
foot into the water. Immediately, nausea
overwhelmed me. I rubbed my knees, trying to take
my mind off of the pain.
After three minutes of agony, my body and mind
finally settled. Seven minutes later, the cold seeped
in and I felt the familiar tingling. I took my foot out
after 11 minutes of exposure. It may not have lasted
as long as my right foot, but the end result was the
same: stiff and red. I dried off my foot off with another
towel and placed it in a sock to warm it up.
The next day, I repeated the same process. This
time, I exposed both of my feet to the ice water. It
took my right foot 3 minutes and 50 seconds to
adjust to the freezing temperature while my left foot
took 4 minutes. When I say, "adjust", I am referring to
the amount of time it takes my extremity to become
numb, at which point there is no longer any pain or
pressure. It can also be referred to as the point in
time when the exercise becomes bearable.
After exposing both of my feet to the ice water, I
did it again, one after the other. For both feet, the
improvement in my ability to adapt to the water was
much more apparent. Although it took an average of
four minutes for each foot to adjust, the pain was only
mild. This made it extremely difficult for me to tell the
exact point when the water became bearable,
because after the initial shock, the pain just slowly
faded away.
For each of my second attempts, I timed how
long it took for my feet to feel normal again. I defined

"normal" to be the point when my foot regains
maximum flexibility and doesn't feel slow anymore. It
took 46 minutes for my left foot to completely return
to normal and 42 minutes and 48 seconds for my
right foot.
The next day, I gave my feet a break and
submerged my hands instead. I found a giant metal
bowl in the kitchen and made my usual concoction:
salt, cold water, and ice. With the bowl sitting on my
lap, I submerged both my hands into the water at
6:35 PM. My hands seemed to become bearable at
2 minutes and 6 seconds. At 19 minutes, I took my
hands out due to the appearance of the tingling
sensation.
After I took my hands out and dried them off on
the towel, a burning sensation spread across my
fingertips. Yet, even though my hands were "warming
up," cold sensations crept up my forearms; it was
really confusing. They felt colder outside the water
than they had inside the water. Furthermore, my
motor skills had significantly slowed down. I put on
gloves in an attempt to warm my hands; instead, the
opposite occurred. The gloves had made my hands
feel significantly colder! I ignored the strange
sensations and continued to wear the gloves until my
hands warmed up 45 minutes later.
The following day, December 8, 2009, my
thermometers finally arrived. I set up my equipment,
let the ice sit in the water for a bit, and then took the
temperature. The water was 45.4°F (7.4°C). When I
put my right foot into the water, I was surprised to
find that I had received no initial shock; I just went

into the adapting phase. It only took my foot one
minute to completely adjust to the water. I was
amazed. After only a few days of training, I had
made enormous progress.
After 12 minutes of exposure, I began to feel the
slight tingle in my toes. I was confident in my ability to
last longer, so I pressed on. I noticed that the water
felt colder than when I had first put it in, so I took the
temperature again. At the 22-minute mark, the
temperature on the thermometer read 35°F
(1.67°C). It had dropped over 10°F (5°C)!
Three minutes later I took my foot out; I didn't
want to force my body to do something it couldn't
handle. The total time my right foot was in the water
was 25 minutes, which was 6 minutes longer than
the first time I had ever submerged my foot in ice
water. I was excited to see progress, especially
because the immersions weren't as painful as when I
had first begun the experiments. It took my right foot
29 minutes to return to normal after withdrawing from
exposure. That's about 13 minutes less than the last
time I had exposed my foot to ice water! The results
astounded me.
I didn't have any more ice in my freezer to
resupply the bucket for my left foot. I measured the
temperature of the cold water to be 44.5°F (6.9°C).
When I had first put my foot in, I was somewhat
disappointed that there was an initial shock, unlike
my right foot. Despite the pain in the beginning, my
left foot only took 2 minutes to completely adjust to
the cold water. The slight tingle in my toes began to
creep up on me at the 11-minute mark. I withdrew my

left foot when it began to ache at the 20-minute
mark. It took my left foot 34 minutes and 13 seconds
to return to normal. That's 12 minutes less than the
last trial I had for that foot.
Authors Note:
Instead of explaining every piece of the
results, I have decided to exclude my quantified
data from this point on. I apologize for any
inconvenience this may have caused you. If
you are interested in seeing this data, please
refer to
www.becomingtheiceman.com
…
A few weeks after my dangerous experience
in the park, the snow began to melt. It seemed
like an opportune time to try running under the
conditions that Wim had suggested. I called up
my friend, Dave Haneman, and asked if he
wanted to go on a run with me. Dave agreed to
come along. He had just bought new running
shoes and was interested in trying them out.
The weather said it was 39°F (3.89°C)
outside with no wind. Sadly, there was no way
for me to run with my feet partly exposed, like
Wim had suggested. Either I could run barefoot,
which wasn't really any option due to a lot of
broken glass in the streets, or I could run with
shoes. I picked the shoes.
When Dave arrived at my house, I informed
him that I would be running in only shorts and
shoes. "You're crazy," he told me, "but do

whatever makes you happy. Just make sure
you're ten feet behind me at al times; I don't
want people to think I know you." He smiled.
The cold air brushed across my chest as we
started running. It only took about 30 seconds
for my body to adjust to the cold. For my first
time ever running bare chested, I was relatively
comfortable. Even though I could feel my hands
slowly losing heat, the rest of my body felt
perfectly fine. I was amazed at how easy it was.
After several minutes of running, I began to
have difficulty breathing. My mouth was dry
and my throat was sore. Normally a mouth
breather, I tried switching to my nose. A few
attempts at sucking air through a runny nose
proved to be rather uncomfortable. I decided to
switch back to my mouth and deal with the
consequences.
Fifteen minutes into our run, my body
succumbed to the cold. My hands were numb
and my chest was burning. I was unable to
keep up with Dave's pace because the muscles
in my leg were tightening. The cold feeling,
originally only in my hands, had spread to my
entire body. I was quickly losing the battle to
stay warm.
After twenty minutes from first leaving my
apartment, Dave and I separated. I felt that if we
stopped to say goodbye, I would not be able to
make it home, so I settled for a "see you later"
and continued running. I tried to increase my
speed to get home faster, but my legs were

already pushing their limits.
After twenty-five minutes of running, I finally
escaped the freezing cold and entered my
apartment. Surprisingly, the only pain I received
when readjusting to the temperature was a
slight burning sensation – nothing more. After
using the restroom, I noticed my skin's color in
the bathroom mirror; it was bright red. Unsure
of whether or not this was a good sign I put on
a hoodie and pants, and waited for my body to
warm up.
When the clothing touched my skin, I started
to feel colder. Confused and shivering, I tried to
get warmer by lying in my bed under the
blankets. After 20 minutes of constant
shivering, I finally felt warm again. The cool
tingling that had coursed through my body had
dissipated.
Even though running in the cold was an
exhilarating experience, I felt like I wasn't
getting the full Iceman training. It was mid-
January and there was little snow on the
ground; most of it had melted. I wondered what
it would be like to run through a snowstorm
wearing only shorts and shoes. Several days
later, I got my chance.
That weekend, Preston and I hung out at my
apartment. He played video games while I did a
bit of reading for class. After finishing the
chapter around 11:00 PM, I looked out the
windows and noticed it was snowing! I smiled
to myself and was overwhelmed with the idea

to go for a run. I checked online to look up the
State College temperature and saw that it was
31°F (-.5°C) outside. I wouldn't be able to focus
on my homework; the snow was to calling me.
I expressed my excitement to Preston and
told him I was going to go run downtown in the
snow. At this point in time, Preston didn't know
much about my Iceman research. He only knew
that I went to California for a workshop and
occasionally performed a few cold exercises.
Naturally, when I told him about my plan, he
looked at me as if I were insane. After several
seconds had passed, his face relaxed and
turned into a smile. I assumed my cold interests
had temporarily slipped his mind.
A few minutes later, I stood at my back door
wearing only shorts and tennis shoes. With my
hand on the knob, I took a couple deep breaths,
turned the handle, and ran out into the snowy
abyss. "Good luck!" Preston called to me from
behind. I started running down the street
toward the luminous, downtown sidewalks.
The conditions outside were
perfect.
I had
never seen State College so beautiful. The
snow was falling in clumps and there was no
wind. My view resembled that of a television
station skewed by the static of bad reception.
My body screamed at me as it adjusted to the
cold, but after a minute of exposure, it relaxed.
There was no more shock or "cold feeling." I
was comfortable. The snow melting on my skin,
felt like a cool refreshing blanket. As my feet

crunched over the snowy sidewalks, they
produced a lovely rhythm.
Thick-thunk-thick-
thunk-thick-thunk.
It felt like a dream. The world
seemed too beautiful to be real.
The sight of people brought me back to
reality. There were women dressed in mini-
skirts being escorted by their boyfriends. They
were desperately trying to keep their balance
through the untouched snow, but it proved to
be an impossible task. Numerous times, I saw
couples slip and fall onto the concrete
sidewalks. The men would try to help the
women off the ground, only to lose their footing
and fall right beside them. It reminded me that I
needed to pay closer attention to my steps.
After running by the falling couples, I
realized that breathing in the cold, dry air
through my mouth, was extremely
uncomfortable, so I tried something different. I
kept my mouth shut and breathed solely
through my nose. I also slowed my pace down
to the point where I didn't feel like I was
pushing myself and needed extra oxygen.
Doing this made me feel ten times better. Not
only did I not have to worry anymore about
getting a sore throat from running in the cold,
but I also realized that it made me warmer.
As I approached the middle of the
downtown area, about 6 or 7 minutes into my
run, I noticed a sudden change in volume.
There was loud music blaring from the
apartments on both sides of the street. The

towering buildings on each side resembled the
skyscrapers found in miniature snow globes.
What set apart these buildings from the ones
that were in snow globes were the drunken
students partying on the balconies. Several
screamed profanity at me as I ran by. Some
even made snowballs from the snow that
accumulated on their porch and aimed for me
as their target. Luckily, none of them hit my
exposed flesh.
The streets were now filled with people
going to and from the bars. Almost every
person I ran by had something to say.
"Are you crazy?"
"Put a shirt on, you won't get girls that way!"
"Somebody lost a bet… Naked lap!"
"You wanna fight?!"
Apparently, my bare-chested running
threatened some guys to the point of
confrontation. I simply ignored them and
continued running.
When I reached the loop to turn around to
come back toward my house, I looked over my
shoulder and noticed a man chasing me. I had
no idea who this person was or what he
wanted, but for the next three minutes he
chased me. As he ran by women on the streets,
he would ask for high-fives and encourage
them to cheer me on. I couldn't tell if he was
being sarcastic of if he was extremely
intoxicated. Eventually, his footsteps faded
away and I was alone again.

By the 12
th
minute, I could feel my fingers
begin to tingle. It wasn't painful, just noticeable.
The rest of my body felt completely fine;
actually, I felt extremely warm. This realization
encouraged me to increase my speed for the
rest of the run home.
I arrived back in the comfort of my home
after twenty minutes of being exposed to the
cold. After a few seconds of being inside, I felt
the desire to go back out again, not because I
wanted to go for another run, but to expose my
feet to the fresh snow.
I took off my shoes and went out into my
front yard. My feet were hot and sweaty from
running in socks and shoes, so the first few
seconds of standing in the snow felt refreshing.
After thirty seconds had past, I was still
comfortable. My body wasn't sending me any
signals to get out; I was content. When a few
minutes more had past, the sweat on my
exposed chest began to chill and I started to
feel cold. A few seconds later, my feet began to
feel the effect as well. Feeling like they were on
fire, I pulled out and jogged barefooted into my
house.
The pain alleviated as soon as I stepped into
my warm home.
"How'd your run go?" Preston asked from
the bedroom.
"Awesome," I replied. "I'd say it was a
success!" I walked into my bedroom and
noticed he was still playing video games. As I

entered the room, he paused the game and
turned to face me.
"Wow!" he said. "Your chest is bright red!
Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I feel great! My chest is tingling, but I
still feel really, really warm."
"Cool, glad to hear it, Just."
I threw on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie
in an attempt to warm my body quicker. The
warm material against my skin made me feel
colder. I was thoroughly confused.
What's happening to me?
I thought.
I'm
supposed to feel cold and shiver when I'm
outside, not when I'm inside wearing warm
clothes.
Soon after my cold episode ended, Preston
finished playing his game and we said
goodbye. I sat in my room for the next few
hours, too excited to sleep. The night's
experience had given me a sense of
accomplishment. I had found a fun, yet safe
way to train my body in the cold. Finally, I felt
like I was doing
real
Iceman training.
…
The next few days were consumed by
dishwashing and school-work. There was
hardly any time for me to do any of my new cold
exercises. Therefore, I found another way to
train. Whenever I'd leave my house, walking to
work or class, I would only wear shorts and a t-

shirt. No matter how cold the temperature was, I
stayed consistent. Some days, I would leave for
class around 8:00 AM or 9:00 AM and not return
home until 10:00 PM. Those were the days I
dreaded the most.
Even though I was extremely busy, I was still
determined to become the Iceman. I put up with
the long cold days in hopes that one day, my
body would be able to stay warm despite the
freezing temperatures. It was hard at first, but I
stuck with it. I was given plenty of looks, where
I could tell people doubted my sanity, but I
didn't let their skepticism stop me.
During my time walking around Penn State's
campus wearing limited clothing, I noticed only
one weakness. Sure, my body would get cold
for the first five minutes of exposure, but it
always adjusted to the outside temperature.
The weakness was in my hands. Within a few
minutes of adjusting, my hands would begin to
tingle, then hurt, then ache, then throb. When I
couldn't endure the pain any longer, I would
find the closest building and go inside until my
hands warmed up. My hands were the only
reason why I would ever seek shelter.
While the rest of my body remained warm,
my hands screamed in agony. Eventually, I had
enough. I knew that if I wanted to last longer in
the cold, I would need to dedicate more time to
cold exercises.
Over the next few days, I brainstormed ways
to increase the intensity of my training. During

one of my dishwashing shifts, I came up with
the idea to use a metal bowl instead of a plastic
garbage can for the cold-water container. I
theorized that the metal would be able to retain
the cold longer than the plastic.
After my dishwashing shift, I went home and
grabbed a metal bowl from my kitchen. I filled it
up the same way I had normally filled up my
plastic garbage cans – with salt and cold water.
I then added two trays of ice with hopes of
dropping the temperature a bit more. The
temperature of the water in the metal container
was measured to be 43.3°F (6.3°C), which was
lower than the temperature I had previously
measured in the plastic can when I had first
received the thermometers.
I realized that due to the wide mouth of the
metal bowl, I would be able to fit both of my
hands into the water comfortably. I put a towel
between my legs, placed the bowl on the towel,
and sat comfortably on the couch. Being that
both my hands would be underwater
simultaneously, I would be unable to record the
data during the exercise. Therefore, I decided
use the time to focus on the exercise and pay
close attention to the changes in my hands.
I took a few deep breaths, closed my eyes,
and placed both of my hands into the water.
With my eyes closed, I could focus on every
sensation. A second or so after immersing my
hands, they began to sting. The pain grew more
intense as the seconds passed. Several times,

thoughts came screaming into my head.
"You're going to hurt yourself"
"Get out now!"
I tried to calm my mind and ignore the pain,
telling myself that it would soon be over.
Eventually, the pain subsided and I was able to
sit comfortably. I named the timeframe from
when I first put my hand into the water to the
point when the pain went away as "the
adaptation phase," hereby known as:
Stage 1.
After the pain faded, I felt nothing else. My
body was relaxed and at ease. I repositioned
my hands in the bowl and immediately, the cold
shock flooded in. Pain surged back to my
fingertips. After a few seconds of tensing my
muscles, the pain eased away. I recognized the
absence of pain and overall tranquility after the
initial shock as "the relaxation phase," hereby
known as:
Stage 2.
Several minutes passed since the beginning
of
Stage 2.
Slowly, a tingling sensation
appeared in my fingertips. It was similar to the
feeling of a hand or foot falling asleep. Steadily,
the tingling increased. Worried thoughts filled
my head.
Pull it out, Justin. You're doing damage to
your body. This isn't good.
Curious as to what would happen, I ignored
my thoughts and forced myself to stay in the
water.
Over the next minute or so, the tingling
spread from my fingertips, up to my knuckles,

and then to my wrist. My thoughts became
overbearing.
What are you doing? Take it out now!
I felt like my body was literally screaming at
me to remove myself from the cold substance.
Afraid, I listened to my body and pulled out my
hands. I deemed the first signs of a tingling
sensation and worrisome thoughts as:
Stage 3.
After drying off my hands on the towel
beneath the blanket, they began to burn. The
pain was unbearable. Once again, they felt like
they were exploding. I took the bowl off of my
lap and placed it on the ground incase my
writhing body knocked it over. I shoved both of
my hands inside my shirt and placed them
under my armpits. I jumped as my cold hands
touched my warm skin. Within seconds, the
pain intensified. The heat from my body had
raised the pain level to "excruciating". My first
thought was to pull away, but I gritted my teeth
and fought through it.
Several minutes passed before the pain
finally dissipated. I realized that I had made a
grave mistake; I never should have pushed
myself that far into
Stage 3.
I made a note to
always remove myself from the cold at the first
sign of
Stage 3
(i.e. tingling and worrisome
thoughts).
I considered what would have happened if I
had forced myself to stay in longer, but I knew
that there would be dire consequences for
fulfilling my curiosity. Therefore, I deemed

anything more than the noted symptoms of
Stage 3
to be considered as
Stage 4.
I could
only assume that prolonged exposure to
Stage
3,
or the onset of
Stage 4,
would inevitably lead
to permanent damage, something I had hoped I
would never have to experience.
Sadly, that was the last exercise I performed
during the fall semester. Finals were a few days
away and I desperately needed to do some
studying. Therefore, all of my time was devoted
to studying, finishing projects, and working
dishwashing shifts.
After finals, I had a little more time, but not a
lot. With the semester over, most of the
students employed at The Deli were home for
the holiday season. As much as I wanted the
time off to see my family, I needed the money to
pay for my rent. I also saw it as an opportunity.
Staying in State College over winter break
would give me ample time for cold training.
On December 23 at 12:05 AM, I returned
home after a long shift at work. I had spent the
last few days recouping after my extensive
studying for finals, but I was now ready to get
back to training. After showering, I lay down on
the couch in my living room and stared at the
ceiling. While brainstorming new ways to train
my body, my mind stumbled upon the idea of
full-body immersions.
I remembered Wim saying he took daily
swims in a frozen lake for exercise. Sadly, there
was no place around my apartment where I

could freely swim in the winter. I convinced
myself that this was a good thing. I would rather
be in a controlled environment than subjected
to unforeseeable circumstances. I didn't want a
repeat of the night when my feet were freezing
in the park. Eventually, I settled on the idea of
using my bathtub as my controlled
environment.
While trying to figure out the details of how I
could use the bathtub to simulate a frozen lake,
my friend, Danielle Cardell, texted me. Danielle,
or Dani as I usually call her, was one of the few
people that knew about my trip to California
and my research on the Iceman. In our texts, we
were discussing the exercises I had used thus
far to train my body (i.e. cold runs and
hand/foot immersions).
When I finalized the details of how I would
go about the full-body immersion in the
bathtub, I asked Dani if she would like to come
over, supervise, and perhaps participate. She
said she didn't know if she was going to
participate, but she would be willing to come
over and supervise to make sure that I would
be okay. I was worried that something may go
wrong and if it did, at least she would be there
to call 911.
…
The clock read 1:08 AM on my car's
dashboard as I sat in Dani's driveway. I was
listening to an audiobook of C.S. Lewis's
Mere

Christianity
while waiting for her to come
outside. If Dani decided to try the full-body
immersion after I did, it would be the first time
anyone, other than myself, willingly agreed to
participate in my cold exercises. The idea of
sharing Wim's teachings with someone else
excited me. I didn't know how others would
react to the cold, but I was interested in finding
out.
When we got back to my house, Dani and I
talked for a good half hour. We hadn't seen
each other in a couple weeks, so we caught up
on each other's lives. Eventually, the
discussion switched to the topic of the cold. I
gave her a few in-depth explanations about the
methods I used to train and then I proceeded to
show her the buckets I used for my extremity
immersions.
She was still unsure about whether or not
she wanted to try the full-body immersion, so I
suggested trying a different cold exercise first. I
filled up one of my plastic trashcans with cold
tap water, salt, and twelve ice cubes. After
letting it chill for a bit, I placed the contents in
front of Dani. I didn't bother taking the
temperature of the water. It was simply a
demonstration of what she would feel upon
entering the bathtub. I explained my perception
of the four stages and told her what to expect.
She was eager to try it out.
After taking a few seconds to prepare
herself, she plunged her right hand into the

cold water. Within a few seconds, the shock
became evident on her face. She squinted her
eyes, bit her lip, and took noticeably larger
breaths. I began to tell her things like, "Don't
worry, the pain will go away soon" and "just try
to relax, it'll make it easier to adjust."
Soon enough, the tightness of the muscles
in her face relaxed and she finally appeared
comfortable. She smiled and told me that the
pain was gone.
Instead of pulling her hand out, I asked Dani
to keep it in until she reached the beginning of
Stage 3, where the tingling would set in. I
figured that it would be beneficial for her to
recognize that moment, so she'd know when to
pull herself out of the water if she ended up
doing the full-body immersion.
Eventually, Stage 3 set in. Dani removed her
hand, and I dried it off with a towel. She walked
me through her experience in detail, from the
beginning of the shock, to the tingling in the
fingertips. She was still unsure about the
bathtub, but she agreed to watch me do it first
and then decide afterward.
I left Dani in the living room and went into
the bathroom to turn on the cold water. We
didn't have a drain stopper, so I plugged the
hole with a rag that I found under my kitchen
sink. After placing five trays of ice cubes and a
container of salt in the bathroom, I changed into
my bathing suit. After the water filled the tub, I
poured in the ice cubes and salt and let it sit.

I figured ten minutes was a sufficient
amount of time to let the water chill. When I took
the temperature, it read 42.6°F (6.8°C).
Somehow, the water was colder than any of the
extremity immersions I had previously
performed. Then again, I never used five ice
trays to fill up the plastic garbage can. After
calling Dani into the bathroom, I pushed the
timer on my stopwatch and tried to get into the
water as fast as possible to avoid any moments
of hesitation.
I was used to the cold water on my feet, so
stepping in wasn't so bad; the shock came
when I sat down and submerged my lower
body. Something in my head began to scream
at me.
GET OUT! This is freezing! What are you
doing?
Despite my powerful thoughts of
aversion, I shifted my weight and sank lower
into the tub.
As the water crept up my stomach and
washed over my chest, something snapped. I
lost all control over my breaths and I began
gasping for air. I shut my eyes tight and sunk
the rest of the way into the tub until my
shoulders were completely immersed. The
parts of me sticking out of the water were my
head and my two kneecaps. Apparently, I was
too tall for the tub and was incapable of fitting
my entire body underwater.
My body felt rigid and I had developed
uncontrollable shivers. I desperately tried to
calm myself down and regain control of my

breathing. I tried slow breaths, deep breaths,
and even holding my breath; none of it worked.
Instead, I tried focusing on relaxing every
muscle in my body.
At the one-minute mark, my body was
beginning to relax and the shivers were fading
away. By 1 minute and 30 seconds, I had
completely adapted and regained control over
my breathing. That's when I realized a peculiar
sensation. Only a few seconds earlier, I had
been unbelievably cold, but now, the water felt
warm. In fact, all of my body felt warm. I was
comfortable.
It felt like a game, and I was winning. The
only thing I had to focus on was relaxing and
taking slow, deep breaths. It no longer was a
struggle between my conscious thoughts and
my reflexive actions. For that moment, I had
complete control over my body.
At three minutes, I began to lose control; the
convulsions returned. The shivers were much
harder to control and I was becoming very
anxious. So, for the next 5 minutes, I struggled
with regaining control. I attempted to suppress
the shivers, but only succeeded a few times.
Even then, I was still only for a few seconds. I
didn't know where the shivering played into the
four stages, but I relied on the signs from my
previous experiences.
Finally, at 8 minutes and 26 seconds, I felt
the tingling sensation in my toes and fingertips.
Being that it was my first time in a full-body

immersion exercise, I didn't want to push
myself more than necessary. I found comfort in
the idea that I could set up the bathtub again
and try any time I pleased. Therefore, I stopped
my stopwatch and stood up from the water.
The air felt warm on my body and my skin
tingled. I looked down and noticed my skin
color was a deep shade of crimson. I resembled
someone who had been lying in the sun for
hours without the aid of sunscreen. When
reaching for my towel, I realized my movements
were incredibly slow. It was strange. I had to
consciously focus on the action of grasping
each finger around the towel. Usually, I am very
good at multitasking, but in this situation, each
movement required my full attention.
I began drying myself off and immediately
noticed something was wrong. I couldn't feel
the spot where my towel had touched my skin.
Several more times, I poked the skin on my
arms and couldn't feel a thing. I proceeded to
dry myself off using a dabbing motion. I would
put it on one place, let it soak up the water, and
then move on to another area.
When I tried drying off my feet, I lost my
balance and grabbed the shower door to
prevent my fall. Unbeknown to me at the time, I
had gripped a very sharp metal edge. I couldn't
feel anything. I didn't notice the large gash in
my hand until the blood marks appeared on my
white towel. I had acquired a 2 to 3-inch slice on
my left hand. The accident encouraged me to

be more careful with my movements.
Despite the slowed motor functions and the
lack of feeling in my skin, I felt great. I was really
comfortable. After getting out of the bathtub, I
went into my room and changed from my
bathing suit to a long sleeve shirt, sweat pants,
and socks. I then proceeded to go into the
living room and discuss my experience with
Dani.
Soon after sitting in the living room, a
strange feeling came over me. I suddenly felt
extremely
cold. I was beginning to regain my
sense of touch back, so I touched my arm to
feel the temperature; it was warm. Just then, I
began to shake violently, succumbing to
uncontrollable shivers. Confused, I stopped
talking and told Dani to give me a few minutes
so I could try to regain control over my body.
Oddly enough, I suddenly had a strong urge
to take off my clothes. On the surface of my
body, I felt like I was overheating. On the inside,
I could feel the cold blood coursing through my
veins. It didn't make any sense.
Fighting the urge to take my clothes off, I
began jumping around in an attempt to get my
blood pumping and adrenaline flowing. It made
me feel lightheaded, so I sat back down. I tried
explaining to Dani what was going on inside
me, but every time I spoke, my body would
shake and my teeth would chatter. It was
ridiculous. This lasted for the next 45 minutes.
Eventually, my shivers stopped and I felt like

I had regained control. Somehow, my
unexpected cold episode didn't faze Dani.
Instead, it seemed to inspire her. Her eyes lit up
when I asked if she wanted to try it.
"Sure," she said. "Why not?"
Since she had left her bathing suit at home, I
gave her a pair of my shorts and a t-shirt to
change into.
A few minutes later, Dani and I were
standing in my bathroom. She seemed
extremely anxious as I checked the water
temperature. The thermometer read 46.8°F
(8.2°C). The temperature must not have fazed
her because she soon replied with, "Welp, here
I go!" and lowered herself into the water.
Immediately, she began gasping for air.
"Try to relax Dani," I said. "What you're
feeling will be over soon."
After 1 minutes and 20 seconds of going
through the initial shock, her body became less
rigid and she was able to finally relax. Even
though she suffered from an occasional shiver
here and there, she was in control.
In an attempt to help Dani remain in control, I
asked her to not talk unless she was updating
me about her body. Not seeing anyone, other
than myself, perform these exercises before, I
was worried for Dani's wellbeing. I sat by the
tub and gave her my full attention the entire
time.
When she began to feel the tingling in her
toes
(Stage 3),
7 minutes and 42 seconds had

passed. I stopped the stopwatch and helped
her out of the tub. I reminded her to move
slowly when drying herself off.
A few minutes later, she had changed and
we were now sitting in my living room. As she
described her experience, she kept
emphasizing how easy it was after the initial
shock
(Stage 1)
had passed. While in Stage 2,
she had felt comfortable and warm. She
shivered as she explained all of this to me, but
she didn't seem to be as bad as I was. She was
able to complete her sentences without
interruption.
Danielle was the first person to ever join me
for a cold exercise. I will forever remain grateful
to Dani because her experience showed me
that the patterns I had recognized weren't in my
head, but were a part of reality. Danielle was
easily able to identify when her body
transitioned from one stage to the next. Seeing
the same changes happen in someone else
excited me.
Before the full-body immersions and the
snow runs, I was still somewhat skeptical about
Wim's abilities, but after seeing Danielle's
performance and hearing her detailed account,
my doubts vanished completely. From that
point on, I believed that
anyone
could train to
become like the Iceman.

CHAPTER 24:
RESEARCH
R
ecently, many articles have been published
about "The Iceman." The most important
discovery that I think is worth talking about is
that I am capable of consciously influencing my
immune system. It has been proven at the
Feinstein Institute in Manhasset, New York and
now at the Hospital in Nijmegen, Netherlands.
As you may recall, a few years ago In
Manhasset, I performed a meditation
experiment at a biochemical research institute.
They asked me to meditate at room
temperature. The doctors connected me to a
lung-monitoring system as well as a
cardiograph. They stuck a needle into my left
arm and withdrew blood before, during, and
after the meditation. I had to wait a week before
hearing those results.
When I received that call from Dr. Kenneth
Kamler, I was ecstatic. They found that I was
able to suppress the inflammatory bodies
influencing the vagus nerve. This means that
they found proof that I could directly influence
the autonomic nervous system. With this great
news, a new fire had started within me.
This means that my technique can be a
viable way to help cure diseases. The immune
system is the power source that deals with
what makes us sick. If I can do it, so can

everyone else. It is just training.
Last year, I was invited to the most famous
theatre hall in Holland by the Circus der
gedachten. They're a platform for innovative
thoughts and ideas. They had read one of the
articles about my passion to become a
dedicated contributor in helping to prevent
disease in the world.
When I went, I spoke about my interest in
finding cures for diseases. The director of the
circus had a degree in medicine. After hearing
my speech, we got in contact with the
renowned Radboud Hospital in Nijmegen,
Netherlands.
They organized a meeting with a
physiologist named Professor Hopman.
Hopman and her team were very interested in
performing an experiment on me. So, I went
with the executives of the circus and drove to
Nijmegen.
When we arrived at the hospital, I was
introduced to many people, including a
pleasant Professor Hopman. She escorted me
to the laboratory and showed me around. She
then introduced me to each member of her
research team.
Soon after, the tests began. My heart, blood,
and veins were all monitored. They also
monitored the cold's temperature, as well as my
core temperature, lungs, and more. I tried my
hardest to give the best possible results.
I had wires connected all over my body.

Willingly, I entered a Per-spex box that they
then proceeded to pour ice cubes into! As soon
as the ice was up to my neck, the timer began.
They checked on me every five minutes.
Every fifteen minutes, the doctors extracted
blood from my veins. The monitors were active,
and so was I. Everyone was busy with their
particular job, yet everyone was watching me. It
felt like I was at the circus again!
They all seemed very excited to be
experimenting on me. The Iceman was sitting in
a Perspex box filled with 700 kilograms of ice! It
was a different experience for them compared
to any other dull experiment. They were
monitoring an adult male in one of the most
extreme situations imaginable.
After an hour and a half in the ice, I had no
problem whatsoever. I was charged up when I
came into the laboratory and it carried on to the
end. I gave it my best and I hoped the results
would agree.
When I was getting out of the icebox, I was
struck with regret! I had forgotten to use my
breathing technique in the ice. It would've made
the results much more significant, but it was
too late. So I let it go and hoped that my
performance had been enough.
Everyone was excited. The room was fuller
than when I had first entered. Many more
professors and doctors from the university
must have came in to witness the event.
They sat me down in a chair and the

afterdrop began to kick in. They noticed my
shivering and asked what I was feeling.
I then told them that I am like everyone. I can
sense both the cold and the heat. The only
difference between myself and everyone else is
that when I focus, I can withstand the cold
much more than the average person. After
warming up, they let me return to my home to
await the results.
A week later, we were back at Radboud
sitting in the Professor Hopman's office. Seated
around a large table, we were given sheets that
explained the results. Hopman sounded
excited.
"It seems," she said, " that you can
influence the autonomic nervous system. You
were able to maintain your core body
temperature at 37.1°C (98.78°F). You were able
to do this while immersed in the ice for an hour
and a half. This has never been done before."
She continued while pointing at the large
collection of books behind her, "We can rewrite
all of these books in my office, and tell that the
autonomic nervous system can be influenced
by human will!"
After catching my breath at hearing the
astounding results, I told them that I had always
believed it was possible. Despite the disbelief of
others, I had always known. There was no
longer any speculation; the results were sitting
in my hand.
I then proceeded to look over the results in

full detail. The first thing I noticed was that my
blood pressure remained normal the entire
time. Normally, when someone is exposed to
extremely cold temperatures, the blood
pressure dramatically increases to warm up the
body. You can call it the "survival mode."
My pulse also stayed relatively the same.
When exposed to cold, the pulse has been
known to double, or even triple the normal
resting rate.
While I was submerged in ice, I was able to
triple the oxygen density in my body by 300%.
By simply standing there, without shivering, I
was producing 3x more oxygen to warm up the
exposed parts of my body. This is not a
"typical" physiological reaction.
They found that the activity in each
individual cell in my body became hyperactive
after immersing in ice. Even a week after they
took my blood, they were still able to see the
activity in my cells.
One of the most significant pieces of data
was my skin temperature compared to my core
temperature. My skin, which was measured by
16 sensors placed at different spots on my
body, showed a dramatic decrease in
temperature to almost 0°C (32°F). Despite the
decrease in skin temperature, the core
temperature, which normally decreases with
the skin, remained at the same temperature,
37.1°C (98.78°F).
The carotid artery, which is one of the major

arteries that provides blood flow to the head,
showed another remarkable result. Typically,
when immersed in the cold, the carotid artery's
most important job is to provide blood flow to
the brain. Apparently, from the observations
made in the experiment, I was able to reverse
the blood flowing to my head.
A likely hypothesis is that since my head
wasn't immersed in the cold water, it didn't
need to be warmed up. So by telling my warm
blood where to go, I was able to direct the
blood flow to the core parts of my body that
needed it the most.
…
Shortly after the results came in, I came in
contact with a man by the name of Professor
Mihai Netea, an immunologist. Normally a very
peaceful and calm man, when Professor Netea
heard the results of the experiment, his body
leaked with excitement.
He then proposed a new type of experiment
to me. He told me that there was a method to
show how effective immune systems are by
injecting the blood with endotoxin. This
endotoxin causes the body to react as if it were
poison. This "poison" provokes the immune
system to react violently by releasing cytokines
into the bloodstream. Usually, someone
injected with endotoxin suffers from nausea,
fever, headaches, and an overall flu-like state.
This experiment is known as the Endotoxin

Experiment.
If I can influence the immune system,
everybody can; that is my goal. It could change
how things work in terms of healthcare for
people all around the world.
Apart from the talk of the endotoxin
experiment, immunologists had already begun
subjecting me to other kinds of studies.
While lying on a bed, connected to all kinds
of monitors to watch for heat, blood pressure,
and cellular activity, researchers withdrew
blood from me 18 times! After an hour and a half
of doing nothing, they had me do another hour
and a half of my breathing exercises, inducing
my meditative state.
They sent the withdrawn blood to 6 different
laboratories to measure different things. One of
the labs that received the blood was the
endotoxin department, however, they were
unable to release the results until the Endotoxin
Experiment took place. They didn't want to
influence my state of mind.
However, there was a slight problem with
the Endotoxin Experiment. The doctors wanted
to inject me with endotoxin, but the ages that
are allowed to participate in this experiment
have to be between 18-35; I am in my early 50's!
Even though I am as strong as an ox, I could
not get past this age barrier. The doctors who
previously saw the results were anxious to

prove that the immune system could be
consciously influenced. There was a lot of
frustration, but we remained patient and
persevered.
For what felt like ages, we waited. The
ethical commission administration needed to
clear me before I could participate in the
experiment. Finally, after many days, I received
a call that would change the world forever.

CHAPTER 25:
THE INVITATION
W
im and I sent a lot of emails to each other
over the course of winter break. We would
speak to each other two to three times a day.
Despite the frequent conversations that Wim
and I had, I was unable to push myself to
develop the technique further. I felt like I had
encountered an obstacle that was too hard for
me to climb over by myself.
For the longer part of the winter months, my
days were dedicated to working in the day and
hanging out with my friends in the night. Of
course, there were a few times where I would
feel inspired and do a few Iceman exercises
with my friends, but to them, it just seemed like
a cool party trick.
"I bet you can't stand in the snow for
[X]
minutes," they would say.
I wanted to push myself but I lacked the
motivation. My job consumed my days and by
the time I got home from work, I was too
exhausted to do anything. I would take a nap
only to be woken up by my friends' calls,
asking me to come hang out with them. Since
most college students were home for break, my
coworkers were my only friends in town.
I remember feeling extremely guilty every
time I walked home from their houses. The air
was always cold and it reminded me of my

desire to train. Even though I had an incredible
connection to one of the greatest cold experts
in the world, I was squandering my opportunity
to learn. The constant guilt was draining me.
That's when I received this email:
Date: January 16, 2009
"Hi Justin
This year in spring I will give a workshop in
Poland on our farm in nature. You should
attend.
Keep on,
Wim"
I was ecstatic. It was the opportunity that I
had been waiting for all along. I immediately
called Jarrett and read the email to him. He was
just as excited as I was. It was the next step in
taking the cold training more seriously;
however, there was one small problem. Jarrett
and I were both currently scheduled to take
classes during the spring. If we were going to
attend the workshop, then we would need to
make sure that we were both available.
Therefore, I sent Wim the following:
"I am wondering if you happen to know
when your workshop will be in the spring.
Jarrett and I are wondering because we'd have
to make arrangements. Any information would
be very much appreciated. Thanks!!!

-Justin"
He quickly replied with:
"Hi Justin
It is going to happen in the very beginning of
May. May 1
st
– May 7
th
. I hope to see you and
you have to consider the price. What is your
financial position?
Many greetings,
Wim"
I texted Jarrett the date and we both
checked our schedules. We soon realized that
we had a major conflict. May 1-7 was the week
of our final exams. It also happened to be
Jarrett's last semester of college. It was
essential for him to be there during that last
week, so he would not be able to attend the
workshop. I could sense his disappointment. If I
went, I could still share the technique with him
upon my return. Therefore, I vowed to myself
that I would attend the workshop at all costs.
During the next several exchanges of emails
with Wim, I found out that the total price of the
workshop would be 500 euros, which was
about 720 US dollars at the time. That's a lot of
money for a college student to fork over on a
"whim."
Aside from the cost of the workshop, I
would still need to pay for a round-trip plane
ticket and get myself a passport.

Not more than a few hours after first hearing
of the workshop in Poland, I devised a plan to
make the trip possible. When I called my
parents to tell them about my trip to Poland,
they were not happy. The conversation went
something like this:
Me: "Hi Mom!"
Mom: "Hi Sweetie."
Me: "So, remember when I told you that I
was talking to the one guy I saw on TV, The
Iceman?"
Mom: "Yes… why?"
Me: "Well, he has been training me for the
past few months to become like him. Actually, I
just received an email from him, inviting me to
come participate in his workshop during the
first week of May."
Mom: ".Where?"
Me: "Um. Poland."
Mom: "I don't know if I feel comfortable with
that. You have never met this person in real life.
How do you even know if you're talking to guy
you think you are?"
Me: "I don't know. He has told me things
that lead me to believe it's him, like things he's
going to do before it's even released in the
media. He's also given me a lot of information
about the cold that few people would know
anything about. Honestly, I believe it's him."
Mom: "Well, your dad probably won't be
happy about you going to Poland, especially

because we wanted to take you on vacation.
What are you going to do about your job?"
Me: "I guess I'll put in my two weeks notice
before I leave. To me it was a means to an end.
Now, I have a reason to leave. Although, I still
need to put in a lot of hours before I go, so that I
can afford it. In total, it looks like the trip is
going to cost me about $1,700."
Mom: "Yeah, as much as your father and I
would love to give you money, we really don't
have it. Don't be using your loans for this
either; that money is for school."
Me: "Don't worry, Mom. I understand that if I
want to do this, I will have to raise the money on
my own. I also need to get a passport."
Mom: "I really have a bad feeling about this. I
don't feel comfortable with you going. It's not
that I don't trust you, I just don't trust the people
you're talking to; I don't know them."
Me: "I know, but I am also confident that I'll
make it there and back just fine. My biggest
challenge will be raising the money, but I think
it'll be worth it. This is a once in a lifetime
opportunity. I don't know if he'll ever offer
again. I have to try."
Mom: "Okay, just make sure your grades
don't suffer and that you're able to pay for food
and rent this semester."
Me: "All right. I'll do what I can. Thanks. Love
you."
Mom: "Love you too, bye."

After I got off the phone with my mother, I
started thinking of ways to make more money. I
remembered that there was a place downtown
where I could give plasma twice a week,
averaging a total of $50 extra a week. I called in
and scheduled an appointment to begin
donating.
It seemed like everything would be okay, but
I also knew that my schedule was about to get a
lot more hectic. Not only would I be working
part-time at The Deli, but also my classes would
be starting up the following week and they
would require a lot of my time and focus. I also
had responsibilities in my research lab.
My time was going to be cut short and I
quickly realized that I would need to make
sacrifices. No longer would I be able to spend
late nights hanging out with friends, but I would
need to remain focused, otherwise I could kiss
the workshop in Poland goodbye.
In an attempt to keep things organized, I
devised a list of things to do to make the trip
possible:
• Get a passport
• Raise +$1,700 to cover the total and
unexpected expenses
• Make enough money so that I can also
cover the cost of food and my rent ($475 a
month)

• Rearrange my schedule and talk to my
professors to take my finals early
• Maintain good grades so my mother
doesn't have a reason to keep me from going to
Poland
Normally, if I were told that I would have to
raise $1,700 at a part-time job, while enrolled as
a full-time student, I would freak. Actually, I
came pretty close to freaking out numerous
times, but the idea of doing something
meaningful with my life outweighed all of the
sacrifices and possible consequences. I was
ready to accept everything I had to do to make
the trip happen. Instead of my goals being "go
to college and work to pay it off," it became "go
to college, work, and make enough money to
do something that could improve my life."
To me, Poland wasn't an option. It was an
obligation. It was what I needed to do to
live.
I
accepted the steps necessary and made sure
that it was a lifestyle I could accept. Beyond
that, nothing else mattered.
This shift in perspective totally changed the
way I lived my life. Over the next several days,
my classes began. Already, I felt different.
Normally, I would go to class, sit there, and
stare off into the distance until it was time to
leave, but now, I listened attentively. Why?
Because I had a purpose. I needed to learn the
information so I could make time for myself to

learn what was actually important to me. My
psychology classes were too slow and were
layered with information. As informative as they
were, they didn't grab my attention, but life
experience did. I wanted to see what was
possible in the world and I had finally found a
way to pursue it.
At work I became extremely efficient and
motivated. I did the best job I could because I
wanted to feel like I deserved that money. With
each paycheck, I felt like the value of my life
was increasing. I always knew that something
could possibly go wrong and that the Poland
opportunity may disappear, but I made sure
that I did everything in my power to ensure that
I could afford the trip when the time came.
Everything I did, I did for Poland. I wanted to
know if Wim could actually control his body
temperature and withstand extreme colds.
Seeing something on the Internet doesn't mean
it is true; I needed to find out for myself. If it was
real, then I wanted to see if it could be a skill
that could be developed in everyone.
I felt like my hopes of understanding would
be lost if I didn't train with Wim, in person. I
didn't care about the information that college
had to offer; I cared about the human potential.
I saw more potential in Wim's ability than I ever
had in a college degree. When I came to that
realization, my original path of getting a job and
settling down had vanished. A new road was
being paved for the direction of my life and
I

was in control.

CHAPTER 26:
WORKSHOPS
D
uring my free time, when I'm not attempting
new challenges or being tested for research, I
give workshops and lectures. I typically give my
workshops like I give my speeches. I don't have
a program; however, I do know the message I
want to convey.
My techniques, exercises, and methods are
the product of many years of experience in
hard nature. I present them in a way that is
relatively easy to adopt and understand.
It takes more than being able to
understanding something to experience it for
yourself. Therefore, I tell everyone that they
need personal commitment, dedication, and
perseverance before attempting any of my cold
training.
Despite the hundreds of workshops I give
each year, I am still learning ways to improve
my method of teaching. Sometimes, it can be
hard to give people knowledge; therefore, I
attempt to teach people how to
experience
it.
Of course, most of the people are excited at
first, but excitement fades. My goal is to make
an impression in their mind that lasts a lifetime.
So I search for various methods to help convey
knowledge, making that impression.
In my search to learn how to teach, I have
found two words that truly envelop all of what I

believe: trust and conviction. If you don't trust
yourself or your body, it's hard to move forward
to take risks. If you aren't willing to commit and
stick with it, even if you don't encounter failure,
your chances are slim if you want to reach your
goals.
Therefore, I tell you that it is possible to
reach the immune system and influence the
cardiovascular system as well as the mind. The
mind is our seat in which gives us control over
the body. Once we learn how to take that seat,
we can control the body instead of being
subjected to its automatic changes.
It's a great feeling when you can
consciously experience all of your body's
functions working efficiently. We are
wholesome beings that strive to feel good and
connected. As we are connected to our peers
and family, it's just as important to remain
connected to ourselves. If your body reacts a
certain way, figure out why. Try to understand
it.
Meditation is also a great way of doing this.
It finely tunes your ability to listen to things
outside of your worrisome thoughts. To do
what Justin and I have done, you need to have
will power, faith, conviction, and deep trust in
yourself. If you're willing to expose yourself to
nature gradually, you will gain the
understanding in time.
Disease surrounds us in today's society. It
is everywhere. There are too many negative

feelings in the world. It is easy to fall victim to
living each day blindly, expecting that one-day,
everything will become better. Believing that
somehow, the world will magically be at peace
and you will be happy. You have to take action
to see changes. One idea can change the
lifestyle of the masses.
Even though you may completely
understand, it needs to be understood by your
body as well. It is a machine that works
efficiently when your body and mind are unified
and resonate together.
If I want to climb vertically up a mountain
with no gear, then I need to go deep within
myself and make sure that both my body and
mind are ready. I need to trust my body in that it
won't defy what I ask of it. I also need to trust
my mind so that it doesn't bring up negative
thoughts. It's about connecting the
subconscious and the consciousness of
oneself. If a rock slips and I am in danger, I need
to be able to react without thinking.
When I climbed Mount Everest in shorts, my
faith and trust were with me the entire time.
Despite how insane I looked climbing in a
blizzard wearing only shorts, I
knew
I wasn't
crazy because my mind was focused and
attentive. Yours can be that way too.
I am not that different from everyone else.
The only thing that sets me apart is that I
choose to embrace the cold while others
choose to avoid it. Sometimes, when it's cold

outside and I'm emotionally exhausted or
physically drained, I don't want to embrace the
cold. I just want to wear a jacket and be warm.
It's not that I don't feel the cold, because that's
not true; I simply choose to accept it and trust
that my body will do its best to adapt.
"We can do more than what we think." It's a
belief system that I have adopted and it has
become my motto. There is more than meets
the eye and unless you are willing to
experience new things, you'll never realize your
full potential.
To experience what the world has to offer,
you have to learn from the greatest teacher on
earth:
nature.
There is an inscription at the local zoo near
my house that says, "Natura Artis Magistra." It
means, "Nature is the true artist of life."
Do you experience that? Ask yourself,
"Have I ever experienced the wonders of life?"
Meditate about it. Meditation helps your spirit
bloom like a beautiful flower. The experience
can be beautiful and great.
Poetry is the language of the soul. So listen.
"Life is like a dewdrop on a grass leaf. When
is slips away, it's gone forever. "
This is why we must challenge ourselves to
become better and open our minds. We have
amazing opportunities to bloom.
Understanding can bring us happiness if we

are just willing to experience life.
My techniques, methods, and exercises
have helped people reconnect to their inner
nature. It's helped them regain control of their
bodily functions and know when there is a
problem.
My message to the world is this: "We have
the power to prevent disease. Utilize that
ability."
Perhaps this illustration will help convey my
point.
Imagine that there is a big building wherein
lays a security guard. Let's say this building
represents your body and the immune system
is the security guard that protects it. Meanwhile,
there is a pyro-maniac who is interested in
burning down the building. He think's it is a
beautiful site, but he loves to see destruction.
Well, if the security guard falls asleep, the
pyromaniac has an opportunity to get in. It only
takes one small flame to begin the devastation.
If the security guard is alert and doesn't need to
sleep. then he can constantly protect his
property. Only then will this little flame be
prevented.
The immune system has the potential to
constantly be alert. It can notice when an
intruder enters and instantly send out the
forces needed to eliminate the disease. It just
takes a bit of training and will power, but I think
it is worth it. It's our body!
We have moved too far away from nature

and we can't guarantee health. I define being
healthy as a wholesome being whose bodily
functions run efficiently and keep you happy.
To reach this potential, we must be like a
hard working electrician who notices when the
power goes out and instantly knows what to do
to fix it.
My workshops are about challenging your
beliefs and building foundations that will help
you take care of your body. The cold can do
amazing things if you are willing to trust
yourself, show conviction, and have faith.
When you can reach that point where you are
stronger than the cold, you will realize an
internal peace because you will then
understand the power of nature.
One more point that I would like to make is
this:
Do not overthink things.
It is good to use our mind when we need it,
but it needs its rest too. We can get sick when
we don't rest our mind. Psychosomatic things
can happen. One of the amazing things about
the cold training is that in that moment when
you are exposed, you are forced to only think
about the present. All of your worrying, all of
your stress, all of your problems disappear. If
you try to think about other things, the cold
brings you back and says, "Hey! I'm still here."
Letting go of your mind, like you have to do
in the cold, is a technique that I try to teach.

Your happiness resides in a quiet mind.
Sometimes during my workshops, a rush of
energy courses through my body. I've been
told that people can visibly see when I am
excited because I become very open. I want to
help people experience the energy that is in all
of us. It is the source of a free mind, courage,
will power, and faith.
The truth is not shallow. The truth goes
deep and can penetrate the heart and mind and
calm it. Like a pond where the ripples have
ceased and the water is still, only then will you
see the beautiful treasures below. Like a hint of
daylight in a cave, it can generate hope.
To be happy, the method and exercise
doesn't matter because it is never the same for
anyone. For wood carpenters, mechanics,
parents or teachers, they find the love in what
they do and it makes them happy. However you
may find clarity, as long as it makes you happy,
do it.
Therefore, do everything with conviction.
Believe and trust in yourself. But most of all…
Be happy.

CHAPTER 27:
PATIENCE
A
few days after I had received Wim's
invitation, my excitement wore off. At first, four
months seemed like plenty of time to complete
my to-do list; I was wrong.
When I first received the invitation email
from Wim, I had forgotten about the whopping
19 credits I had scheduled for that semester.
This severely limited the amount of time I could
spend outside of class. Homework and
dishwashing at The Deli took up any free time I
had left.
Classes moved slowly for the first few
weeks. Luckily, my professors were kind
enough to let me reschedule my finals. As long
as I provided proof of a plane ticket, they would
approve my excuse.
Most of my mornings and afternoons
consisted of me going to class and working at
The Deli during the evenings. After I'd get out
soaking wet from working in the dish room, I
would walk home and take a shower. When I
was clean, I'd pack up some food and walk 30
minutes to my research lab to work on my
homework for a few hours. On multiple
occasions, I found myself pulling all-nighters to
complete an assignment that was due the next
day.
It was a hard time for me, but I accepted the

sacrifices. I'm usually a very social person who
loves to hang out with as many people as
possible, but there wasn't enough time
anymore. I lost most of my friends that
semester. They knew that if I wasn't working at
The Deli, I was either in class or doing
homework in the Moore building, which was
where my research lab was located. The only
people I talked to were my family, my co-
workers, Jarrett, my girlfriend (Brooke), and
Dave Haneman.
Luckily, Dave and I were in the same major
and therefore, took a lot of the same classes
together. There were a few nights where I
would travel to Moore and Dave would come
along. We didn't talk much because we usually
had a lot of work to do, but it was nice to have
his company. Some days, his presence was the
only thing that got me through the night.
One day in the middle of February, I
suddenly got a burst of inspiration. Because I
couldn't decrease the amount of time it took me
to receive paychecks, I decided to tackle
another item on my to-do list: my passport.
After a phone call to my mother, I learned
that I would have to pick up an application from
the local post office, so that's what I did. After
examining the application, I noticed that I
needed to include two 2×2 inch photographs of
my face. I didn't know how to get those done
myself, so I called the post office and tried to
figure out where I could go to get my picture

taken. They explained to me that I could take
my picture at their facility as long as I made an
appointment. They then transferred me to
another line where I was greeted by someone's
voicemail. I left my name and phone number
and asked whoever received the message to
return my call at their convenience.
Well, they never returned my call. I even
called back 10 more times over the next few
weeks, but I never heard back. Frustrated at
how difficult it was proving to be to get my
picture taken, I decided to try it myself. It
couldn't be that hard, right? Wrong.
I took several pictures of my face using my
laptop computer and cropped them suitable to
the government's guidelines. I then proceeded
to take them to local printing stations in stores
around town, but none of them printed in 2×2
inch dimensions. I felt hopeless. So, I did what
any other college student does when they run
out of options: I asked my parents for help.
When I spoke to my father over the phone
and explained my dilemma to him, he told me
that it was an easy problem to solve. He told me
that the Rite Aid in my hometown took passport
photos at a very low cost.
Awesome,
I thought sarcastically.
Now I just
have to find the time to drive three hours to my
hometown, get the picture taken and drive three
hours back. How am I going to do that when I
already don't have time to spare?
I had to wait another two weeks before I

could find the time to drive to Sharon. It was my
first day off in a while and I skipped my last
class of the day so I could make it home.
The actual process of getting my picture
taken turned out to be much easier than I had
expected. It only took ten minutes and a few
bucks to finish something it had taken me
weeks to accomplish. I dropped the pictures
and my application off at the post office in my
hometown and made my way back to school.
I returned to State College with a heavy
workload waiting for me. Apparently, putting off
one day of homework is enough to leave me
struggling to play catch up for days. When I
finally accomplished enough to feel like I could
breathe again, I began thinking about the
workshop in Poland.
I had never traveled outside of the country
before; I didn't know what to expect. The
scariest thought that came to my mind wasn't,
Will I get lost?
It was,
What if I lose the money
before I meet Wim and don't have a way to pay
for the workshop?
Over the next few days, I looked into
methods that I could use to get the money to
Wim before I got there. I eventually decided on
trying a wire transfer. Wire transfers have
acquired a lot of bad press due to the amount
of email scamming that goes on nowadays, but
after looking into it, it seemed safe enough. My
parents didn't seem to think so, nor did any of
my friends for that matter. Everyone always

said the same thing.
"That sounds shady. I wouldn't do that if I
were you."
Well, after Wim sent me his bank information
via email, I started to believe them. The
information looked really sketchy. It was written
in a language that I didn't understand and none
of the provided numbers were labeled. I prayed
that printing the information and giving it to the
bank would be enough to make a successful
transfer.
I drove to the bank in-between classes,
thinking that it wouldn't take too long; once
again, I was wrong. The woman helping me
with the transaction was completely oblivious
as to what the numbers meant. It was her first
time doing a wire transfer as well. Talk about
nervous, I was terrified! There was a lot of, "I
guess it could be this…" or "Maybe this goes
here" going around. When I left the bank, I
didn't even care that I had spend the last 2.5
hours there and missed my class; I was worried
that I had just lost the $720 that I had worked so
hard to acquire. By this point, I was praying that
everything would work out. I felt like I had no
control over anything and I knew that if that
money disappeared, there wouldn't be enough
time to make enough to cover the costs of the
trip.
I sent Wim an email when I got home,
begging him to send me an email when he
received the money. I told him that the bank and

I were really confused and we didn't know if we
did it right.
It was March 16, 2010 when I sent Wim the
money via wire transfer. One week later, there
still had been no indication that he had received
the money. I was convinced that my money was
gone. I believed that my dreams of becoming
like The Iceman were lost forever. I started to
believe the "what ifs" that my parents had
sugested.
"What if
he's not who he says he is?"
"What if
he just takes your money and
doesn't talk to you ever again?"
"What if
something goes wrong?"
On March 31 at 1:00 AM, before I went to
bed, I sent Wim one last hopeful email:
"Wim,
Did you receive the money?
Greetings,
Justin."
In the morning I woke up to this (March 31 –
3:20 AM):
"Sorry Justin
Yes I did
Busy
We will have a great week

Greetings,
Wim"
My heart soared and my dreams were
rekindled. I quickly forgot about my worries and
imagined myself swimming in a sea of ice. I was
back on track!

CHAPTER 28:
TEXEL
I
awoke this morning to the sound of whistling
birds outside my window, singing a beautiful
sonnet comprised of their own
chirps
and
tweets.
The time was 4:00 AM. It was a windy
day in March, but the skies remained clear.
I started the day off with my normal
breathing exercises, followed by a period of
meditation. As I went through my normal
routine, I became filled with vigor.
Life is wonderful,
I thought,
when you are
disconnected from stress and emotion.
Today, Manely, Marnix, one of his
cameramen, and myself took a ferry to the
island of Texel. I was in Texel last year to do a
workshop and they asked me to return to do a
follow up.
Texel is an island just north of den Helder.
It's a marine base that's located at the shore's
end of Holland. The workshop took place in a
non-heated stable. The location was empty,
save for the participants and the sheep as our
witnesses. Jaap, the organizer of the
workshop, opened the session by welcoming
everyone.
After a short speech, he passed the torch off
to me. It was my turn.
"The cold has the potential to boost your
energy levels," I said. "It can give you a certain

type of energy that can fill your body and make
you whole."
The group formed a circle around me and I
became the center of attention. I then explained
my breathing exercises and the possibilities
that they can open up.
"You are an open book. Begin to experience
the content of the story and try to understand
where your life is and where it's going. Each
day is a new chapter with new opportunities
awaiting you."
The stable was really chilly. I could tell that
the 15 people surrounding me would begin to
suffer if we did not do something soon. So, to
conserve everyone's energy, I led them outside
and began exercising.
The grass was soft and the wind was
blowing cool air. Soon after we started
exercising, I asked them to sit down on the
mats that they had brought with them and
begin the breathing exercises.
After several minutes of breathing exercises,
I asked them to perform pushups. First, I had
them try doing pushups while retaining air in
their lungs. Then, I had them try doing pushups
with no air in their lungs. Some were able to do
as much as 80 pushups with air in their lungs,
while others were able to do 50 pushups with
no air in their lungs.
The problem with the pushups is that the
exercise doesn't really warm the body.
Therefore, I encouraged everyone to move

around by jogging in place. In time, everyone
had completely adjusted to the cold.
At that point, the cold was no longer a
problem. Instead, we were having a fun time
doing all these different types of playful
movements. I told them that this is the type of
feeling I get when I expose myself to extreme
colds. If the body is trained, anyone is capable
of playing in the cold for an extended period of
time!
Remember: Practicing gradual exposure can
lengthen the amount of time you are able to
stay in the cold.
After the movement session in the windy
pasture, we took a break. I took the time to
explain this story to them:
"Last week, I was on a television show
where blindfolded psychics had to guess who I
was. I was located in the Rotterdam container
terminal. It was a chilly evening and the wind
was strong. It was my job to judge which
psychic did the best. When they all finished
their presumptions, I would score them and
present it to the cameras.
After an hour of them walking around me
and trying to figure out who I was, I was asked
to go inside of a temperature controlled
container of -28°C (-18.4°F). I had to stay in
there for ten minutes wearing only shorts. It

was the psychics' goal to find me. The tricky
part was that there were thousands of
containers in the terminal. They needed to use
their senses to locate exactly where I was.
I prepared myself mentally before going into
that container. I knew that it would be extremely
cold, so I prepared my body for that. Soon after
entering, my body began to shield the cold
away from my core. I had lit the fire within
myself.
Next to my container was a heated car.
Every ten minutes, they were supposed to open
the container and let me go in and warm up;
however, I didn't need to leave the container, I
was completely comfortable. I stayed in the
container for a full hour!
After the hour, I stepped out of the container
and felt a warm breeze brush against my skin.
You may ask, "Why did the cold wind feel so
warm against your skin, Wim?" Well, when I
was in the cold, my body adapted to the
temperature of the chilled container. It became
more alert and wiling to change with the
environment. When I got out, the air felt warmer
because my skin temperature had adjusted to
the temperature on the inside of the container."
The workshop participants nodded with
excitement.
Soon after, we all left to travel to the beach
of the North Sea where we would go for a cold
swim. The wind on the beach was frigid and the

water itself was 2°C (35.6°F)!
In their minds, they knew what they had to
do, but their body was telling them a different
story. Despite the strong avoidance responses
that their bodies were giving them, they seemed
determined to jump in and get it over with.
We all went into the water together. After the
initial shock was over, they all seemed very
calm. We began splashing waves at each other
and swimming around comfortably. With the
right direction and enough energy, anyone is
capable of doing this.
After a few minutes, we all left the water and
returned to the beach to get dressed in our
clothing, but before anyone could begin
changing, I shouted, "That exercise was just
the beginning!"
Before anyone could figure out what I was
talking about, I took off running.
Although they were dazed at first, within
seconds they had begun to chase after me.
Each was running in their bathing suit,
barefooted through the cold sand. With each
step, the sand sucked the heat away from their
feet.
After five minutes of running, I saw five
people become red with an explosion of warm
blood flowing through them. This was my goal.
I wanted their bodies to readapt to the new cold
environment. For those five people, it was a
success.

With this type of adaptation, you can last
much longer in the cold. It is a natural reaction.
We are all capable of it.
My methods may have been unorthodox,
but these people were able to see what their
bodies were capable of. Each one had
experienced the power of the cold.
Thanks Jaap, for the opportunity to teach
these wonderful people! I'd also like to thank
the participants from the bottom of my heart for
their patience and endurance during my
instructions. Thank you for looking past your
limits!

CHAPTER 29:
ALMOST THERE…
W
ith four weeks left until the workshop, my life
became really hectic. I had just spent $940.00
on a plane ticket and my supplies were running
low. To save money, I would buy large pizzas
and portion them to last me for days.
I had hoped that my course work would
lessen as the semester went on, but the
complete opposite had occurred. To have
enough time to work at The Deli, go to class,
and work in my research lab, I had to sacrifice
some homework. There were days where I
would go through my assignments and
calculate which ones were worth the least
amount of points. I chose to sacrifice those
points in exchange for a little more time.
Usually, I'm a very good student, but I had
never been so overwhelmed in my entire life.
Tactically deciding which assignments were
worth completing seemed like my only option.
Sadly, there was no time for my Iceman
training either. My last exercise was a run
downtown in the snow. Even though I had
raised all the money I needed to attend the
workshop, I wasn't ready to lift my hands in
victory just yet. There was still a lot of
schoolwork that needed my focus. The only
time I had to
"relax"
was when I was
dishwashing. The work had become second

nature and gave me an opportunity to free my
mind. I guess you could say that it was
somewhat therapeutic. It definitely helped
maintain my sanity during those busy days.
With three weeks left, I turned in my two
weeks notice to The Deli. I planned to use the
extra time during the last week to finish
studying for my finals, which were all
rescheduled for that Tuesday. I also had three
research papers and two online assignments to
turn in the day before those finals. Time was
running out, fast. The amount of work I had to
do made Poland seem so far away.
On April 10, 2010, an aircraft of the Polish Air
Force went down in Russia. Many Polish
political leaders died in the crash, along with
the President and his wife. When I first heard of
this disaster, I thought it was quite a
coincidence. In all my years, I had never heard
of Poland ever being mentioned on the news.
Yet, a little under three weeks before my trip, the
Polish President died in a plane crash. It
seemed like a bad sign.
Skeptical, I called my parents and told them
the news. They thought I was joking at first, but
once they realized my serious tone, they
became worried. Immediately, they started
telling me about how the streets of Poland
would probably be in utter chaos and that my
safety was now compromised. I calmed them
down by sending Wim an email.
He told me that we would be fine because

we would be in a very secluded part of Poland,
away from large groups of people. That didn't
exactly settle my parents' stomachs, but they
let it go. They didn't want to push their worries
onto me if I planned to go no matter what.
Then on April 15, 2010, air travel became
impossible in northwest Europe due to the
eruption of Eyjafjallajokull. I was at my
girlfriend's house doing my homework when I
first heard the news. It was the second time
amidst my studying that I was forced to think
about Poland.
No one knew how long the planes were
going to be grounded. Tons of people were
stuck and unable to fly to their destinations. I
hadn't predicted such extreme circumstances.
All I could do was hope that the planes would
be able to travel again in time for my flight. Six
days later, my hopes were answered and air
travel was possible again.
The eruption and temporary grounding of
flights caused my parents to become more
desperate. Even though they didn't have the
money, they offered to reimburse me if I
decided to stay. They believed that the planes
being grounded in Europe was a sign that I
shouldn't go. I didn't see it as a sign. I saw it as
a test. I wasn't going to be scared away by a
couple of unforeseen circumstances.
…
I felt like a giant weight was lifted off of my

shoulders when I had finished my last shift at
The Deli. It had been a year since my weekend
trip to California and I hadn't had a vacation
since then. This was my first time not having to
worry about incorporating my work schedule
into everything else.
Despite the large amount of work I still
needed to complete for school, I began to feel a
little better. So, I went home and sent Wim an
email telling him that I was excited to come, and
then asked for detailed information about what
to do when I arrived in the Amsterdam airport,
which is where he lived and suggested I fly into.
On the Wednesday before my last week in
State College I made a decision. There was a
time difference of six hours between my home
in Pennsylvania and where Wim lived. I wasn't
about to waste my first few days in a new
country being constantly tired because of the
jet lag. No, I was going to be ready.
Luckily, I had purchased a bottle of
melatonin pills a few months back. I initially
bought them to fix the sleeping problems that
my late nights at work created, but now they
had a much more important purpose. I would
use them to set my biological clock to Wim's
time (CET), six hours ahead from where I lived
in Pennsylvania (EST). I also thought it would
be a great opportunity to escape the noisy
college environment and study for my finals in
solitude.
The first few nights of my most recent

endeavor proved to be rather difficult. My new
sleep schedule had me going to bed between
7:00 PM and 8:00 PM and waking up between
3:00 AM and 4:00 AM. I would lie in bed for
hours, trying to drown out the sound of my
roommates partying in the living room by
covering my ears with pillows.
When my alarm went off, I would force
myself to wake up and take a shower. I dreaded
leaving the comfort of my blankets, but I
continued to tell myself that if I didn't get in the
shower, I would fail my classes and crash in a
plane on the way to Amsterdam. I know what
you're thinking, not exactly a reliable
consequence, but the satirical extremes were
enough to get me on my way.
It wasn't until Monday when the new sleep
schedule had finally set in. My roommates still
partied, but I had bought earplugs and a
facemask to block out the sight and sound. It
worked like a charm.
After my morning showers, I'd eat a quick
breakfast. I would then proceed to make five
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the
day's meals. When I finished, I would grab my
backpack and head on over to the research lab
to work on my homework.
Those walks in the early mornings were
always interesting. I would typically encounter
many intoxicated students that were walking
back to their apartments or dorms after a long
night of partying. I found it kind of funny. As

they were passing out, I was beginning my day.
When I would arrive at the Moore building,
I'd take the elevator up to the fourth floor and
go to my little cave. The room that I worked in
was extremely dusty, full of storage, and had no
windows. Some nights, I felt like I was locked in
a prison. I had no concept of time except for the
watch I wore on my wrist. The only thing I really
remember clearly from those days was the
overabundance of peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches. I'm surprised that I can still eat
them today.
Luckily, my friend Dave was also stressing
over finals. He joined me in Moore for a few
hours during those late nights. It was nice to
have company. It reminded me that there was
more to life than working and studying for
school, which was my life for those previous
few months. Studying those few nights with
Dave made my schedule bearable.
It
was
bearable, until I developed a
debilitating eye infection. With the long hours in
that room and no air circulation, the dust must
have irritated my eyes past the point of their
tolerable threshold. They were constantly itchy
and my eyelids were always heavy. You would
think that heavy eyelids would make it easier
for me to sleep, but it didn't. Whenever my eyes
were shut, it felt like thousands of eyelashes
were scratching against my retinas.
Over the next few days, I continued to force
myself to work in that room, despite my

infection. It was the only place that was
available to me that late in the night. My eyes
continued to get worse, but I was nearing the
end of my workload. By Thursday, seven days
after I had initially asked Wim what to do when I
arrived, he still had yet to reply.
My parents continued to badger me with
questions. "Do you know where you're going?"
"Have you thought of everything that could go
wrong?" "You have already figured out where
you're going to meet him, right?
I was so preoccupied with school that I
always answered my parents in the same way,
regardless of the true answer: "Yes, I'll be fine,
don't worry about me. It'll all work out."
I didn't want them to worry anymore than
they had to, even though I was beginning to
worry myself. There were two days left until my
plane for Amsterdam departed and I still had no
clue what to do when I arrived in the
Amsterdam airport.
Finally, on Tuesday, minutes before taking
my final exams, I received this email from Wim:
Date: Tueday, Apr 27, 2010 -07:42 AM
"Okay Justin
I will be waiting at the gate past the customs.
Right on!
Wim"
.. .What? That was it? So much for the

explicit detail about what I was supposed to do.
What if something went wrong and there was
no way for me to get a hold of him? I was
frantic. I later found out that he was extremely
busy traveling and hadn't had time to check his
email. Terrible timing, I guess.
Anyway, I received the email as soon as it
came in, so I immediately sent one back to him
asking for a phone number where I could reach
him if something went wrong. Luckily, I got a
response a few minutes later. My nerves eased
and my worries washed away. Of course, most
of the questions my parents asked were left
unanswered, but at least I had his phone
number.
Seconds after his reply, I packed up my
things and left for my exams. There were three
tests total that I had to take in a matter of hours,
but I wasn't worried anymore. The stress was
gone. There was no more time for me to go
back to the books and review the information.
Knowing that there would be no more studying
for the rest of the semester lifted a giant weight
off my shoulders.
The finals were difficult, but I expected
nothing less. I probably would've been more
nervous if I had actually cared about my
grades, but my mind was too focused on
Poland. In a matter of 48 hours, I would be
standing next to the infamous "Wim Hof, The
Iceman!"
When I got back to my apartment, I

frantically tried to figure out what I would need
to take to Poland. I knew that I couldn't have my
suitcase weighing over 50 pounds or I would
need to fork over extra money that I didn't have.
I was clueless.
What should I bring?
I thought.
Should I take
a lot of t-shirts and shorts because we'll be
training in the cold? Should I take a lot of pants
and long-sleeve shirts because I'll need to warm
myself up afterwards? Is he going to think I'm a
wuss if I bring a jacket?
Despite worrying about what I should bring,
I was even more concerned about the fact that I
hadn't trained in months. My body wasn't used
to any cold whatsoever and I didn't want to
freeze to death.
This thought made me decide that I should
bring some of everything. The only information
I got from Wim about the workshop was that I
needed to bring my bathing suit. That's it. I
didn't know what to expect because I had been
told virtually nothing.
On my three-hour drive home, everything
that could possibly go wrong was being played
out in my head.
Maybe I'll die of hypothermia. If I
get lost or lose my passport, how can I get back
home? What if I really haven't been talking to
Wim this whole time and I'm going to be
murdered or taken advantage of by some
stranger?
When I pulled into my driveway, my mind
was in shambles, but there was nothing I could

do about it. All I knew was that the following
day, I would get on the plane and hope Wim Hof
would be waiting for me on the other side.

CHAPTER 30:
WELCOME TO POLAND
T
he following morning I woke up at 3:30 AM. I
started my day by printing out my plane tickets
and playing a little guitar. By 7:00 AM, my
parents were up and I could hear them
discussing me in the kitchen. I walked in and
hugged them both. I could tell that they were
terrified of the possibility of losing their first-
born child, but I could see it in their eyes that
they were also proud, proud of who I had
become. They both hugged me and told me that
they would pray for my safety.
My mother made me breakfast while I said
farewell to my sleeping siblings. I hugged each
of them goodbye as if it was the last time I was
going to see them. I didn't know what the next
week would bring, but I hoped it eventually
brought me back to them.
After eating breakfast, my dad hugged and
kissed me goodbye and told me that he loved
me. It was a rare occasion for him to show
emotion, but his timing meant a lot to me. My
mother would be driving me to the airport, so
we said goodbye to my father and went on our
way.
My mom cried numerous times on the drive
there. Between telling me how much she was
proud of me and how much she was going to
miss me, there were many tears. I appreciated

her kindness and openness, but my mind was
in another world, particularly Europe. My body
was filling with excitement even though it
would still be many hours before I reached
Amsterdam; I was ready.
When we arrived at the airport, things
moved rather quickly. While checking in my
bags, the woman who was doing the
processing saw the sadness in my mother's
eyes and gave her a special pass that would
admit her beyond security to see me off at my
gate. It seemed unnecessary, but my mother
was extremely grateful.
I comforted my mother while I waited at my
gate for my plane to arrive. She then began
telling me everything she thought I needed to
know to remain safe in a foreign country.
"Don't talk to strangers."
"Always watch your belongings."
"Always have your passport on you."
They were things I already knew, but I
patiently listened to her advice. Besides, I didn't
know if it was the last time I would see her.
Something
could
go wrong. There's always that
chance, but I didn't want to tell her that. It would
just ruin the moment.
When my plane finally arrived at the gate, I
hugged my mother goodbye and told her that I
loved her. With tears clouding her vision and a
forced smile, she told me, "Be careful. I love
you more." With that, I handed the flight
attendant my ticket and walked through the

gates.
My first flight was a short one from
Pittsburgh to Washington, only taking one hour
and fifteen minutes total. When I arrived in the
Dulles International Airport in Washington, I had
approximately two hours before my next flight
left. I grabbed some dinner and took a seat at
the gate where my plane would be departing. I
phoned my family, Brooke, Jarrett, and Dave to
tell them goodbye and to thank them for their
consistent support.
My flight from Dulles left at 5:29 PM (EST). It
was scheduled to be a 7 hour and 36 minute
flight, arriving in the Amsterdam airport at 7:05
AM (CET). It was my first international flight and
I didn't know what to expect. The plane was a
lot bigger than my previous flight. My seat was
located near a window at the back of the plane.
On the back of every seat was a small screen
that had the option to play movies, television
shows, or an overview of the map. I was
amazed by the amount of effort that the airline
put into making the flight an enjoyable
experience.
An hour after departure, I was served a
delicious tray full of chicken, pasta, mashed
potatoes, and a little brownie for dessert. After
finishing my meal, I began to feel very tired. It
was almost 7:00 PM (EST) and according to my
newly revised circadian rhythm, it was bedtime.
I reclined my chair to a comfortable resting
position, plugged my headphones into my

iPod, and fell asleep listening to classical
music.
Day 1: April 30, 2010
I woke up to the feeling of someone tapping
me on the shoulder; it was the person sitting
next to me. The flight attendants were bringing
around breakfast and he was kind enough to
wake me up for the meal. I looked at my watch
and the face read 11:37 PM (EST), meaning it
was 5:37 AM (CET). I had less than an hour
before we touched down in Amsterdam. My
eyes were still heavy, but I fought the urge to go
back to sleep and awaited the flight attendant.
The cheese omelet that I was served for
breakfast was filling. It provided me with the
energy that I needed to not fall back asleep.
With half an hour left before landing in the
Amsterdam airport, my mind ran wild.
What if he forgot and doesn't show up?
What if it was all a joke and no one would be
waiting for me in the airport?
What would I do for the next several days?
Where would I sleep?
I calmed myself down by remembering that if
something went horribly wrong, I could phone
home to my parents and work something out.
At that point my mind let go of the "worst case
scenarios" and began to think of all the
amazing things that would happen if the
infamous Iceman was actually waiting for me in

the airport.
My plane stopped at the gate at 7:04 AM
(CET). By the time I had cleared customs and
retrieved my bags, it was 8:05 AM (CET). There
were hundreds of people standing around the
gate. I looked around for a few minutes, but
Wim was nowhere to be found. I considered
asking security for help, but when I had finally
found someone working for security, I noticed a
giant gun strapped around his neck. It wasn't
the handgun that you typically see an officer
carrying in the line of duty; it was a weapon that
looked awfully similar to a machinegun. I
decided to take my chances on my own.
After an hour of walking around the place,
searching for Wim, I sat down in a Starbucks
located on the opposite corner of the building. I
pulled out my laptop and tried to check my
email to see if he had sent me anything, only to
realize that the Internet was not free.
Fail.
So, I
decided to go for the next best thing. I pulled up
Wim's phone number from my computer and
went to find the nearest pay-phone.
On the way to the payphone, I realized that I
had no European currency on me. Luckily,
when I came to this realization, I was standing
near a currency exchange booth. I converted
the $150 that my parents had given me in case
of emergencies, and then went to find the
nearest phone booth.
At 9:00 AM (CET), I finally found a payphone.
It took me another 10 minutes to figure out how

to use the thing, but eventually the phone was
ringing and a little boy's voice answered the
phone.
Boy: "Hallo, wie is dit?"
Me: "Um… Hello. Is Daddy or Mommy
there?"
Boy: "Mama!"
*A woman's voice answered.
Woman: "Hallo, wie is dit?"
Me:
(Please let this be the right home…)
"Um,
hello. My name is Justin. May I please speak to
Wim Hof?"
Woman: (In a Dutch accent) "Ohhhh! Justin!
Hello, this is Caroline. Wim is there looking for
you. He was running late, but he should be
there now. Has he found you?"
Me: "Oh, not yet. I tried looking around for a
while, but I can't seem to find him."
Caroline: "Well, he's wearing blue jeans, a
blue jacket…"
I didn't catch the rest of what she had said
because at that moment, I saw a familiar face
among a crowd of people.
Me: "I'm sorry Caroline, I think I just found
Wim! I need to go chase him down. Thanks!"
Caroline: "All right! Good luck!"
I hung up the phone and started running
toward the place where I had spotted him. He
was gone. Where was he? I looked around for a

while longer and had no luck. I returned to the
phone booth and called Caroline once again.
Caroline: "Hallo?"
Me: "Hello Caroline! I'm sorry to bother you
again, but it seems that as soon as I got off the
phone with you, Wim disappeared. Do you
happen to know how I can get a hold of him?"
Caroline: "Yes, actually. There is a place in
the airport where most people go to meet. It's in
front of the Ticket Information desk, where
people can buy their train tickets. Go there and I
will call him on his cell and have him meet you
there."
Me: "All right! Thank you Caroline! I hope we
can meet some day!"
Caroline: "Me too! Have fun in Poland!"
I hung up the phone and went looking
around for the Ticket Information desk. To my
surprise, I came across three information
desks. I made three rounds, checking each
information desk over and over again. Forty-
five minutes after I had ended the call with
Caroline, I finally spotted him. He stood a few
inches shorter than I and seemed to be in great
physical shape. I couldn't believe it was him. It
was the first time I had seen someone famous,
let alone talk to them, but I somewhat gathered
my composure and walked over.
"Hello," I whispered incase I had mistaken
his identity, "Wim?"

"Justin!" he said while opening his arms in
an attempt to hug me. "How is everything? I am
glad you are here!"
I embraced him and replied with, "I'm glad to
be here too. I'm sorry about the confusion. It
took a lot longer to find you than I thought it
would."
"Everything okay," he replied. "Let's go to
the car, yes?"
Hearing Wim talk gave me a better
understanding of the content of his emails. In
his emails, I sometimes thought he was angry
because he would send short responses. I now
realized that it was just the way he spoke. I had
also forgotten that he wasn't a native English
speaker. Later I learned that his first language
was Dutch, but altogether he spoke eight
different languages. Wim is quite the linguist.
He grabbed my larger suitcase and started
walking toward what looked like the exit. We
walked through a set of revolving doors and
into the fresh air. It was nice to finally be
outside of an airport again. The sky was cloudy
and the temperature seemed pretty chilly as the
wind brushed across my skin. There were
frequent gusts of wind blowing through the
streets, but it didn't seem to scare people away.
Thousands of people filled the streets outside
of the airport.
"Wim, are there usually a lot of people
around here in Amsterdam?" I asked.
"No," he replied with an elevated tone.

"Today is the celebration of Queen's Day. A lot
of people come and sell stuff in the streets. Like
a giant market with a lot of fun."
"Are we going there?" I questioned.
"No, we need to get going on the road. It's a
long drive to Poland. Perhaps we will go for a
swim when we arrive. Did you bring your
bathing suit?"
"Yes, I did. I'd be down for swimming.
Sounds fun!"
Several minutes later we approached a
monstrous vehicle. If a hummer and a jeep
could produce offspring, this vehicle would be
its child. For all intensive purposes, I'll refer to
this vehicle as a jeep. Beside the jeep were two
men, one of which was smoking. When he saw
us coming, he promptly threw the cigarette to
the ground and snuffed it out with his shoe.
"Justin," Wim introduced, "This is Henny
and Konrad."
"It's a pleasure to meet the both of you," I
said as I shook both of their hands.
"Henny is my cameraman, we have been
friends for a while. Kon-rad is one of Henny's
friends who will be joining us. Both are very
good people."
"My goal for this trip is to quit smoking by
the time we get back," Konrad said to me. "It's a
bad habit that I need to stop to save money."
I nodded and smiled. Konrad was an
interesting fellow who stood a few inches
higher than myself. He had dark blond hair and

a slender physique. I couldn't see his eye color
or tell when he was looking at me because he
was wearing a dark pair of sunglasses. I quickly
learned that the jeep belonged to Konrad and
he would be the one driving us to Poland.
Konrad was a friend of Henny's that he had met
during a game of squash.
Henny seemed to be a very kind fellow. He
reminded me of an estranged GQ model. His
glasses were the feature that stuck out to me
the most. They seemed to be really expensive
and customized. Perhaps it was because they
were made in Europe rather than America, but
as the first pair of glasses I had seen in a new
country, they fascinated me. As far as physical
appearance goes, Henny looked to be about
the same age as Wim. Although Wim was
wearing loose-fitted jean pants and a jean
jacket while Henny wore tighter-fitted clothing,
as far as I could tell, they had similar body
types.
We all got into the jeep and began driving.
Henny and Konrad mentioned that we needed
to stop at a friend's shop to pick up some parts
for Konrad's bike. On the way there, we
stopped at a gas station to fill up with diesel.
Wim asked Henny to pay for the gasoline and
said that he would reimburse him at the end of
the week. I was glad to have paid all of my dues
to Wim prior to arriving. The stress and worry of
money was finally over for me. I could relax and
enjoy the company of the people around me.

After filling up at the gas station and picking
up a spare part for Konrad's bike, we were
finally on our way to Poland. The landscape of
Amsterdam was much different compared to
my home in Pennsylvania, where there are
many hills and valleys. Amsterdam was
extremely flat. Another noticeable feature was
the overabundance of windmills. I had seen
several windmills on farms in the U.S., but they
looked like toddlers compared to the giants of
Amsterdam.
Those were the two features that stuck out
to me the most about the landscapes of
Amsterdam. I probably would've seen a lot
more, but my attention was more focused on
Wim. Ever since we first got into the car at the
airport, we had been constantly talking.
For every question I had about Iceman
training, he was able to answer it completely.
Although for a few questions, Wim told me to
wait and see until we arrived in Poland. He said
that there were some teachings that could not
be explained through words, only experience,
which is what the workshop in Poland was for.
After exhausting all my questions about
certain Iceman techniques, I began to ask Wim
about his achievements that I saw on television
or read in the news. Actually, all of the stories
that Wim told in this book, I heard in the long
car ride to Poland.
Wim then moved on to telling me about the
new scientific breakthroughs in relationship to

his autonomic nervous system. I was extremely
impressed to hear that there was scientific data
supporting The Iceman's lifestyle. With the
worry of doing damage to my body while
pushing to the brink of hypothermia, it was
encouraging to hear that I may eventually
receive the same benefits from the cold.
When we finally arrived at the Poland
border, I noticed a dramatic change of scenery.
The roads were extremely narrow and they
were filled with unavoidable potholes. Being
that I had inherited extreme motion-sickness
susceptibility from my father, the drive through
Poland was quite the unpleasant experience.
During this time, Kon-rad was telling us stories
about his life from when he had lived in Poland.
I was unaware that he was Polish up until that
point.
He told us that there is a stereotype out
there that men in Poland love to bulk up at the
gym so that they can pick on people. He didn't
confirm or deny whether or not it was true, but
nevertheless, it frightened me a bit. It somewhat
confirmed my mother's worrying in that I may
get into trouble and have no way to get out of it
because they don't speak English.
I relaxed a bit when I found out that Konrad
was fluent in the Polish language and Wim was
more than proficient. At this point, Wim told me
that their goal for the week was to "make a
wonderful video for YouTube." He wanted to
show people that the workshops could be fun

and hopefully spark more interest via the
Internet. Wim also told me that in-between the
few hours of meeting Konrad and picking me
up at the airport, they had come up with an idea
to try to organize a 5-kilometer barefooted
snow run in Karpacz, Poland.
Wim thought it was a marvelous idea and a
great opportunity for the community to join in
on a great experience. Konrad was in a great
position to organize this because his cousin
had a lot of political power in Karpacz. Wim told
me that I could help organize the event and also
run in it when the time came; I was ecstatic.
After only being in Europe for half a day, I was
already invited to come back to participate in a
unique event with the one and only Iceman!
It was early in the evening when we arrived
at a medium-sized home in the small town of
Przezdziedza. The outside appearance of the
"house" reminded me of a barn. Running
around the area, inside of the fence, were four
or five chickens. Wim opened the gate to the
property so Konrad could drive the jeep inside.
The property, named "Time-Out" is allegedly
run by the mother of Wim's youngest son,
Caroline.
"Missshu, Miiiiishu!" Wim's voice
reverberated off the walls of the building.
I was clueless as to what he was doing. After
a couple more yells, my answer came in the
form of a large dog with the build of a bear.
Mishu galloped to Wim and stopped by his side,

letting him pet the gigantic beast with both
hands. Although large, Mishu's soft grey coat
and gentle face made him look like an
overgrown puppy. He didn't bark, just walked
around, letting all of us pet him.
We grabbed our belongings from the car
and moved them into the house. When I first
walked in, I was greeted by a warm, comfy
feeling, despite the cold air that filled the stone
walls. I was impressed by how much it already
felt like home. Perhaps it had to do with Wim's
personality. It's hard not to like the guy. His
personality is warm and he speaks to you as if
you've been friends since birth. Nevertheless,
his home immediately felt like my home, even
though it was thousands of miles away from
what I normally call "home".
Wim gave us a quick tour of the house.
When you first walk in, to your right there's a
small wooden piano that's extremely out of
tune. To the left of the piano is the room that
holds the common area. Inside there is a
fireplace, a couch, a computer using dial-up
Internet, and a table to eat on. Continuing past
the piano and to the left, there's a pantry.
Directly across from the pantry is the kitchen.
In-between those two rooms is a stairway that
leads to the second floor. If you're standing at
the top of the stairway, behind you and to the
right is the room where Wim slept. Across from
his room is his personal bathroom. If you're still
standing in the stairway, to your left is a room

with seven beds with a door inside that leads to
another bathroom. My bed was the first on the
right as soon as you walk in.
To reach the attic, there's another stairwell
from the hallway on the second floor. Tons of
beds were stored there. Wim told us that
Caroline uses the place to give people a place
to sleep. He said it is similar to hostiles in
Europe, a place that can be slept in for cheap to
help people who needed it. I could tell that there
was still some work to be done in the attic.
There were several floorboards missing. We
were careful to watch our step.
We each placed our belongings next to the
bed where we would be sleeping that night.
Henny, Konrad and myself would be sharing a
room while, Wim would be sleeping in the
bedroom across the hall. After settling in, we all
met in the common room by the fireplace.
"We go for a swim?" Wim asked
enthusiastically. "I'd like to try," Konrad said,
"but I think I will wait until later on in the week. It
was a lot of driving and I think it will be better if I
wait."
"No, thank you," Henny replied while
shaking his head. "Not for me."
"Sure! I'll go get my bathing suit!" I chimed
in. I didn't go to Poland to sit in a house all day;
I came to train!
"Okay," Wim continued, "we go for a swim
and Henny, you bring your camera and make a
beautiful picture for YouTube."

Henny nodded.
I ran upstairs to prepare myself for my first
swim. I opened my suitcase and pulled out both
of my thermometers, my bathing suit, and a
towel. The air temperature was somewhat warm
so I assumed that I would be a lot warmer as
soon as I got out of the cold water.
It had been ages since I last performed my
cold water immersions in my bathtub at college,
but I felt comfortable enough wearing only my
swimming trunks, a sleeveless t-shirt, and my
running sandals.
A few minutes later I met everyone
downstairs in front of the house.
"The place where we will be swimming is a
ten minute walk from here." Wim announced. "It
is where I go in the winter to do my cold
exercises."
We left Mishu at home and closed the gate
behind us. We walked along the side of the dirt
road, passing houses on both sides of us. At
one point, Wim raised his hand toward a
property, similar to the size of Time-Out.
"A woman lives there that takes care of
Mishu and the chickens when I am gone," he
declared. "She collects the eggs and leaves
them in a basket near the fireplace for when we
return. Nice woman."
We continued walking along the road until
Wim told us we had gone far enough. We cut
across the grass through some shrubbery, until
we found ourselves at the opening of a river.

On our right was a few logs lying next to a pile
of ashes.
"People come here sometimes and make a
bonfire. It's relaxing," he said. "We'll dive in
here and do a quick swim, 600 meters or
something."
Now, being that I'm from America, I'm not
familiar with the metric system. I hadn't done
any conversions in years. I used this to my
advantage. Not knowing how long 600 meters
were in feet or miles was less intimidating to
me. I ignored the distance he gave me and
listened to the word: "quick." I'm not a
swimmer; I'm a runner. But, I do know
how
to
swim. Well, let me rephrase that. I know how to
stay afloat and slowly propel my body forward.
"Yeah!" I replied. "Sure, I'll try it!"
While Henny prepared his video camera, I
took out one of my thermometers and
measured the temperature of the water. The
thermometer read 48°F (8.7°C). Even though the
temperature of the water was several degrees
warmer than the water had been in my bathtub,
I wasn't sure what to expect. I tried to remain
hopeful, but I didn't want to look weak in front
of The Iceman.
When Henny had the camera ready, Wim
had me stand by him. Henny began recording
and Wim started talking to the camera. He
explained how far we would be swimming and
how cold the water was.
At the end of his speech, Wim took of his

shirt and threw it to me. To get a running start,
he took a few steps away from the river. After
yelling loudly, "Yeah! Go!" he took off with full
speed and dove into the water.
I thought he was going to wait for me to
jump in before starting our challenge, but I was
wrong. He started swimming in the direction
that he previously pointed out to me.
I guess that means we won't be swimming
side by side,
I thought.
I took off my shirt, backed up, and jumped
into the water. The cool water instantly chilled
my body. It had been a while since I had been
completely exposed to the cold. I had forgotten
how
cold
the cold could really be.
After surfacing from my dive, I shook my
head, to get the water out of my eyes, and
began swimming.
"He did it!" I heard Konrad yell. "Hey, you
my heroes!"
I smiled at Konrad's remark as I pedaled my
arms in a forward motion. Wim was so far away;
I wished he would slow down.
After a minute or so, my body was adjusted
to the water and I no longer felt the cold sting. I
remembered the familiar sensation and
welcomed it. To my right, I saw Konrad and
Henny walking along the riverside, taking
pictures and recording videos.
Wim continued at a fast pace and put more
distance between us.
"How do you feel?" he yelled back to me. "I

am good!" I replied.
At about seven minutes into the swim, the
cold began to creep back into my body. My
fingertips and toes were affected first. It became
extremely hard to spread my fingers apart. I
also noticed that my pace was slowing down
significantly. It was hard to stay afloat, but I
used all of my energy to keep myself moving
forward. A few times, I noticed the river become
shallower. When available, I walked across the
bottom of the river to give my arms a rest.
After twelve minutes, it became extremely
hard for me to move my limbs. My body wasn't
numb anymore; it just felt cold, really cold. Up
ahead, I noticed Wim exiting the water.
Finally,
I
thought,
I'm almost there. Just a little bit more.
Luckily, there was another stretch of
shallow water and I was able to use my legs to
walk. For the last four minutes, I walked
through the water, making my way to the edge
where Wim had just exited. Henny, Wim, and
Konrad were cheering me on, but I ignored
them. I was focused on trying to figure out how
much damage I had done to my body.
I was moving very slowly; my hands and
feet felt like rocks. I had no feeling in them
whatsoever. When I had finally reached the
edge of the river, I tried pulling myself out, but
my arms were incapable of supporting my
bodyweight. I was forced to find a ledge
underwater to push myself up.
After getting out, Wim looked at me and

asked me how I felt. When I responded with
"fine," my teeth chattered and my body shook
from a cold chill. Wim looked at me and I could
tell he knew I was not actually "fine." So, I
admitted to him that I couldn't feel my fingers or
toes.
"Let's do an exercise to fix that," he said.
He stood upright with his legs together and
began swinging his arms back and forth. His
arms crossed over each other and slapped his
back, as if repeatedly making a hugging motion.
"Do this and it will bring the blood back to
your fingertips," he explained.
I copied his demonstration. Henny and
Konrad joined in for the heck of it. After a
minute or so of slapping my hands against my
back, Wim began squatting close to the ground,
and then standing up again. It reminded me of
doings squats in the gym, except his legs were
side by side. The three of us repeated this
motion together.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked after
several more sets of squats.
"Not yet," I replied, "I feel like I'm getting
colder."
"That's the afterdrop. Henny, Konrad, please
take our belongings. Justin and I will jog back
to the house and meet you there."
Wim and I started jogging up the path along
the road. My body felt tight and the motor skills
in my leg were still slow. I felt uncoordinated.
After a minute or so of jogging, my stomach

began turning. A feeling of possibly throwing
up washed over me. My motion sickness was
kicking in, but why? I was so confused.
"Wim, I feel like I may throw up." I admitted.
"Oh," he said, "that's not good. Let us walk."
My nerves settled, but my body remained
cold. Once Wim and I got back to Time-Out, he
made coffee to warm me back up. I also
grabbed one of the sweatshirts from my
suitcase and put it on. By this point, my body
was suffering from uncontrollable shivers.
When Konrad and Henny arrived back at the
house, Konrad suggested that I sit inside his
jeep, which had been sitting in the sun for the
past few hours.
It couldn't hurt,
I thought. I was
willing to try anything.
I brought the coffee into Konrad's jeep and
sat there for the next hour. While the warm air
slowly reheated my body, I regretted how little I
had done to prepare myself.
There I was, in the presence of the master of
the cold, and yet I couldn't last a fifteen-minute
swim in cold water. Disappointment washed
over me, but as my body slowly began to stop
shivering and I regained control, I saw potential.
I saw my first swim as a good reference point to
look back on at the end of the week, to see how
much progress I had made.
When I felt like I had regained my
composure, I exited the car and found Wim.
Everyone was sitting next to the fireplace
discussing dinner plans.

"Why don't we drive to town and get
groceries. Then, afterward we can go to a local
place and buy dinner," Wim suggested.
Everyone thought it was a good idea. We
got into Konrad's jeep and drove 15 minutes to
reach the town of Lwowek Slaski. When we got
there, Wim suggested that I grab the guitar and
my Frisbee from the trunk, so we could play
around in the local park after getting the
groceries. While on our way to the store, we ran
into two young Polish girls. Konrad stopped
and asked, in Polish, if they'd like to join us in
the park in twenty minutes to hear us playing
guitar. They agreed and we continued on our
way to the grocery store.
When we arrived at the store, I left the guitar
and Frisbee outside with Konrad while he
smoked his cigarette. Wim and I looked around
for ingredients that would fit all of our needs.
Henny and Konrad were both vegetarians, so
we would be having meatless meals as long as
they were around. After purchasing the food,
we made our way to the local park, which was
right across the street from the grocery store.
The park wasn't that large, it only took up about
an acre of land, which was more than enough
for our purposes.
Wim sat on the ground in the middle of the
park and took out the cookies and beer from
the grocery bags. The beers were in warm
cans. I'm not really a fan of beer, warm beer at
that. But when he offered one to me I didn't

want him to think that I was rude, so I faked a
smile and cracked it open.
Wim grabbed the guitar and began playing
Spanish love songs. I was unaware of how well
he could play guitar up until this moment. The
girl's from earlier must have heard his singing
because they walked around the corner a few
moments after he had started. They sat down
on the bench and tapped their feet to the
rhythm of the music. Henny, Konrad, and
myself threw around the Frisbee while Wim
continued playing the guitar.
Hearing Wim's music inspired me to want to
do a backflip. It had been a while since I had
attempted one, but I wanted to do something
that could impress Wim. Stupid, I know, but it
was the thought that came to my mind at the
time.
Anyway, I asked Henny to assist me by
being my base. Wim thought it would be a good
idea to put it in the YouTube video, so Konrad
took Henny's camera and began recording.
Within a couple of minutes, Henny understood
the role that I wanted him to play.
On the count of three, I stepped into Henny's
interlocked hands. He lifted me with all of his
force and threw me into the air. Milliseconds
later, I was back on the ground and Wim was
clapping. I high-fived Henny and thanked him
for his willingness to help me. Wim then told us
that he used to do backflips as well. His training
in Yoga made his body more flexible and more

able to perform difficult stunts. I was impressed
and hoped to gain the honor of seeing him do
one some day.
Soon after the two girls stood up to leave,
our stomachs began to rumble. Wim suggested
we drive to a local Pizzeria and grab something
to eat. We returned to our vehicle to put the
groceries and guitar away, and then decided it
would be faster to drive to the Pizzeria. Our
stomachs required sustenance.
The Pizzeria was one of the nicer
establishments I saw in Lwowek Slaski. The
walls were painted light orange and were
covered in large murals of birds and trees. It
had a nice, subtle "jungle" feel to it. I couldn't
read the menu, so I asked Konrad to order me a
pep-peroni and chicken pizza with hot sauce; it
smelled delicious.
While we were eating our pizza, Wim
mentioned that one more person would be
joining our workshop the following day; his
name was Marco. He said that Marco would be
traveling by bus and we would need to pick him
up.
We quickly finished our dinners and decided
it was time to head back; we had a long day.
Wim paid for the pizza and we drove back to
Przezdziedza. The sun had set and the air was
even cooler. We wished each other good night
and went to our respective beds. I laid there for
a few minutes, reflecting on the day's
experience. I pulled out my laptop and tried to

write down and document as much as I could.
Eventually, the weight of my eyelids grew too
heavy for me and I fell into a deep sleep.
Day 2: May 1, 2010
The next morning when I woke up, I heard
voices coming from downstairs. I didn't want to
miss out on any fun so I quickly got dressed
and walked down the steps. Henny, Konrad,
and Wim were sitting at the table by the
fireplace, talking.
"Good morning Justin!" said Wim in a
joyous tone. "Would you like some coffee with
milk and sugar?"
"Sure," I replied. "Thanks."
Wim ran out of the room into the kitchen to
fetch me some coffee. I took a seat across from
Henny at the table.
"Good morning guys. How'd you sleep?" I
asked.
Henny and Konrad replied in unison,
"Good."
Wim came back into the room a moment
later with coffee.
"Here ya go. Here's some sugar and a
spoon if you'd like to add more." He placed
both the sugar and my coffee in front of me. "It
is hot, so be careful."
"Thanks Wim! So what's the plan for
today?" I blew on my coffee to try to cool it off.
"We were talking when you were asleep. We

were thinking about driving to the other side of
town. There are rocks there that we can use
ropes to climb down. It should be fun, yes?"
"Sure, I haven't done something like that in a
long time."
"First, I want you to try some breathing
exercises. Perhaps after breakfast you can go
back upstairs and try them while we clean up
down here."
"Okay," I replied.
"Start off," he continued, "by taking 30
breaths to saturate your body. Then, after your
last breath, take one big breath in and blow it
out completely. Hold it for as long as you can
with no breath in your lungs. When you need to
breathe again, take one big breath in and hold it
for 10 seconds. Close your eyes and maybe
you'll see some lights going on. If it doesn't
happen right away, it will hopefully happen in
the future. After you did that three times, I want
you to try to do 30 breaths and then hold your
breath for as long as you can. Time yourself for
all of these. As you do it more and more, your
time will increase. It is a cleansing exercise."
"Sure, I'll try it. I have a quick question
though. What's the most important part of the
cold exercises? Is it the breathing or the cold
exposure?"
"It is both. The breathing gives you control,
while the cold gives you experience and
conditions the body."
"All right, thanks! I'll do the exercises."

I made myself a bowl of cereal to go with my
coffee. When I finished my breakfast, I went
upstairs to attempt the breathing exercises.
My first three trials of holding my breath
without air in my lungs resulted in the following
times:
1st Trial: 1 minute 33 seconds
2nd Trial: 1 minute 45 seconds
3rd Trial: 1 minute 22 seconds
I didn't see the lights that Wim had
mentioned, but I had little hopes for it
happening the first time I tried it. I then
proceeded to try holding my breath after
inhaling.
I only tried it once, but my time was:
3 minutes 36 seconds
I usually don't hold my breath, but I thought
3 minutes and 36 seconds was good for my
first attempt.
By the time I got back downstairs, Wim was
already done packing the ropes, carabineers
and harnesses into the jeep; everything was
ready. We all jumped in and drove 30 minutes to
the rocks. When we pulled in, Wim explained
where we would be rappelling.
"The rocks that we will rappel down are
hidden behind these trees," Wim said. "We
must climb the path a bit. Then we will see
them."

We grabbed the gear and started hiking.
Twenty minutes later, our group was looking
down a 90-foot drop (27.4 meters).
"Here we are," Wim declared. "This is where
we will rappel. It's about conquering fear. If you
are going to be in the cold, you have to be
willing to look past the danger and focus on the
moment. You must stay attentive or you could
hurt yourself. Be like a cat with precise and
acute reflexes. Prepare yourself."
As encouraging as Wim's speech was, I was
terrified. I've rap-pelled down fake rock walls at
camp before, but not real ones. The camp rock
wall was made out of plastic. Also, with the rock
walls at camp, we were belayed down and
controlled by someone else. In this scenario,
we would all be in control of our own fate. I
noticed that we also didn't bring any helmets.
With one wrong move, I could easily slam my
head against the rock and fall to my death.
I told myself that I had to go down. I didn't
want to look like a coward. What would Wim
think of me if I were too afraid to rappel down a
few rocks? I kept my fears to myself and bit my
tongue. I had no choice but to do as he said
and live in the moment. If I succumbed to any
other emotions, I would jeopardize my safety
and it would be no one's fault but my own.
Wim went down first to test out the rope to
make sure he had tied it correctly.
"It's always scary being the first one to go
down, even I feel it," he said while dangling

over the edge, "but we must accept it if we wish
to gain the riches of success."
With that, he bent his knees and pushed off
the wall with all his strength. He flew down at an
incredible speed. He landed at the bottom in
under 30 seconds, with no injuries whatsoever.
This guy made it look easy.
Henny and Konrad went next. Both of them
went down smoothly. Konrad and I had
discussed before he descended that he too
was afraid. Yet he told me that he was excited to
try something new. To Konrad, this week was
about changing his lifestyle and experiencing
life for all that it had to offer. His words
motivated me. Hearing that someone else was
intimidated by the heights made me feel more
comfortable.
Watching Konrad descend before me made
me feel more capable. When he reached the
bottom, I approached the top where Wim was
sitting. There were no safety ropes to prevent
me from slipping, so I sat on the ground next to
him. I slid the harness on and prepared myself.
"Everything will be okay," Wim assured me.
"You will be fine. You have a strong mind and a
strong soul. I believe in you."
With those words, he tied the carabineer to
my harness and wished me good luck. I slowly
slid my body toward the edge. Wim held the
rope so it wouldn't get snagged on a rock.
"When you're ready, turn around and put
your feet flat against the wall, then lean back."

I did as I was told. He let go of the rope and
my life suddenly came back into my hands. I
pushed myself off the ledge of the rock and
leaned backwards. I positioned my legs so that
they were flat against the wall. I released the
grip on the tight rope with my right hand; my
body suddenly jerked downward. I reflexively
gripped the rope again.
Too fast,
I thought. I
slowly let the rope slide through my fist and
then performed a small horizontal jump off the
face of the wall.
"Good job Justin!" Wim called from the top.
"Well done!"
I smiled at Wim's encouragement, but
remained focused on the wall. I tried lowering
myself down more smoothly by keeping a
steady, but constant release of the rope. After a
few more kicks, I got the hang of it.
"Hey Justin!" I heard someone yell from
behind me. I turned my head and saw that it
was Konrad. "Keep looking over here. I want to
take a picture."
It was hard to stabilize my body against the
rocks; gravity wanted me to continue going
downward, but I held the rope tightly and did
my best to look back and smile at the camera. A
few clicks echoed off of the surrounding walls. I
took that as a sign that I could continue down.
"Thanks!" Konrad yelled in appreciation.
Descending the rest of the way was a piece
of cake. The only extremely scary part about
rappelling down the rock was stepping over the

edge. Everything else was simple. I knew that if
something went wrong, I would have no control
over it. I guess you could say I was comforted
in knowing that I could only control what was in
my power, everything else was left up to God –
in my opinion.
Once my feet touched the ground, a surge of
adrenaline rushed through me. I was itching to
do it again. I disconnected myself from the rope
and yelled up to Wim, "Clear!" to let him know
that the rope was free. I then jogged up the
path, back to the top of the cliff. By the time I
had reached the top, Konrad was already on
his way down again. I noticed Henny packing
up the gear, but when Wim saw me, he asked if I
wanted to go once more.
"Sure!" I yelled in excitement. "That was
awesome!"
When Konrad reached the bottom and had
disconnected himself from the rope, Wim
connected my harness once more.
"Have fun," he said while patting me on the
back. He held the rope, which allowed me to get
into position once more. When he let go, I felt
the weight of my life in my hands again. It was a
powerful feeling. This time, I wanted to try to go
down faster.
Simultaneously, I loosened my grip on the
rope, tucked my knees and pushed off with an
exaggerated force. My body soared toward the
ground, picking up speed on the way down.
Right before I was in the position to make my

final kick, I tightened my grip to slow my body
down. Soon after, I was safely on the ground
once again. What an exhilarating experience!
A few minutes later, we had taken all the
equipment down and packed it back into the
jeep. We then drove back to Lwowek Slaski to
wait for Marco's arrival. It took us an hour or so
before we found the bus station where he
would be arriving. We thought we had missed
him until we checked the bus schedule. It said
we still had another two hours before his bus
arrived. In the meantime, we began playing
guitar and throwing the Frisbee around in the
streets.
While Konrad and I were throwing the
Frisbee, Konrad told me that he used to play
Ultimate Frisbee with an organized group. I
could tell that he wasn't lying because his
throws were fast and accurate. I mentioned my
time playing on Penn State's club team during
my freshman year. It was nice to have
something to relate to with Konrad. He seemed
like a good guy and I hoped I would get to know
him better. I could tell he meant well.
Buses came and went. Around 5:00 PM,
Marco finally showed up, but not by bus. I was
the first to see him, emerging from the bushes
behind us. He told us that he had been walking
around town for a while, looking for us. He had
apparently arrived earlier that day and went to
check out the town hall in his spare time.
Marco had a strong build and an evident tan.

Born and raised in Ecuador, Marco was known
for traveling around Europe to learn about
Yoga. He was searching to find enlightenment.
Marco was a good fellow with a kind soul. He
stood a little shorter than I, but we had the same
haircut. We both had buzzed, black hair. We
could be passed off as brothers, being that we
both have Spanish backgrounds, therefore
Spanish features. His skin complexion showed
he was young and healthy individual.
"So, what now?" I asked after we all had
been acquainted. "What should we do?"
It was Konrad who spoke up, "Well, why
don't we drive to Kar-pacz, where my cousin
lives, and we can find a place to have dinner
there?"
"Sounds good to me," said Marco.
"Sure," said Henny.
"Yes, let us go," Wim chimed in at last.
We walked back to the jeep with our new
friend, Marco, and began driving to Karpacz.
Karpacz was about a 25-minute drive from
Lwowek Slaski. Karpacz was also the town
where Wim and Konrad were hoping to
organize the 5k run in the snow that upcoming
winter.
On the ride over, Wim and Konrad filled
Marco in on their plan and invited him to
participate in the run as well. Marco also had a
slew of questions for Wim about Iceman
training. Marco's questions carried on all the
way until we arrived at a restaurant called Kolo-

rowa in Karpacz. It was a beautiful place with a
very interesting menu. For the first time ever, I
tried beat stew. I typically don't like beats, but
the flavor was amazing.
During dinner, the conversation switched
back to the barefoot snow run. Wim and
Konrad were trying to figure out marketing
plans and specific information. I told them,
"Perhaps I could be of help and try to spread
the word in America. I have a few friends that
may be interested in participating in something
like this."
They seemed excited and continued to
discuss the potential. Wim's goal was to show
the world that anyone could train to do what he
had done. He figured that the barefooted snow
run was an opportunity to get people interested
in pushing past their body's perceived limits. It
was exciting to be involved in this type of talk,
to be apart of something bigger than myself. I
felt very honored to be included.
After dinner, Wim said that we should all
climb Mount Blanc with him. Apparently, in the
first week of August, he was scheduled to
ascend Mount Blanc. He told Marco and I that
we were welcome to join to help encourage our
training. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I
told Wim that I was interested, if he thought it
was possible.
"Of course it is possible," he countered
when I questioned him. "If I can do it, you can
do it. We all are capable. The spirit has no age."

These few words lit up my face. "The spirit
has no age." It is something that Jarrett and I
had believed in wholeheartedly. To hear
someone whom I had never expressed those
views with before, say it on the opposite side of
the world, came as a huge shock to me. It was
comforting to know that someone else had
come to that same conclusion on their own. At
this moment, I knew Wim was something
spectacular. Him and I were the same in a way,
we both wanted to see what life had to offer and
not let any obstacles keep get in our way.
Wim was no longer some celebrity to me. I
saw him for what he really was… Selfless. He
wanted to make a difference in the world and
offer his services to anyone who needed it. He
recognized the potential in his ability and
wanted to share it with the world, not keep it to
himself. He was the type of guy that
competitively challenged people to push
themselves to be better. Everything I saw in
Wim was everything I hoped I would become.
After dinner, we went on a short walk. Wim
and Konrad were trying to locate a hidden path
to a waterfall, but because it was dark and
neither of them had been there in a few years,
they failed. We ended up walking by an old
monastery. Marco took many pictures of the
place. It seemed to fascinate him. Henny kept
quiet and followed along as Konrad and Wim
continued to talk about their 5k event.
Eventually, we all grew tired and deemed it

time to go home. On the drive back, Konrad got
a little lost. We drove in one direction for a
while, and then tried to correct it by taking
Wim's directions. Instead of a 25-minute ride
home, it ended up taking us 2.5 hours.
By the time we arrived back at the house, we
were all exhausted. We had barely enough
energy to drag our bodies to our beds before
passing out. I used my last few minutes of
consciousness to write a journal entry in my
laptop to document the day's events. When I
finished, I hit the power button on my laptop
and closed the lid. I fell asleep as soon as my
head hit the pillow.
Day 3: May 2, 2010
The following morning, I woke up to Wim's face
peeking into the room through the door. "Good
morning Justin," he said.
"Good morning Wim," I replied. "What are
you doing?"
"I just wanted to see if you guys were up
yet."
I looked over to where Marco was sleeping.
He was now sitting up in his bed with his
attention on the door. I also noticed that Kon-
rad and Henny were missing from the room, yet
I couldn't hear any sounds indicating that they
were downstairs.
"I just did some breathing exercises in the
barn with the chickens around me," he

continued. "I feel great now. I want you guys to
try the breathing exercises again. Do them
before you have breakfast. They have a better
effect when you are on an empty stomach."
I nodded and smiled while giving him an
exaggerated thumbs up. He then proceeded to
explain the breathing exercises to Marco, while
I started on my own. My ability to hold my
breath was much better than the day before.
The best time for each were:
Holding Breath
(without air in the lungs): 2
minutes 20 seconds
Holding Breath
(with air in the lungs): 4
minutes 5 seconds
My ability to hold my breath was noticeably
increasing. I didn't want to announce it to Wim
until I had seen the results of the third day. So, I
kept my time to myself and went downstairs to
meet Wim while Marco continued his sets of
breathing.
When I arrived at the bottom of the staircase,
I noticed Wim was the only one sitting at the
table.
"Where's Henny and Konrad?" I asked.
"They went for a bike ride with Konrad's
brother," he answered. "They will be back later.
For now, we eat breakfast and then go for a
swim."
"All right," I said. I was feeling less energetic
than I had the day before. The previous late

night had really worn me out. "Would you like
some coffee?" Wim asked.
"Why not? Hopefully it will help wake me up.
Thank you Wim," I answered.
He jogged into the other room and came
back with a cup of coffee and placed it in front
of me. I thanked him and proceeded to make
myself a bowl of cereal. A few moments later,
Marco came down.
As I was eating my cereal, Marco asked a lot
of in-depth questions about how the breathing
was related to yoga. I knew nothing about yoga
so I ignored the conversation and tried to
imagine what it would be like to climb Mount
Blanc, wearing only shorts and sandals.
"You ready to go for a swim?" Wim asked.
"Huh?" I replied, snapping out of my daze
and back to reality. "Yeah, sure. Sorry I must
have zoned out."
"No problem whatsoever," he replied. "Let's
go!"
I washed out my cereal bowl and ran
upstairs to put on my bathing suit. Wim and
Marco were already outside by the time I had
finished changing. Wim was juggling a soccer
ball in the air with his feet. Marco was using his
camera to record Wim juggling. When Wim saw
me come out, he kicked the ball away and
began whistling.
"Mishu," he said, "time to go!"
We walked out the front gate and closed the
door after Mishu.

"We have to be careful with Mishu," Wim
explained. "There is a law that if a dog bites
someone outside of our property, people can
come and kill the dog."
"Well that doesn't sound too pleasant," I
replied.
"Yes, but it is okay. We will be fine. Mishu is
a good dog"
A few minutes into our walk, we came into a
large opening. To our left was a small mountain.
Wim pointed and exclaimed, "Sometime this
week, we will climb there. We can climb to the
top and meditate. I know a good spot. I have
done it before."
Marco seemed pleased with the idea. He
smiled and used his camera to take a picture of
the mountain where Wim had just pointed.
The four of us, including Mishu, continued
walking until we arrived at the spot where Wim
and I had been a few days earlier. We took off
our shirts and placed them on the ground.
Mishu jumped in first, making a gigantic splash.
Marco recoiled as a few droplets of the cold
water from Mishu's dive, came in contact with
his skin.
"What should I do to try to stay warm?"
Marco asked.
"Focus on your breathing," Wim answered.
"Relax and try to let your body adapt. It will
readjust on it's own."
I checked the water with my thermometer to
compare it to the last time we had jumped in.

The thermometer read 48.5°F (9.2°C). It wasn't
as cold as it had been the first time, but it was
still chilly enough to train in.
Wim jumped into the water, splashing Marco
and I. I then followed Wim into the water. It
stung, just like the last time. It didn't shock me
as much as it had before. Even though I
suffered from a few gasps for breath, I was able
to quickly take control of my breathing,
focusing the airflow through my nose.
"Should I jump in completely?" Marco called
out to us.
"Yes," Wim answered. "Let the whole body
adapt."
With that, Marco took a few steps back and
picked up a running start. Jumping into the
water feet first, he made a small splash. He
came up out of the water gasping for air. He
looked extremely uncomfortable. Immediately,
he began swimming back toward the water's
edge. He seemed to be in a lot of pain.
"Nice and easy," Wim said. "Try to relax.
Easy does it."
Marco slowly pulled himself out of the water
and stood on the shore. He bent over in pain
grabbing his knees.
"My knees, they hurt," he said. "I've had
problems with them for years. As soon as I
jumped in, it felt like needles were being shoved
into my knees."
"Oh, okay. I understand," Wim replied.
"Move around a bit and try to get warm. Jog

where you stand. Is it okay if Justin and I keep
swimming in here to train for a bit?"
"Yes," Marco replied, now running in place.
"That is fine, I will be okay. I'll be warm again
soon. Living in Ecuador, we are not used to
cold temperatures. My body is used to the heat,
not the cold."
"I think you are correct," Wim replied. "We
will try again later. Perhaps next time we will
only go up to your knees. We will find a spot in
the water where you can stand and not have
your whole body exposed. The cold has the
ability to help your knees and circulate your
blood flow. They will improve by the end of the
week. You will see."
While Marco tried to warm his body up on
the land, Wim and I treaded in the water. We
swam in circles for the next 18 minutes. By the
end, my limbs were numb again and felt slower
than normal. I told Wim about my condition and
he suggested we get out. I swam to the edge
and he helped pull me out of the water. Him and
I changed out of our wet swimming trunks into
the extra dry clothes that we had brought with
us. We then began slapping our hands against
our backs like we had the day before.
After five minutes of doing "warm up"
exercises, I felt my after-drop begin to kick in.
This time, I was mentally prepared for it. I saw it
as a challenge. I tried to control my shivering by
taking careful breaths; it proved to be extremely
difficult. Wim became aware of my afterdrop

when he noticed my shivering.
"Let's get back to the house and try to warm
up," Wim directed.
On the way back, Marco asked about my
shivering.
"Why is he shivering like that?"
"It is the afterdrop," Wim answered. "It is
when the warm blood in the body mixes with
the cold blood. It makes you feel cold, even if
you are standing in a warm environment."
"Will that ever go away?" Marco continued.
"Yes, with training. In time, the amount of
time it takes to recover will decrease until it
disappears completely. Right now, I am
experiencing no afterdrop even though I was in
the water just as long as Justin. Even though I
am a lot older than him, my body is still strong.
Remember, the spirit has no age!"
When we got back to the house, Wim asked
me to stay outside in the heat while he made me
some tea. I juggled around the soccer ball while
waiting for him. The shivering was still pretty
violent. Focusing on the soccer ball helped take
my mind off the uncontrollable shakes.
Wim came back outside and gave me my
tea. I passed the soccer ball off to him while I
consumed the warm liquid. Marco began
recording Wim while he juggled the soccer ball.
We were both amazed with Wim's handling
skills. He was performing tricks that I had
learned during my soccer years. I watched him
as he flicked the ball into the air and stalled it

flat on his back, a trick that I loved performing
myself. Watching him play inspired me to join. I
downed my tea and placed the cup on the
bench. Marco told us he wasn't much of a
soccer player, so he watched from the bench
and recorded our playing.
After kicking the ball back and forth for a bit,
Wim and I transi-tioned to juggling the ball in
the air by and passing it off to the other person
without the ball touching the ground. I was so
engaged in the juggling that I didn't even notice
that my shivering had stopped.
"Let's take turns juggling the ball in the air,"
Wim suggested. "Try to get one hundred
touches without the ball hitting the ground.
Don't use your hands or arms. You can go
first."
Flicking the ball up with my right foot, I
bounced it off my knees, feet, head, and
shoulders. Eventually, I had hit the ball 100
times without it touching the ground once.
"Marvelous!" Wim yelled. "My turn!"
I kicked the ball in his direction and he
began. I sat next to Marco on the bench,
watching Wim with locked eyes.
…55…56…57
Every touch that Wim made looked
intentional and graceful. I had an appreciation
for the man. He wasn't just "The Iceman." He
was a guy that loved to have fun doing
whatever he could. I felt a strong connection
when playing soccer with him. We both shared

the love of knowledge and experience, even if it
was for something as simple as playing soccer.
…98…99…100
I stood out of my chair and clapped. "Nice
one, Wim! Well done!"
He took an exaggerated bow, obviously
joking, and rose with a huge grin on his face.
"How are you feeling now?" he asked. "Is
your afterdrop gone?"
"Yeah," I replied. "I think moving around
helped a lot. I didn't even notice it disappear. It's
weird though. During the first ten minutes of the
afterdrop, I felt a strange sensation in my
stomach. It made me feel like I was going to
throw up. Maybe it's because I get motion
sickness sometimes. I inherited it from my
father."
"Oh, well why don't we try an exercise to fix
that? Let us both spin in circles 100 times. We
need to condition the body. When we are done,
we will try to stay on our feet and readjust."
It reminded me of an exercise I had tried
once earlier that year. I had been tired of getting
motion sickness on roller coasters and long car
rides, so I set up an exercise where I would sit
in my desk chair and spin in circles for minutes
at a time. The first time I tried it, I nearly threw
up. It took me five minutes to find my
equilibrium.
The next day, I tried it again. That time, it
only took me two minutes to readjust, but I still
felt sick. The following day, I tried it once more.

After spinning in circles at a rapid pace for 60
seconds, I was able to readjust in only 30
seconds. Not only that, but I also didn't feel like
throwing up anymore. It goes to show that
conditioning the body can go a long way with
determination.
Anyway, I was excited to try Wim's exercise.
It had been a few months since I had last tried
my desk-chair exercises, but I hoped for the
best. Wim and I started spinning in circles,
counting out loud. By the time I got to 50, I was
having a lot of trouble with staying on my feet.
To prevent myself from falling over, I slowed
down the rate at which I was turning.
When I got to 70, I heard Wim yell, "100!" By
the time I reached 99, he had declared that he
was already readjusted. When I stopped
spinning at 100, I grabbed onto the wall to stop
myself from falling over. My world was spinning
and there was nothing I could do to control it. I
fought to keep the strength in my knees to
support my weight. I regretted not continuing
my desk-chair training.
Wim and Marco made their way over to me
and looked into my eyes.
"Your eyes are pointing in different
directions," Marco stated, amused.
"Wow, incredible. What do you see Justin?"
Wim asked.
"Um… everything is blurred together and
spinning very fast," I replied.
"Okay, well relax and try to let your body

readjust," he directed.
Two minutes after I had stopped spinning,
my vision stabilized. I took a seat and tried to
settle my churning stomach with deep,
controlled breathing. I felt beads of sweat drip
down my face and fall off my chin.
"If you continue to practice this exercise in
the future," Wim advised, "I think your motion
sickness will slowly go away."
Yes, in the future,
I thought.
For now, I need
to focus on the cold training.
"Thanks Wim," I said aloud.
Wim stood up and grabbed his rucksack
and bathing suit. "Okay, let's go back to the
water and go for another swim. This time, we
will take it easy and find shallower water."
I was surprised that Wim wanted to go back
to the water again so soon, but I didn't want to
question his methods. So, I grabbed my
backpack, with my wet bathing suit inside, and
walked toward the gate. Marco was right behind
me. We left Mishu behind this time.
On the way back to the river, it started to
rain, but only a light sprinkle. When we arrived
at the new, allegedly shallower part of the river,
we changed back into our wet bathing suits
and prepared to swim.
"Marco," Wim said, "I want you to go in
slowly. If you can, walk in the water until it's up
to your knees. Try to relax through the pain and
let your body adjust. Everything will be okay."
Marco nodded in agreement. The three of us

slowly walked down back into the water. Marco
and Wim went in first; I got in last. The water
was still shocking, but being that it only came
up to my knees, it didn't take long to readjust.
Marco, on the other hand, was bent over again,
clutching his knees in agony. Wim was by his
side, encouraging him.
"You can do it. Let the cold numb your
knees. Everything will be okay. Readjust."
After a couple minutes, Marco's face finally
relaxed in relief. He remained bent over with his
hands resting on his quads, but he seemed
much more at ease.
"Nice job man!" I said earnestly. "Well
done!"
Marco smiled. I could tell from his face that
he was happy with his success.
"Okay," Wim said, "That's good for now.
We'll come back later and do some more. Let's
get back to the house."
We collected our bags and began walking
back to the house through the rain. Marco
walked with head held high, happy with his
accomplishment.
When we arrived back at the house, Marco
and I went upstairs to change. Wim had gone
outside to grab some firewood. By the time I got
downstairs, he had already started the fire. He
placed our bathing suits on the brick walls that
encased the fireplace. Marco was still upstairs
changing.
"Listen Justin," Wim said while gazing into

the fireplace. "I am very impressed with you. I
can see that you are persistent and have the
heart and motivation to do great things. I tell
you this now because I think you will be
breaking records soon. I can tell."
"Wow Wim," I replied, probably blushing,
"That really means a lot to me. Do you really
think Mount Blanc would be a good goal to
shoot for?"
"We shall see. I am being sponsored by
television, so I don't know if they will allow you
to go, but we shall see."
Mount Blanc sounds like a great opportunity
if it works out,
I thought,
but if it doesn't, I will
still have my chance at the snow run in Karpacz.
We heard footsteps and Marco appeared in
the doorway.
"So what's next?" he asked.
"Konrad left his keys," Wim answered, "So, I
think it would be good to take his jeep and go
to Lwowek Slaski to grab more groceries. Then,
if the rain stops, we can go and rappel down
the rocks again. We did it yesterday, but I want
you to experience it too, Marco."
"Okay, sounds great!" Marco replied
excitedly.
By the time we got to Lwowek Slaski, the
rain had stopped. We stopped at two grocery
stores and picked up enough food to last us for
the rest of the week. We also bought a large
portion of assorted chocolates to snack on
between meals. Once we had finished

shopping, Wim drove us back to the rocks that
him and I descended down the day before. We
grabbed our gear and made our way to the top.
The ground was somewhat muddy from the
earlier rainfall, but the rocks looked dry enough
to rappel down without slipping.
When we got to the top, Wim reconnected
the ropes, as he had done the day before, and
tested their safety by rappelling first. After he
had returned to the top of the rocks, it was
Marco's turn.
As Marco slowly descended down the face
of the rock wall, his face lit up with joy. He
seemed to be really enjoying himself.
Eventually, his body disappeared as the
surrounding trees blocked him from view.
I decided to take advantage of the alone time
with Wim. "So, what are you goals now, Wim?" I
asked. "Now that you've completed all of these
world records, what will you do? What will
make you happy?"
"Well," he started, "I no longer have any
desire to break records. I have done all of that;
there is nothing there for me anymore. Now, I
just want to teach. Like how I am teaching you
now. I want to teach you so that you can
become fruitful and teach others."
"Well, I appreciate the opportunity."
"No thanks necessary. I used to charge
people 1400 euros for 3-hour seminars, but I
only asked for a few hundred from you and
Marco because I understand both of your

financial situations. It is an opportunity I do not
want you to miss, so I lowered the price
because I see that you are great people."
"That means a lot Wim, thank you."
"Just take the training I give you and do
your best. Continue on. Next year, when we do
the run in Karpacz, I am going to be running
too. I want you to train so you can beat me. I will
not hold back, but I want you to give me your
best and try to beat me. I believe in you."
"I'm clear!" Marco called up from below.
"Your turn," Wim said looking at me with
compassion. "Have fun!"
I locked myself into the ropes and he held
onto them as he had done before. I stepped
over the cliff and rappelled smoothly to the
bottom.
Several minutes later, the three of us were
sitting on top of the rocks, watching the sunset.
We cracked open the box of chocolates and
enjoyed our delectable treats. Not much was
said. We just sat there and enjoyed each other's
company and the silence that surrounded us.
After about ten minutes, Wim broke the
silence.
"How about we swim once more. Marco, you
can go up to your knees, then Justin and I will
swim 600 meters as we had done before."
Marco agreed. We all agreed that it was a
great idea. We packed our stuff and returned to
the jeep. I felt like the three of us had a stronger
bond. Engaging in these training activities

connected me to these strangers. Even though
I had only known them for a couple days, I felt
like I could trust them with my life. I could tell
that they were genuine and unique individuals.
Both of them had a strong love for knowledge,
wisdom and understanding.
When we got back to the house, Konrad and
Henny still hadn't returned, but that wouldn't
change our plans. We quickly grabbed our
bathing suits and left before the darkness set
in. Soon, we were walking down the familiar dirt
road to the river. When we got to the shallow
portion of the water, Marco pulled out his
camera and handed it to me, asking if I could
record his immersion. I happily agreed.
When he first stepped in, he gasped for air,
but after a few careful breaths, he was able to
regain control. His face contorted in pain as his
joints and knees locked up, but he stood
strong. After five minutes, he came out of the
water and did a few squats to restore the
warmth in his legs.
"They tingle," Marco admitted, "but it's a
good kind of tingle. They feel more loose."
"Fantastic!" Wim yelled, "You are getting
better! Nice one!" He gathered his things and
threw his backpack over his shoulder. "If you
are ready, let's go. Justin and I need to finish
swimming before it gets dark."
Marco switched out of his wet bathing suit
and into his dry clothes. He followed behind us
as Wim and I led the way to our spot.

"Do you mind carrying our things while we
swim?" Wim asked. "It is not very much, just
two rucksacks." "No problem at all," Marco
replied.
As soon as we were ready, Wim and I dove
into the water and began swimming; we didn't
want to waste any time. The cold shocked my
body once again, but it took even less time for
me to adjust. My breaths were normal when my
head emerged from the water; there was no
gasping whatsoever. Wim pulled ahead of me
again with an astonishing speed. He looked like
a swan, propelling himself gracefully through
the water. There was no way I could keep up
with him. I remained focused and stuck with my
steady pace.
This time, I noticed that I was able to keep
the warmth in my body for much longer. There
was no stinging in my fingertips and I had
perfect control over my limbs. The cold did not
set into my body as it had the previous time; I
was comfortable and warm. When Wim and I
reached the end of the 600 meters – him first,
me second – I emerged with triumph. My body
had stayed warm the entire time and I had no
pain in my extremities. I was improving!
I remained excited until the afterdrop kicked
in a few minutes later. I told Wim and he
suggested that we all jog home, not just for my
afterdrop, but also for extra exercise.
My new goal was to decrease the amount of
time it took for my afterdrop to dissipate. After

my first time swimming the 600 meters with
Wim, it had taken me one hour to completely
feel comfortable again. After my second
experience, treading water earlier that day, my
afterdrop had taken 30 minutes to dissipate. I
hoped to see even less time knocked off this
recovery period.
By the time we returned to the house, we
were all physically exhausted. The sun had
completely set and darkness engulfed TimeOut,
save for the few lights that were switched on
inside the house. I sat myself down next to the
fire and waited for my afterdrop to fade away.
After 23 minutes from the time I had left the
water, my body readjusted. I had dropped 7
minutes off of my recovery time. I was ecstatic!
We all had a few bowls of a cereal for dinner
and discussed our progress so far. It was an
encouraging conversation. We reflected on all
that had happened and looked forward to more
amazing experiences.
Before we went to bed, Wim phoned Konrad
to figure out his and Henny's whereabouts.
Konrad mentioned that Henny had returned
home because he had business to attend to. He
also mentioned that he was still hanging out
with his brother and wouldn't be returning for a
couple of days.
When Wim get off the phone, we spoke a bit
longer and then headed to bed. As tired as I
was, I managed to document the day's events
in my laptop before drifting off to sleep.

Day 4: May 3, 2010
I woke up in the morning feeling well and
rested. After lying in bed for a couple of
minutes, I decided to go downstairs and find
Wim to let him know I was up. He was
downstairs checking his email.
"Good morning Wim," I said, announcing my
presence.
"Good morning, would you like some tea?"
Wim offered.
"Sure."
He handed me a cup of tea and we chatted
for a few minutes about the previous day's
events. When I finished my tea, I returned
upstairs to my bed to begin my breathing
exercises.
My best times for each set were:
Holding Breath
(without air in the lungs): 1
minute 9 seconds
Holding Breath
(with air in the lungs): 3
minutes 25 seconds
My breath-holding endurance seemed to
have dropped significantly. I was disappointed
in myself. I began questioning my abilities.
Can I really become like Wim?
I thought.
Maybe yesterday's breathing exercises were a
fluke. This sucks.
I hid my shame and returned downstairs.
Marco and Wim were sitting at the table. Marco
and I ate a bowl of cereal while Wim talked to us

about a new endotoxin experiment that doctors
wanted to try out on Wim. The talk of research
and experiments gave me an idea.
"Hey Wim, do you think you can
consciously heat up a specific part of your
body without being exposed to the cold?" I
asked with hopes.
"I think so," he replied. "I have never tried it.
What do you mean?"
"Well, if I ask you to heat up your hand while
just sitting here, could you do it?"
"I think so. I can try." He stuck out his hand
and placed it on the table in front of me.
"Wait a second. I want to measure your skin
temperature before and after with my infrared
thermometer. I can also record it with my laptop
so we can put it on YouTube."
"That's a good idea!" he exclaimed. "More
footage for YouTube!"
I pulled out my infrared thermometer from
my backpack and turned on my laptop. When
the red light turned on to indicate that it was
recording, I aimed it at Wim's arm and took the
temperature in the palm of his hand. My infrared
thermometer read 30.1°C 86.18°F). I then told
him to do his thing and heat up his hand. Five
minutes later I took the temperature again in the
same spot, it read 32°C (89°F), which was an
increase of 1.9°C (2.82°F)!
The simple feat fascinated me. It showed me
that his ability was real and not some cheap,
parlor trick. He had left his hand on the table in

front of me and warmed it up right there in front
of my eyes. It would be quite the interesting clip
for YouTube.
Wim then encouraged Marco and I to try too.
Yet after five minutes, neither of us could raise
the temperatures in our hands.
"Don't be discouraged," Wim said. "Now
you know the potential exists. Let's grab our
things and go climb the small mountain we
walked by the other day."
Marco and I ran upstairs to change.
A few minutes later, we were walking along
the dirt road again with Mishu by our side. "He
enjoys long hikes," Wim told us.
When we came close to the river, we
diverged from the path and started walking
toward the mountain. As we approached it, I
noticed that it rose several hundred feet into the
air. Large, rocky overhangs cast shadows at
our feet.
I wish I had a small mountain to climb near
my house,
I thought.
It took us about a half hour to reach the top.
Although the climb was steep, the sweat
dripping off our faces indicated a great
workout. Wim led us to a spot at the edge of a
cliff overlooking the entire river. The terrain was
steep and covered with loose rocks. We each
searched and found a spot where we could sit
comfortably without sliding down over the
edge. We sat quietly, gazing out over the valley.
After several minutes, Wim spoke.

"Now we sit and meditate. Try to think about
your goals and your life. Visualize who you
want to be and what you want to become. Try
to understand yourself. Open your mind and let
it run free."
Mishu plopped himself down next to me. His
heavy breathing made it difficult to concentrate,
but after a few minutes, I was able to think
clearly. Here were my thoughts:
I can't believe I'm in Poland. I can't believe
that all my hard work has finally paid off. After
all those weeks of scraping dishes and
completing homework assignments, it was all
worth it. I have found someone who is very
much like myself. His hunger for knowledge and
understanding is magnificent. This is what it
must be like to have someone that inspires you.
After meeting Wim, there's no way I could
settle for anything less than extraordinary. I
have seen the results of the devotion and
dedication he put forth throughout his life and I
want the same for myself. I can't settle for
keeping my head down and accepting
mediocrity. I now believe that it is possible for
one person to make a difference in the world.
Wim's intentions are pure and selfless. I
have never seen a man so vulnerable to
ridicule, yet choose to bare the weight and use it
as motivation. He must have fought through
years of teasing before people treated him with
respect.

I'm eternally grateful for the opportunity he
has given me. I will not squander my potential. I
owe it to Wim to do everything I can to help him
make his dreams come true. I now see him as a
brother, not a celebrity. I want to be like him –
someone who is willing to sacrifice everything
to improve the quality of life for other people in
the world. Even though his message may
appear insane, he will no longer stand-alone.
I will help him spread his message that the
cold is not our enemy, but a key to
understanding our body's full potential. Don't
forget this experience Justin. Nothing will
compare to what you are doing this week. Never
forget the gift that Wim has given you. Use it.
We sat there for an hour before I heard Wim
moving. I opened my eyes and he was looking
back at me, smiling.
"You guys ready to go?" he asked. "We can
go for a swim in the river on the way back."
"Sure," Marco and I replied simultaneously.
We carefully rose from our respective seats
and began making our way back down the
mountain. Mishu ran ahead of us and led the
way. There was a spring in all of our steps as
we jogged down the mountain.
When we reached the bottom, Mishu ran
ahead of us, back to the house.
"Don't worry," Wim said, "Mishu will be
okay. My neighbor will let him back into the

gate."
It only took us a couple of minutes to reach
our swimming spot. We changed into the
bathing suits that we had previously stuffed
into Wim's backpack. Marco expressed his
interest in submerging his body deeper into the
water this time. He seemed excited to push
further. The meditating on the mountain must
have boosted his confidence.
"We won't do anything strenuous right
now," Wim declared. "We just hiked a mountain
and I want us to stay rested for tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will go to Karpacz and climb their
tallest mountain. It will take a long time and a lot
of energy, but for now… we swim. Easy does it.
Justin, I want you to come into the water with
me first. I want you to try holding your breath
underwater."
"All right," I replied taking off my shirt. "Let's
do this."
Wim dove into the water and I followed after
him.
"Good," he said. "Now, I want you to put
your face under the water and try holding your
breath. I'll hold on to you to make sure the
current doesn't take you downstream."
"Sounds good, I'm ready!" I announced.
"One…" he counted. "Two… Three!"
I took a deep breath and dunked my head
under the frigid water. It was really hard to stay
in one place because of the strong currents,
but after grabbing my knees and curling up into

a ball, Wim placed his hand on my back and
stabilized my body. I figured I wouldn't be able
to hold my breath as long as I normally could
because my focus was on staying warm, rather
than holding my breath.
When my lungs grew tight and my head
began to throb, I pulled my face out of the water
and sucked down air.
"1 minute and 45 seconds," Wim said. "Not
bad for your first time. I am impressed!"
I smiled back at him and began swimming to
the edge of the water.
"All right Marco, your turn," Wim called to
him.
As I pulled myself out, Marco lowered
himself into the water. At first he only let his
knees in so that his body could adjust slowly.
After about 30 seconds, he lowered himself in
to the point where the water reached his navel.
Wim stood by him, encouraging him as his
body readjusted. After several minutes had
passed, Marco raised himself out of the water.
"Nice one!" Wim said as he pulled his body
out of the water. "Easy does it. That's the way
to do it. Slowly put more and more of your body
in until all of your body can handle it. Good
work! Let's go back home and eat some
dinner!"
Not much happened once we arrived back
at Time-Out. Wim prepared us a delicious
vegetable and pasta dinner.
"You both did a great job today," he said

while smiling. "Tomorrow we will take on a big
challenge and climb the mountain in Karpacz. It
will be cold up there and hopefully we can find
some snow!"
After dinner, we listened to some music and
looked over the pictures and videos that we
had recorded thus far. Surprisingly, there was a
lot of good footage.
"When I look at our YouTube video in the
future, I will cry," Wim admitted. "I will cry
because I will remember the bond we shared
and the good people that you both are. I love
you guys!"
Wim built a fire and we sat there, enjoying
each other's company for the next few hours.
We laughed and reflected on the memories that
would last us a lifetime.
Eventually, my eyes grew tired and I
required sleep. So I bid Wim and Marco good
night and went upstairs to my room. After
documenting the day's events in my laptop, I
fell asleep, the happiest I had been in years.
Day 5: May 4, 2010
The next morning I woke at 9:00 AM and
immediately ran downstairs to greet Wim.
"We are going to go to Karpacz, are you
ready?" he asked.
"Yeah," I replied, "but is it okay if I quickly
run upstairs, do my breathing, and get a
shower?"

"Yes. Easy does it."
What a peculiar phrase. I took it to mean,
"Take your time." I ran back upstairs and
performed my routine breathing exercises.
My best times were the following:
Holding Breath
(without air in the lungs): 2
minutes 32 seconds
Holding Breath
(with air in the lungs): 4
minutes 32 seconds
Awesome! My breath-holding endurance
was increasing again! I jumped into the shower
and began cleaning myself. It was my first
shower since I had arrived in Poland; I was
filthy. After drying myself off, I packed my
things into my backpack and rushed
downstairs to make myself breakfast. Marco
and Wim spoke next to the fireplace while I ate
my cereal. Shoving spoonfuls of food into my
mouth, I finished in seconds.
"All right!" I announced. "I'm ready! Thanks
for being patient while I prepared. Let's go
climb that mountain!"
The drive from Przezdziedza to Karpacz
only took about 30 minutes with traffic. Along
the way, we listened to music from my laptop. I
had learned from the previous night that one of
Wim's favorite bands was Coldplay, so the
sound of Chris Martin's voice filled the jeep as
we drove to Karpacz.
When we arrived in the town of Karpacz, we

found a place to park and made our way to the
base of the mountain. Wim bought 3 tickets and
handed one to each of us.
"Let's climb!" he said.
We made our way toward what looked like
the entrance. The first part of the incline looked
to be about a 40° angle.
"There are several different areas that we
could potentially climb to," he explained, "but
we will be summiting on Mount Sniezka. The
top is at 1,620 meters, or about 5,315 feet for
you, Justin. We are starting to climb here at 640
meters [2,100 feet], but we still have a long way
to go. Normally, it takes people 3 hours to reach
the top. Let's try to beat that!"
Wim led the way at an incredible pace. He
suited his philosophy well, "the spirit has no
age." He was climbing as if there was no incline
at all. Marco and I trailed behind him. I could tell
he had noticed our slow pace, but he kept his
cool and didn't try to rush us.
On the way up, we only stopped once to
take a picture. For the first hour, the
temperature was really warm. It was about 77°F
(25°C) that day. The amount of heat we
generated resulted in a heap of sweat. Marco
and I were having a lot of trouble, but Wim
continued to seem perfectly fine.
Eventually, the temperature began to drop.
The sweat that had accumulated on our bodies
began to freeze and chill our skin. It was hard to
focus on climbing while our bodies were

fighting to stay warm. So, Marco and I pulled
out our jackets and continued on.
Soon after, a wall of fog greeted us. A few
minutes into the fog and we finally saw our first
snow! It was to the side of the stone path,
mixed in with some dirt. I was amazed to be
seeing snow near the end of spring.
The fog became thicker, lowering visibility.
Patches of snow filled the ground around us.
We formed a single-file line to conform to the
narrowing of the path. At one point, we were in
danger of slipping off the mountain by walking
over a slick stone edge covered in snow. We
took intentional, careful steps to make sure that
we would make it safely across, but Marco and I
were still intimidated by the imminent danger.
Luckily, none of us fell to our deaths.
As the path opened up, we passed a
restaurant on our left.
"Perhaps we can come back here on the
way down and grab a bite to eat," Wim
suggested. "For now, let's keep on!"
Several hundred feet higher, and we were
finally standing atop Mount Sniezka. I wasn't
sure if it was completely accurate, but my
infrared thermometer told me that the air was
32.5°F (.3°C). Visibility was low due to the vast
amount of fog. I felt like I was in a dream or
some sort of limbo. The terrain resembled that
of a frozen wasteland, consisting of rocks and
frozen dirt. Sadly, snow was nowhere to be
found. The wind must have blown it off the side

of the mountain.
After walking around for a little, we noticed a
sign that read "Czech Republic."
"Oh, I think this is the border between
Poland and the Czech Republic," Wim
announced. "Watch this!" He began jumping
back and forth between Poland and the Czech
Republic. After doing this several times, he
stopped abruptly and pointed, "Look, now we
see some air. There's a good panorama."
I looked to where he was pointing and
noticed the fog breaking. There was an area,
the size of a football field, covered in loose
rocks.
"Let's take off our shirts and change into
shorts so we can do some training, yeah?" he
advised.
We placed our stuff down and undressed.
We did a few poses and recorded the shots
with my laptop and Marco's camera. Wim also
performed his infamous peacock on a rock. The
peacock, as Wim explains, is when you use one
of your arms to hold your entire body off of the
ground horizontally. It is called the peacock
because it's supposed to look beautiful and
majestic. It also takes a lot of strength and
balance. Marco and I both attempted the
peacock, but we could only slightly succeeded
by holding the pose with two arms.
We hung out on top of Mount Sniezka,
shirtless, for about 20 minutes before Wim
decided to head back. Our growling stomachs

must have given away that we were hungry. We
put all of our layers of clothing back on and
made our way down to the restaurant.
Along the way, we passed a large patch of
ground that was covered in snow. Wim came
up with an interesting idea.
"Why don't we get back into our shorts, then
sit and meditate in the snow for the camera. It
can be in the YouTube video! Also, it will be
great training!"
Marco and I loved the idea, so we happily
agreed.
I set my laptop on top of a flat rock and
pushed record. Wim had already been sitting in
the snow for a few minutes by the time Marco
and I undressed. It had been almost half a year
since I had last walked through the snow
barefooted.
Climbing up the slope to sit in the snow was
a daunting task. The place where Wim advised
us to sit was on a slope of about 45°. I slipped
numerous times while attempting to get into
position, cutting my bare feet and knees with
little chucks of ice. After building a leveled area
for myself to sit on, I was finally able to relax –
well, as much as you could relax when sitting
half naked in the snow.
I looked down and noticed that Marco had
just gotten into position below me. His body
was shaking violently. My body began to shiver
as well. With each gust of wind, my body
tensed. It was extremely uncomfortable. Yet

somehow, Wim was sitting perfectly still.
"Let's sit here for five minutes," he
announced. "Try not to move."
For the next five minutes, I tried to slow my
breathing and focus on staying warm. I lost
concentration occasionally when strong gusts
of chilled air blew against my back.
Eventually, the five minutes were up. I
couldn't feel my butt cheeks anymore, so I used
them as my way of sliding down the slope.
"I can't feel my feet," Marco said.
"Me neither, they're numb!" I replied.
"Everything will be okay," Wim said
comfortingly. "We'll go to the heated restaurant
and warm up our feet and bodies. I'll also buy
us hot chocolate."
After putting the layers of clothes back on to
our bodies, we continued back down the
mountain toward the restaurant. Being that I
couldn't feel my feet, I paid careful attention to
each step that I took. I didn't want to make one
wrong move and slide down the slide of the
mountain.
Finally, the restaurant came into our sights.
"Awesome!" I yelled.
We made our way to the wooden building
and walked inside. The establishment was
beautifully furnished with fine wooden tables
and a large selection of food items. Marco and I
placed our feet next to the heater to warm up
our shoes while Wim ordered us food.
Over dinner, Marco and I discussed how our

feet felt when we were climbing through the
snow. Wim chimed in with a story.
"I used to train people to walk through the
snow. The first time they would put their feet in,
they would only last for a few seconds. I then
made them go inside and warm up. Ten
minutes later, after their feet were back to
normal, I made them come back outside and
walk through the snow again. This time, they
were able to walk for ten times as long. It is a
mixture between a certain mindset and
conditioning. Your ability to walk barefoot
through the snow will come with practice. Trust
me."
After dinner, we gathered our belongings
and threw on our jackets. We walked back into
the cold air and made our way back down the
sloped path. Our stomachs were full and our
thirst for adventure was quenched.
We reached the bottom 90 minutes later.
Instead of returning home, Wim suggested that
we go to the waterfall that him and Kon-rad had
previously tried to find the other night. Marco
and I didn't mind, so we got back into the jeep
and went waterfall hunting. Wim asked the
people around town if they knew where it was
located. No one could give us the correct
directions. Eventually, Wim settled on resorting
to his memory and retracing the steps that he
made the last time he had been to the waterfall.
Finally, after about an hour of searching, we
were in the presence of the "wooooshing"

sound of the waterfall. It was hidden at the end
of a winding path, inaccessible to vehicles.
Trees on all sides surrounded the waterfall. The
only exposed part to sunshine was the waterfall
itself. The rays of light reflected off the water's
surface and lit up the scenery. The beautiful
view looked like it belonged in the Garden of
Eden.
"The water that flows down from Karpacz is
usually very cold," Wim stated in a matter-of-
fact tone. "Much colder than the water in the
river. This will be good training for the both of
you."
I grabbed my thermometer out of my
backpack and approached the water. The
thermometer read 5.1°C (40°F).
"Okay," Wim began. "Marco, Justin and I will
go into the waterfall first and stand beneath it
for a while. Our bodies will be completely
submerged in the high-pressured water. When
we come out, I want you to meet us on the giant
flat rock and meditate with us for a bit."
Marco nodded in understanding.
I looked over at the waterfall. The water
seemed to be coming down pretty fast,
smashing into the rocks below. I'll admit I was
slightly afraid of my body being ripped to
shreds by the pressure of the waterfall. I
checked out Wim's face; it was completely
calm. He seemed extremely sure of himself, as if
he knew everything was going to be okay. So, I
trusted his judgment and let go of my worries.

Marco pulled out his camera and turned it
on. He set it on a rock facing the spot where the
action would take place and clicked "Record."
He gave a thumbs up to Wim and I, signaling
that it was time for us to go out into the
waterfall.
Wim and I decided to go out barefooted,
which probably wasn't the best idea, but it was
our only option. He led the way, stepping down
into the cold, rushing water. I waited for him to
make his way to the first rock platform before I
stepped out. When I saw that he had made it
safely, I stepped down into the water. The
current was much stronger than I had
anticipated. I struggled to maintain my balance
on the slippery surface below my feet. Several
times, I lost my footing, but I always caught
myself before going down.
Right as I was taking my final step to stand
on the giant rock platform that Wim was
standing on, I slipped. The water took away all
of the friction between my feet and the rock.
There was nothing I could do but wait to fall. My
feet continued to slide. After spinning 180°
degrees, my right foot found itself against a dry
part of a rock that was sticking out of the water.
I had found friction again! I took one more
careful step to bring myself to Wim's side.
Together, we walked through the rushing
water and positioned our bodies directly below
the waterfall. My knees caved several times as I
tried to maintain my balance against the brute

force of the water. I felt as if thousands of
needles were repeatedly piercing my skin, but I
stood my ground. I opened my eyes wide
enough to see Wim standing by my side, firm as
a rock. This man was a beast, stronger than
anyone I had ever seen. Seeing Wim like that
gave me renewed strength. I tightened my
muscles and stood solid. Then, all of a sudden,
the pain stopped and my body adjusted. I was
warm again.
A moment later, I felt someone tugging on
my arm. I opened my eyes to see that it was
Wim pulling me from the waterfall. It was time to
move on to meditating on the rocks with Marco.
I pulled myself free of the waterfall's grasp and
followed Wim to the rock. I slipped several more
times, but luckily Wim was there to catch me.
He held my hand, preventing me from being
carried away by the strong current.
Once we arrived at the flat rock where Marco
was now seated, he let go of me and took a seat
beside him. I sat on the edge of the rock and
tried to scoot over to sit closer to Wim and
Marco, but the water picked up my light body
and slid me farther than I wanted to move. Once
again, Wim was there to catch me and seat me
beside him.
Exhausted, yet feeling accomplished, I
closed my eyes and began to meditate. The
sound of the running water made it easy for my
mind to float free. I imagined myself back in the
waterfall. When I was standing there, it felt like

the whole world was pressing down on me. At
first, I had tried to fight it, stand up against it,
but it wasn't until I had accepted the situation
did I come to understand it. I realized that
accepting the cold was the only way to survive
in it. Resistance caused suffering and pain,
while acceptance provided wisdom. It was my
most important realization yet.
After five minutes of meditating on the rock,
Wim announced it was time to go. We all
carefully removed ourselves from the slippery
surface and returned to our dry clothing.
"Woo hoo!" I yelled.
"That felt great!" Marco admitted.
Wim looked at us and patted us both on the
back saying, "I'm proud of you guys! Nice one!"
As we drove back to Time-Out, we all felt a
sense of accomplishment. We had summited
on Mount Sniezka and had a great experience
at the waterfall. We listened to Coldplay's
"Yellow" on my laptop as we drove into the
sunset. It was the perfect way to end a perfect
day.
Day 6: May 5, 2010
The next morning, I performed my breathing
exercises before going downstairs. I felt
energized and wanted to get a head start.
My best times were:
Holding Breath
(without air in the lungs): 2

minutes 40 seconds
Holding Breath
(with air in the lungs)): 5
minutes 6 seconds
Those were my best times yet! I ran
downstairs and told Wim the good news. He
was excited to hear that I had been able to hold
my breath over five minutes (with air in my
lungs) after only a few days of practice.
"So, what do you do when you hold your
breath?" he asked. "What do you feel?
"Well," I started, "at first I do the 30 breaths
like you asked me to. Then, when I hold my
breath, I feel nothing for a long time, no
pressure, no signs telling me that I should stop,
nothing. After a while, at about four minutes,
tightness appears in my chest. From that point
on, I know that I can last another minute or so
by fighting that tightness."
"Well then," he replied looking somewhat
disappointed, "I am glad you are seeing results,
but I think you are going about it the wrong
way. You do not want to force it. Forcing can
hurt you and take you back a few steps. Focus
on relaxing; don't force it."
Hearing that I was doing it wrong was a
shock to my ego, but I felt comforted knowing
that I didn't have to force it anymore. I figured
that the tightness was natural and I just had to
push through it, but I was wrong. I encoded his
advice in my memory and went into the kitchen
to fetch myself a bowl of cereal and some

coffee.
When I walked into the kitchen to grab
myself a bowl, I ran into Marco holding a frying
pan.
"Good morning Justin," he said. "I was
thinking about making some french toast.
Would you like some?"
"Sure! Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I should be okay. Thank you for offering."
During breakfast, Wim made an
announcement.
"Today, we are going to take it easy. We had
a long day yesterday, so I figure that we
deserve to relax. I'll light a fire and we can just
hang out around the house."
That sounded good to me. My body was
very sore from standing beneath the waterfall
the day before. Resting would do me some
good. It would also give me the opportunity to
work on the You-Tube video with the
accumulated footage.
After breakfast, Wim told me that he and
Marco were going to go to the mountain and do
some more meditating. I told them I would be
okay staying at the house to work on the
YouTube video, so they went on without me. I
had never worked with video-editing software
before, so it took me a while to get the hang of
it.
After a few hours had passed, Wim and
Marco returned. When they got back, Wim
exclaimed that Marco did his first full-body

immersion for a full minute! I was sad to have
missed it and also missed out on an
opportunity to go in the water, but I had an
important job. I needed to finish the YouTube
video to help promote Wim's workshops.
Time flew by that day. I spent several hours
working on the video while Wim and Marco just
talked. For dinner, Wim cooked again and made
a marvelous meal. Konrad had stopped by
earlier on in the day and told us that he was on
his way to go speak with his cousin about the
barefoot run. He had also dropped off a couple
bottles of wine as gifts. Therefore, wine was
served at the dinner table.
After dinner, I went back to work on the
video. Marco went to sleep early and Wim
stayed out to continue sipping on wine. We
talked for a good while about the potential of
cold changing the world. Eventually, the topic
of Mount Blanc was brought up.
"You should do it, Justin," he said. "Join me
on the climb to Mount Blanc."
"But you said it may be difficult with the
television crew organizing it," I replied,
confused.
"Ahh, don't worry about them. If you can
raise the money to get yourself to Europe and
pay for your gear to climb, I will make it happen.
I am The Iceman; they will have to listen to me.
You are my friend and I want you there. We are
like brothers."
"Brothers?" I asked.

"Yes, spiritual brothers. We both have
similar visions. We want to change the world.
People want to leave it the way it is and live
ignorantly, yet we have wisdom and can show
them a better way of living. We have the power
to change the world. All my life, I have been
ridiculed. I was called crazy, and insane! But
now, with this new research developing about
me being able to control my auto-nomic
nervous system, they won't laugh anymore. It's
a deep and powerful technique. My way of
living is redefining science!"
"Well Wim, if you really want me to be there,
and you are serious about this, I will do
everything in my power to make sure that I can
come back to Europe the first week in August. I
will climb Mount Blanc with you."
"Yes!" Wim exclaimed. "Spiritual brothers!"
We embraced one another, as if we were
family.
"I love you man!" he said with tears in his
eyes. "Thank you for believing me. Thank you."
"I love you too, Wim," I said with a smile,
holding back tears of my own. "Thank you for
showing me that there are things in this life that
are worth pursuing. I will do everything in my
power to help you spread your message."
We hugged once more and he wished me
good night.
"Tomorrow we will do more training," he
said. "Marco will swim 50 meters in the cold
water. You and I will swim 1 kilometer together!

As brothers!"
I continued to watch the doorway as his
footsteps faded up the stairs.
That man is going
to make history,
I thought.
He is going to
change the way we live our lives. And from this
day on, we will call each other spiritual brothers.
I decided to stay downstairs and work on
the video a bit longer before going to bed. Half
an hour after Wim went to bed, the power went
out. The eeriness of the pitch-black house
freaked me out. I used my laptop's screen as a
flashlight to find my way to my bedroom. After
typing up my journal for the night, I closed my
eyes and fell asleep.
Day 7: May 6, 2010
The next morning I awoke and immediately did
my breathing exercises, however, I didn't
bother to record the time because I didn't want
to have any reason to force myself. Instead, I
took my time and relaxed. I still hadn't seen the
lights that Wim had talked about, nor did I break
any time records, but I did feel much better
when I was finished. I felt relaxed and peaceful.
I didn't know if that's what was supposed to
happen, but I accepted it for what it was.
When I went downstairs, Marco and Wim
were already up and talking to each other. I
prepared myself a bowl of cereal and joined in
on the conversation.
"So what's the plan, Wim?" I asked.

"Well, we're going to do things a bit
differently than I had explained last night," he
said. "Instead of doing the kilometer swim, we
are just doing to do 800 meters, nice and easy.
We'll take baby steps. If you can do 800 meters
with no problem, then we will move on to one
kilometer. As for Marco, we decided that he's
going to swim against the current with his
whole body exposed. It will be good training for
the both of you."
"All right," I said. "Sounds like a good idea.
When are we going?"
"When you finish your cereal," he replied.
While I finished my breakfast, Marco and
Wim left the room to change into their bathing
suits. When I was finished, I placed my bowl in
the kitchen and ran upstairs to change too.
Fifteen minutes later, we were standing in
front of our familiar swimming spot. Wim and
Marco had gone into the water to swim against
the current. I was watching from above, holding
Marco's camera. Marco seemed to be doing
really well in the 9.8°C (49.64°F) water.
After five minutes of swimming against the
current, Marco's face contorted into an
interesting expression; it looked like
determination. Wim also noticed the expression
and began to say things I didn't understand –
later I found out that he was reciting Sanskrit
mantras from memory as a form of
encouragement. It seemed to give Marco
strength. He was able to last for another five

minutes in the cold water!
After Marco had swum to the edge and dried
off, it was my turn. I dove into the water and
treaded with Wim. When Marco told us that he
was ready to walk along the river, Wim
announced that it was time to swim our 800
meters.
"Let's go!" he yelled. We began swimming.
Once again, Wim pulled ahead of me and
maintained a steady pace. I remembered his
advice about not forcing, and continued on at
my own pace. Throughout the entire swim, my
body remained warm and my breathing was
relaxed.
When I had reached the end of the 800
meters, my body was exhausted. In total, it took
me 16 minutes to swim 800 meters. There was
nothing wrong with my body, heat-wise. I was
just physically exhausted. Other than that, I felt
great. My fingers felt fine with no numbness at
all. The same was true for my toes.
As I emerged from the water, I remembered
that my afterdrop would come on quickly.
Therefore, I asked Wim if we could jog back to
the house in an attempt to suppress my
afterdrop. Sadly, it didn't work. My afterdrop
kicked in completely by the time we were
halfway home. My shivering was
uncontrollable.
The afterdrop lasted a total of 32 minutes.
That's significantly more time than my last
afterdrop episode, but you must also consider

that we added another 200 meters to the
original swim.
When all was said and done and I was warm
again, I reflected on my achievement. I had seen
substantial progress. I felt more comfortable
while I was in the water. There had been no
pain or discomfort. I realized accepting the cold
worked was working to my advantage. It gave
me the ability to generate more heat to stay
warm longer.
When we got back to the house, Wim lit a
fire. After talking for a bit, we realized that we
were pretty hungry. Wim suggested that we
catch a taxi into town and eat at the Pizzeria
again. We would have taken the jeep, but
Konrad took it with him to go visit his cousin in
Karpacz.
Thirty minutes later, we were being dropped
off at the Pizzeria in Lwowek Slaski. Apparently,
the taxi driver was a friend of Caroline's, and
told Wim that he would be willing to pick us up
in a couple of hours to take us back. He said
that we didn't even have to pay him until he had
returned us home. We took him up on his offer
and asked him to pick us up in two hours.
We made our to the restaurant and
discussed other possible ways to promote the
barefoot-snow run in the winter. While we ate
our pizzas, Wim told us about how happy he
was to have us as friends.
"I really think of you guys as my family.
Thank you for being here."

After dinner, we made our way back to the
taxi and rode back to Time-Out. It was about
9:00 PM by the time we arrived back at the
house. I was still exhausted from the earlier
swim. We spoke around the fire for a bit, but
soon my eyelids were too heavy to keep them
open. I said goodnight to Marco and Wim and
went upstairs to my room. I quickly recorded
the day's events in my journal, and then
promptly went to bed.
Day 8: May 7, 2010
The next morning, I fixed my bed and went
downstairs to meet Wim and Marco. I always
seemed to wake up later than they did. Perhaps
I still wasn't used to the time change. Either
way, I never woke up later than 9:00 AM, which
wasn't too bad.
Wim and Marco were eating breakfast and
drinking tea when I entered the room. Wim
suggested I do my breathing exercises outside
in the nice, warm sun. I took him up on his
advice. I walked outside and sat on a nearby
bench.
Performing the breathing exercises felt
much more relaxing than they had the first day.
After each set of breath holding, I felt more alert
and energetic, but also centered and controlled.
Since I had implemented the "don't force" rule,
it didn't feel like a chore anymore. It was quick
and easy to do, with no effort required

whatsoever.
Walking back inside after finishing my
exercises, I noticed that Wim and Marco's
teacup was empty.
"Would you like more tea?" I asked, already
reaching for their cups.
"Yes, thank you," they both replied.
I took their glasses and made more tea while
I also made myself cereal. While fixing up
breakfast, I came up with an idea. When I got
back to the breakfast table with the tea and
cereal, I told them my idea.
"Hey, so why don't we go back to the river
and swim one more time before we go. Along
the way, we can stop somewhere, if there is a
field close by, and throw a Frisbee around.
Then, perhaps we can go to the river and have
some fun by throwing the Frisbee at each other
and catching it while jumping into the water."
"Great! Nice one!" Wim exclaimed
enthusiastically.
"Okay, let's do it," Marco replied while
smiling.
While I finished up breakfast, Marco and
Wim went upstairs to change.
"We'll meet you outside," they said,
grabbing the Frisbee that was sitting on top of
the piano.
I finished my bowl of cereal and took it to the
kitchen. Running upstairs to change, I saw Wim
through my bedroom window, throwing the
Frisbee with Marco.

In just a matter of days,
I thought,
I have
been to come into a new country and build
friendships that will last a lifetime. I now have
ties with amazing, intellectual pioneers. I can't
believe that it all started from simply watching a
television show featuring "The Iceman." Wow.
I finished changing, gathered my things, and
ran outside to meet my friends. We walked
along the dirt road toward the lake, one final
time. Later that day, Marco would be getting on
a bus and moving on to his next adventure.
I'm
going to miss this,
I thought.
Eventually, we arrived at a giant field with
two soccer nets on each end.
"Here is a good place," Wim declared.
We spread out across the field, throwing the
Frisbee back and forth. The field was filled with
thousands of dandelions. What kind of insect
loves dandelions? That's right… Bees. Along
with the thousands of dandelions, there were
hundreds of bees everywhere we stepped.
Simply throwing around in the field turned into
a game of "Don't stay in one place too long or
you'll get stung… quick throw the Frisbee!" We
had a lot of laughs. Luckily, no one was stung.
After an hour of throwing, we decided to
move on to the river and swim one last time.
When we got to our normal swimming spot, I
took out my laptop and placed it in a position
where the camera would be facing us. When
everything was ready, I took the Frisbee and
stood next to my laptop, perpendicular to the

spot where we usually jumped in.
"On the count of three, Wim, I want you to
run and jump. I'll throw the Frisbee to you.
Ready?" I asked.
"Yeah! Go!" he yelled back to me.
"Haha, okay. One. Two. Three!"
Wim sprinted toward the edge at full speed
and leapt forward. I threw the Frisbee and it just
missed his outstretched arms.
"So close!" he said as his head emerged
from the water. He threw the Frisbee back to
me. "I want to try again!"
As Wim swam back to the edge, Marco dove
in. I threw the Fris-bee to him, but he also
narrowly missed it. We couldn't seem to get the
timing right.
We each took turns throwing the Frisbee at
each other. After fifteen minutes of throwing
and catching, I was the only one to catch it. We
probably would have tried for longer if it weren't
for the water being so cold. It's not that the cold
was affecting us in the way that we were losing
heat, but whenever we would dive in, the
impact from hitting the water would sting our
sides and backs; it was extremely painful.
After catching the Frisbee, I decided to stay
in for a bit and swim around. Before leaving
Poland, I wanted to feel the afterdrop one last
time. I enjoyed having the ability to just walk
down the street and jump in a freezing cold
river. I was going to miss it.
I stayed in the water for about fifteen

minutes. Marco jumped in once more and swam
around for a little too. It was relaxing, not
having to think about the cold and just enjoy
swimming. We had come a long way from our
first day of training. It was comforting to know
that progress had been made.
Five minutes after getting out of the water,
during our walk home, my afterdrop kicked in. I
welcomed it. Even though it was
uncomfortable, I now looked at the afterdrop
with gratitude. Like the burn in the muscles that
you receive after a long day of working out, the
afterdrop let me know that I had pushed my
body to its limits and was in the process of
recovering.
As we approached Time-Out, we heard a
loud horn from behind us. We turned to see it
was Konrad in his jeep. He met us back at the
house and told us that his trip to Karpacz was a
success. His cousin was going to let us hold
the barefoot race in Karpacz! This was great
news!
I went inside to bathe myself and clean off.
In the tub, I reflected on everything that had
happened over the last few days. I thought
about the cold swims, climbing up to Mount
Sniezka, and sitting in the snow. I had gained a
lot of experience and had significantly
improved as far as my Iceman training goes.
I also recognized that I had a long way to go
if I wanted to catch up to Wim, but I was willing
to keep trying. I didn't want to leave my training

in Poland. I hoped that this Mount Blanc
challenge would force me to continue
practicing daily. The first week of August was
only a short three months away. I finished up
my bath and went downstairs to work on the
YouTube video some more.
Konrad noticed me working on it and asked
me to show him my unfinished video. He was
amazed.
"You guys sat in the snow?" he asked with
excitement in his voice. "That's incredible!
Wow, you are my heroes."
After watching the video, Konrad began
taking pictures of the house. He explained that
he wanted to take pictures of Time-Out back to
Holland to show his friends. During this time,
Marco was upstairs packing his stuff. It was
almost time to take him to the bus stop in
Lwowek Slaski.
When Marco was finished packing, we all
met outside in the front yard. Konrad was
holding a bottle of alcohol and a lit candle.
"I want us to try something," he said. "I am
going to put hot wax on the cap of this bottle to
seal it. I want us all to use our fingertips to seal
the wax. Then, when we have completed the
barefoot run in Karpacz, we can come back
here and drink this bottle together."
We all thought it was a good idea. He poured
the hot wax around the lid and we all took turns
pressing our fingers against the wax. It was a
nice, sentimental gesture by Konrad.

We arrived in Lwowek Slaski 45 minutes
before Marco's bus showed up. In the
meantime, we threw around the Frisbee in the
streets. Konrad took more pictures of us to
keep as memories. Wim and I also tried a few
breakdancing moves in the street. He did the
peacock while spinning in circles, while I did
my two-handed peacock and walked forward. It
was a nice, relaxing way to end our time
together.
When Marco's bus arrived, we were sad to
say goodbye. We had planned to see him again
in the future, so it wasn't really goodbye, just a
temporary "see you later!" We each took turns
hugging Marco and wishing him the best of
luck on his upcoming adventures. As the doors
closed and the bus pulled away, we waved
goodbye to our new friend.
Wim, Konrad and myself walked back to the
jeep and drove home. When we arrived, we
began packing up the jeep for our return to
Amsterdam. Wim and I took a break from
packing to record his voice for the YouTube
video. With the voice track completed, I only
needed another half hour to complete the
video. I was ecstatic.
When we had finished putting our things
into the jeep, Konrad placed the wax-sealed
bottle on top of the cabinet, next to the
fireplace. As we got in the car, we said our
goodbyes to Mishu and Time-Out one final time.
It was a long drive back to Amsterdam. We

left the house just as the sun was setting. We
stopped at several gas stations and rest stops
along the way. Wim and Konrad took turns
driving. I would've driving too, but I didn't know
how to drive stick in a manual vehicle. I didn't
mind though, it gave me the opportunity to
finish working on the video in the backseat.
When it was polished and set up the way I liked
it, I closed my laptop and took a nap.
Day 9: May 8, 2010
I awoke to the sound of a car's horn. I looked
outside the window; we were back in
Amsterdam. My watch read 6:55 AM. In about 13
hours and 10 minutes, I would be on a flight
departing from Amsterdam Schiphol to
Frankfurt, Germany. It was almost time to go
home. At 7:15 AM, we stopped on the side of
the road and Wim got out.
"What are we doing?" I asked.
"I am dropping Wim off," Konrad replied.
"He has something to attend to so he won't be
hanging out with us for the rest of the day."
My heart sunk.
"I am sorry," Wim said. "Konrad will take
care of you until your flight leaves. He'll make
sure that you get to the airport on time too. I
wish I could stay, but I need to go see my
family."
"It's okay Wim," I said, looking him in the
eyes and forcing a smile. "I understand."

Konrad and I got out of the car and helped
unpack Wim's belongings. Wim and I embraced
each other one last time. As he turned to leave,
he looked back at me and said, "Goodbye my
spiritual brother. I will see you again on Mount
Blanc!"
With that, he turned away and walked
behind a building.
"Goodbye brother," I muttered under my
breath.
"All right," Konrad said. "Let's go!"
We got back into the car and began driving.
Before going back to Konrad's house, he
mentioned that we would need to stop by his
friend's to pick up a key. I didn't know what the
key was for, but he said it was important.
We drove 25 minutes to a town called
Harlem, where his friend lived. We stopped at
his house and tried knocking at the door, but
no one answered. He tried calling his cell
phone – still nothing.
"Come on, let's go find a coffee shop and I
will buy you some coffee," he said, seeming
frustrated that his friend was unavailable.
We found a coffee shop on a nearby corner
and took a seat. Kon-rad struck up a
conversation with the owner while I reviewed
the video of Poland on my laptop. When we had
finished our coffee, Konrad tried calling his
friend once more. This time, he answered.
Apparently he was very sick and couldn't get
out of bed. To avoid catching the sickness,

Konrad told his friend that he would come back
for the key at another time.
"I have an idea," Konrad said. His eyes lit
up. "Do you want to go for a cold swim?"
"Um…sure," I said hesitantly, "but where?"
"You will see."
We jumped into his jeep and drove thirty
minutes back to Amsterdam. We made a turn
and then drove another ten minutes toward an
area that I was unfamiliar with. The landscape
opened up and the ground flattened out. In the
distance, I could see water.
"It's the North Sea!" Konrad said, revealing
the surprise. "Let's go!"
We grabbed our bathing suits, towels, and
Konrad's camera from the back of the jeep and
made our way toward the water.
"I think it would be nice to make a video for
Wim," he thought out loud. "We can record us
going into the water to show him that even
though he is not around, we will still continue
training."
"Okay Konrad," I thought it was a silly idea,
but I figured Wim would probably love it.
After changing into our swimming trunks,
Konrad took his camera out of its bag and
turned it on. He laid his shirt on the ground and
placed the camera on top of it.
"Okay," he said, obviously excited. "Let's
go!"
We ran out into the ocean and swam around
for a good ten minutes. The water was freezing,

but it was nothing compared to the frigid
waterfall at the base of Karpacz. Although I
hadn't expected to do anymore Iceman training
before leaving Europe, it was a nice surprise.
We changed back into our dry clothes and
walked to a nearby restaurant located on the
shore.
"How about I buy you cup of hot chocolate
and then we go, okay?" Konrad asked.
"Why not?" I replied.
We entered the restaurant barefooted. I felt
bad bringing sand into the establishment, but
when I noticed that the floor was already
covered in sand, I stopped worrying. There was
a fireplace sitting near the giant windows facing
the North Sea.
After Konrad had bought two hot
chocolates, we made our way to the fireplace
and sat beside it. We lifted our sandy, wet feet
up and placed them on a footrest near the open
flames. As Konrad and I sipped on our hot
chocolate, we looked out the window, taking in
the beautiful landscape. At that moment, life
seemed perfect.
I couldn't believe that for the past week, I
had been training with the original Iceman,
whom I now called, my
spiritual brother.

CHAPTER 31:
GOING HOME
L
ater that evening, Konrad dropped me off at
the airport. I checked in my bags, went through
security, and made my way to the gate. It had
been a great experience, but I was ready to get
back to good ol' America. I missed my family
and my friends. The only thing standing in the
way of that was my final trip home.
My flight schedule had me arriving in
Frankfurt, Germany at 9:10 PM (CET) and
leaving at 8:25 AM (CET). From there, I would fly
from Frankfurt to Chicago, IL. From Chicago I
would have to go through customs and board
one final flight leaving at 2:20 PM (EST) and
arriving at 4:54 PM (EST). In case that was a
little hard to follow, I still had over 24 hours
before I would be picked up by my family in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
My first flight from Amsterdam to Frankfurt
was quick and painless. The flight attendants
were really nice and the flight itself only lasted
an hour. When I arrived in the Frankfurt airport, I
was intimidated. I was in a fairly large airport in
a country I had never been to before. I tried
speaking to a few of the people working there,
but none of them spoke English.
When I arrived, my first goal was to find the
gate where my plane would be leaving in the
morning. Along the way, I noticed that there

were a lot of convenient stores and restaurants.
I decided to grab some food after I had found
my gate and then, hopefully, find a place to nap.
Well, I found my gate, but by the time I had
walked back to the miniature restaurants and
convenient stores, they were all closed! I
looked at my watch and it read: 10:02 PM.
Everything must have closed at 10:00 PM. Ugh!
I was extremely frustrated. It was the
perfect
way to start the evening.
Great,
I thought,
now what am I going to do?
I walked down the hallways of the airport for
a bit longer, hoping to find one convenient
store that was open late. There was absolutely
nothing. So, I sat down and turned on my
laptop. Well, it turns out that the Frankfurt
airport doesn't have free wireless Internet.
Disgruntled, I repacked my laptop into my
backpack and continued to walk around the
airport.
Eventually, I came across a computer that
offered Internet access, but I needed euros to
operate the machine. Luckily, I had a few coins
in my pocket. What wasn't so lucky was that it
took me until my last coin before I understood
how to operate the machine. Finally, with that
last coin, I was able to send a quick email to my
family and Brooke, letting them know that I was
safe in Frankfurt.
Finishing my battle with the computer, I
decided to return to my gate and find a place to
plug in my computer, so I could turn on my

alarm and fall asleep. When I returned to my
gate, which was about a fifteen-minute walk
from where I was, I found a seat in the corner. I
sat down and pulled out my laptop and power
cord, only to find out that the power outlet I was
going to connect to had metal rods inside of it,
preventing me from using the power source.
You have got to be kidding me.
I would like to take a second and make a
side note really quick. In no way am I blaming
my unfortunate sequence of events on the
Frankfurt airport. It was all because I was
unprepared. I should have researched the
airport before I purchased my tickets. This part
of the story is just emphasizing my "coming to
terms" with my interesting predicament.
Anyway, back to the story. So, with no way
to set an alarm – mind you, the alarm function
on my watch was broken – I was uncomfortable
falling asleep. I was desperately afraid that if I
fell asleep, I would miss my flight. I didn't know
how rescheduling flights worked, but I wasn't
interested in finding out.
I sat there for a few hours, staring out the
window. I was waiting until I grew extremely
tired before I used the rest of my laptop's
battery life to watch a movie. Hopefully, the
movie would be enough to stimulate my mind
to prevent me from falling asleep.
Around 3:00 AM, it became extremely
difficult to keep my eyes open. I forced myself
to get out of my seat and get a change of

scenery. I walked a few gates down and settled
in a comfortable chair by the bathroom. If I was
going to watch a movie, I figured that it would
be better if I used the restroom first, that way I
wouldn't have to shut everything down, use the
restroom, and then turn everything back on. So,
I forced myself to get back out of the chair and
use the restroom.
After quickly using the restroom, I found my
way back to the chair and turned on my laptop
and played the movie. During the movie,
several times I saw the janitorial staff riding
giant vacuums and floor cleaners. Actually,
during one of the more action-packed scenes
of the movie, I had a strange feeling that
someone was watching me. I looked up and
saw one of the staff staring me in the face,
standing no more than two feet away.
"Um. hello," I said timidly.
He was holding two giant-sized pretzels.
When I spoke to him, he extended the pretzel in
his left hand and put it in my face. I grabbed it.
"Thank you." I said. He smiled. I smiled
back.
Despite the creepiness of the situation, I was
more than happy to accept food from a
stranger; I was famished. I watched the man
walk away and around the corner. I hurriedly
shoved the pretzel in my mouth and tried biting
down. It was incredibly stale.
Whatever,
I told myself.
This is the only food
I'll be getting until the shops open in the

morning. Are you really going to reject free food,
Justin?
My answer was no. I carefully nibbled on the
rock-hard pretzel until there was nothing left.
Soon after, my stomach began to relax and my
desire to eat diminished. I returned to my movie.
An hour later, the movie was over.
According to my laptop, I only had half an hour
left of battery. I promptly shut it down in an
attempt to save the rest for an emergency. The
clock on my watch read: 5:00 AM. I felt more
awake than I had before turning on my movie.
Luckily, the movie had been very entertaining
and was able to hold my interest the entire time,
which most likely aided in giving me more
energy.
With a few hours left, I went into the
restroom and decided to clean myself up. I
shaved, brushed my teeth, washed my face,
and took off my shirt to wash my back, chest
and arms. My mini-shower in the bathroom
woke me up even more. I packed away my
electric razor and toothbrush, and left the
bathroom. I walked around for the next couple
hours to keep myself active. I was willing to
sacrifice my sleep in order to insure boarding
my flight.
Around 7:00 AM, I noticed the lights in the
convenient stores turning back on. I walked
back to my gate and looked for the closest
place that sold food, which happened to be a
yogurt shop.

"May I have a yogurt please?" I asked. My
stomach was begging for food again.
She stared at me blankly.
I resorted to pointing at a yogurt cup.
She held up two fingers. I assumed that she
meant two euros. I pulled out my wallet and
handed her the proper amount of currency. She
grabbed the yogurt cup and handed it to me
smiling.
"Thanks," I said, grabbing the cup and
smiling back. I walked back to my gate and dug
into the delicious treat. My stomach was
pleased.
After eating, time flew. Before I knew it, I was
onboard my flight to Chicago. I praised myself
for staying up all night and not missing my
flight. Exhausted, I fell asleep soon after taking
off into the air. I awoke when the pilot's voice
came over the loudspeaker and announced
that we were descending. I wiped the drool off
of my complementary pillow and sat straight up
in my seat. Even though the sleep had returned
most of my energy, I was still tired from
traveling. I just wanted to get back home and
see my family.
Going through customs took forever. I
thought it would be like going through airport
security, but I was wrong. Nevertheless, when I
got out, I still had an hour left to catch my flight.
I made my way to the gate and sat down,
placing my belongings under my seat. I turned
on my phone and texted my parents and

girlfriend, to let them know I that was safe.
I then decided to pull out my laptop and use
the remaining battery power. Now that I was in
the U.S, I was free to use my debit card again.
So, I purchased access to the airport's Wi-Fi
and was finally able to upload the YouTube
video of our workshop. If you would like to see
it, please go to this URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=3WmmPrWL9mo
After uploading the video, I sent a quick
email to Wim with the link inside, once again
thanking him for the opportunity. Soon after,
my flight began seating people. I packed up my
things and boarded my final ride home.
A couple hours later, I was riding down an
escalator to baggage claim.
"I see him!" I heard a voice say. I looked to
my left and saw my little sister Natelie, waving
at me. On her sides were my girlfriend, Brooke,
and my mother.
"Hi guys!" I said while walking over to them.
Brooke looked at me. I could tell she was
holding back tears. She walked over and dug
her head into my chest. I hugged her. She made
a gasping sound as she tried to catch her
breath. She was crying.
"I missed you so much," she said into my
chest, muffling her voice.
"I missed you too, baby," I looked over

Brooke's shoulder; my mom and Natelie were
smiling. I could see that they were anxious to
hug me as well.
"I got you this," Brooke said. She held up a
stuffed monkey. "Except when I bought it, I
didn't know it was a puppet." She turned it over
and showed me the hole where his backside
should be.
"It's beautiful, thanks for thinking of me. I
love it." I let go of Brooke and walked over to
my mom to hug her. While I wrapped my arms
around her, Natelie ran over and hugged me
from behind.
"I want you to know," my mother whispered
into my ear, "that I wanted to hug you first, but I
waited because I knew Brooke was really sad
and wanted to see you. So I told Natelie that we
should wait to hug you until you came to us."
"I love you," I hugged her harder.
"Your dad is bringing around the car. Let's
go see him."
We grabbed my checked bag from the
conveyor belt and made our way outside. My
father got out of the car and hugged me. He told
me that he was glad I was home safe. We
packed my things into the car and began
driving home.
During the hour and a half drive, I laid my
head in my girlfriend's lap and told my family
the stories from my adventures in Poland. It
was good to be home. Time to prepare for
Mount Blanc.

CHAPTER 32:
THE ENDOTOXIN EXPERIMENT –
A GREAT FIGHT
F
our years after the beginning of The Iceman
research, I finally stumbled upon an
opportunity to prove my point that we can
influence the immune system and fight
diseases by the power of our mind.
While I was immersed in the ice bath at
Radboud, Professor Ne-tea was one of the
people watching me with excitement. Professor
Netea is well known for his research as an
immunologist. He's a celebrated scientist and a
well-known member of academia.
I have met many world-record holders in
sports and other numerous disciplines; the
ones with strong spirits do not boast. The same
goes for Professor Netea. He remains humble
despite his numerous achievements.
His most recent research on the immune
system using the Endotoxin Experiment is
astounding. It focuses on what happens when
the inflammatory marks in the body, which are
the cause of numerous diseases, flare up too
much and cause damage to human tissue.
Being that I am a trained person who shows
unusual results when exposed to extreme
temperatures, he thought it would be an
interesting opportunity to see how my body

differs from everyone else that he had tested.
I accepted his invitation over the phone and
agreed to take part in his research. He had
gained approval to perform the endotoxin
experiment, despite my age! I was convinced
that we could consciously influence the
immune system and Professor Netea would be
my way to show the world that it was possible.
Even though the experiment would get
universal coverage and would probably be all
over the newspapers and televisions, I was
only focused on proving that anyone was
capable of directly influencing the autonomic
nervous system.
We set an appointment to do the first check
up and collect basic data. The data showed that
I was a perfectly healthy, older man, in great
physical condition. My heart rate at the time of
the test was 39 beats per minute.
Normally, an overactive immune system
causes damage to human tissue. The
experiment would see if I could suppress that
over-active response. If possible, we could
potentially develop a method that would enable
millions of people to improve their own immune
systems.
Inflammatory marked bodies can create
inflammation, which is the cause of almost any
disease. Therefore, being able to influence the
immune system, by meditation and specific
breathing, could be a natural weapon that
mankind uses against disease.

The morning of the Endotoxin Experiment, I
woke up at 4:00 AM and performed my routine
breathing exercises. I was in full spirits and
ready to give my all at the hospital in Nijmegen.
I was excited to show my stuff to the doctors,
professors, medical team, and TV crew who
would be there to watch me.
I was anxious and nervous; yet I was fully
aware of the challenge I had to overcome.
Suppressing a disease by sheer will without
any external means would be nothing short of a
gigantic breakthrough.
A few hours later, I was lying in a hospital
bed surrounded by scientists, the medical
crew, and a television crew in a 7×5 meter
(23×16 feet) room. The doctors wired me to
numerous machines to record data.
There, I would have to fight against an
injected toxin. Not only would I have to fight
against the disease, but also against the
pressure of the people around me. Their
expectations were high and I wanted to fulfill
them.
Even though I didn't know what impact the
injected poison would have on me, I had
prepared my body the best I could. I began my
breathing technique to give myself a head start.
With each breath, I imagined that I was charging
my immune system with more power.
Right before I was injected, the doctors
explained that I would feel the effects of the
endotoxin soon after the injection. So I

prepared my body and received the poison as it
was released it into my blood.
During the first few minutes, I felt nothing.
There was no change. I told the doctors this
and they explained that most of the
inflammatory marks would be present in my
body 90 minutes after injection.
60 minutes past and I was fine. 75 minutes
past and I was still okay. I was waiting for any
noticeable change in my body so that I could
counter it. About 90 minutes after injection, I felt
a little headache begin to come on. I had finally
found my opponent, but it was far less than
what I was expecting.
Soon after focusing on the hostile force, the
headache was gone and the pressure was
relieved. What had happened? I was expecting
a war and all I got was a little headache.
Regardless, my immune system was ready
and alert. When I felt the headache, I had simply
stimulated the immune system to work more
efficiently. In this case, it meant suppressing
the inflammatory bodies with sheer willpower.
In a matter of minutes… It had gone.
After about forty withdrawals of blood and
10 hours of being wired into a hospital bed, it all
came to an end. The professor and doctors
were delighted with the results. They were
amazed that I hadn't experienced anything
more than a headache.
My feeling was that of victory and I cried
several times that day. A long time of waiting to

see if my beliefs were true had finally come to a
victorious end. I felt relieved, as if a giant weight
had been lifted off my shoulders.
It was my greatest adventure in bed, ever.
After the experiment, an enormous appetite
had developed and my desire for food was
intense. After eating, I went to a nearby hotel
and slept. The following day, I returned to
Radboud for another check up.
Everything was fine and my body was in
great condition! I drove home with my friend,
Ben, who was there for me on this adventure.
We sang songs with our hearts full of joy.
Yes, it is possible to influence the immune
system and fight disease. We will show
everyone!

CHAPTER 33:
THE WIND TUNNEL EXPERIMENT
O
ne day, Maximum TV called me and asked if I
was still interested in doing television
performances. Since it's the way I make my
money, I told them "yes." They were happy to
hear my response. That's when they started
talking about what they wanted to do, "The
Wind Tunnel Experiment."
They had two ideas that they wanted to
pursue in the experiment. One of them was to
strap me to the outside of a truck driving 80
kilometers per hour (49.7 mph) in temperatures
near freezing. The other idea was to travel to
Vienna where there is a wind tunnel capable of
creating winds that are 120 kilometers per hour
(74.5 mph) with a temperature of 0°C (32°F). I
had never done anything like that before so I
was interested in both of the ideas. I was ready
to test my body and mind once again.
A couple of weeks later I flew to Frankfurt,
then Munich. There, I met the 27-year-old
Dennis. Typically a journalist and a soccer
player, Dennis was now going to host the show
and join me in the experiment. He was eager to
do a good job and give his best.
The following morning, ten of us began our
160 kilometers (99.4 miles) drive from Munich to
Memmingen, Germany. Once we arrived, we
stopped at a truck company that specialized in

airline transport vehicles. One of their vehicles
and an ambulance accompanied us to the
nearby airport.
When we arrived at the airport, the television
crew began to set up. The medics checked on
us to make sure we were in good condition.
They checked our core temperature, blood
pressure and heart rate. They declared us
healthy individuals.
The producer's goal was to strap Dennis
and I into the back of a truck and then drive 80
kilometers per hour (49.7 mph) in the rain at 4°C
(39.2°F). After the final preparations were made,
the truck began to move. At 80 kilometers per
hour (49.7 mph), the rain feels like hail as it hit
our skin.
I was barely clothed while Dennis had the
advantage of wearing a raincoat. The
combination of rain, cold temperature and high
winds took the heat from the body at a rapid
pace; however, it made for a wonderful
endurance test.
Despite the hail-like rain, we quickly
discovered that the extreme stunt was possible
to do while remaining somewhat comfortable.
Even for an untrained person like Dennis, he
was able to maintain his composure and stay
energetic. He suggested that maybe it was my
presence and advice that gave him the ability to
endure the cold. Either way, during those hours
we "chilled out" and had a great time.
After many hours of driving, the television

crew was finally satisfied. We packed up our
stuff and started driving to Vienna. We stopped
150 kilometers (93.2 miles) short of Vienna. It
was late, so we found a quaint hotel to stay in
where we quickly fell to sleep. The next
morning we rose at 5:00 AM and quickly got
back on the road.
Soon after, we arrived at the thermo-test
facility. It was a huge compound that had the
capacity to simulate a wind tunnel. When we
first entered the building, we noticed an
enormous refrigerator. There were pipes 10
meters in diameter, covered in insulation,
feeding into the wind tunnel. Using a propeller
that is seven meters high to generate wind, this
facility holds the largest wind tunnel in the
world.
When the emergency team arrived, which
included a doctor and his assistant, we were
ready to record. People were running all over
the place to try to make all of the necessary
preparations. I prepared myself mentally for the
test.
Eventually, we made our way to the front of
the wind tunnel. Normally, they test trains'
resistance against temperatures from -40°C (-
40°F) to 60°C (140°F). They are also able to
simulate rain and snow during these tests to
mock the outside environment. They told us
that we would be doing the shot with the wind
tunnel running at 100 kilometers per hour (62
mph) at 0°C (32°F).

Dennis and I got our final check ups from
the medics. My heart rate was at 68 BPM while
Dennis' was at 122 BPM. Being that I am more
experienced when it comes to these situations,
my heart rate stays relatively low while I am
preparing for the event. Soon enough, the
cameras were ready and it was time for the
shot.
A few moments later, Dennis and I were
standing in front of the tunnel and the massive
propeller began to spin. The tunnel was 12
meters high, 120 meters long, and controlled by
a computer to create any possible weather
condition; it was a beautiful sight. Dennis was
wearing a jacket, but not me. He was standing a
meter behind me. Of course, we were both a
little anxious about what was to come because
neither of us had experienced anything like it
before. We didn't know what to expect.
The sound from the propeller became
louder.
Fou, fou, fou, fou, fou, fooo, fooooooo.
The wind strengthened and we had to position
our feet in a way to prevent us from being
knocked over. At 0°C (32°F) and 100 kph (62
mph) winds, it felt like a storm. It wasn't
comfortable, but we were able to hold our
ground, despite the wind stinging our face and
sucking the heat from our hands.
After 10 minutes into the storm, Dennis had
endured all that he could handle. He raised his
hand to signal to the crew that he was done. I
was running in place and I had felt extremely

comfortable prior to them turning off the
propeller, but the first attempt was over and it
was time to relax.
We went back into a heated room to drink
some tea and warm up. After an hour had
passed, we were ready to go again. This time,
they would turn up the wind speed to 120 kph
(74 mph), lower the temperature even more and
add rain into the equation. In the meantime,
more shots were taken of our preparations. The
television crew worked constantly to acquire as
much footage as possible. Time was money
and they had little time to get the right shots.
Back at the tunnel, Dennis was now wearing
two raincoats and waterproof pants, and I was
wearing clothes that could easily soak the rain
and keep it pressed against my body. We were
ready. The cameras began to roll and we
positioned ourselves in the middle of the
tunnel. The powerful roar of the propeller came
on and drowned out all other sounds.
The rainfall came on pretty quick. By the
time the wind speed reached 120 kph (74 mph),
I was soaked. I also quickly became aware that
it is incredibly difficult to remain balanced in
120-kph winds, but I managed to do so anyway.
However, now that the wind speed was
much faster, the rain felt like hail stones. I was
constantly being hit in the face with these rock-
like water droplets. Dennis was having a lot of
difficulty with the pain as well; he couldn't
stand it. After four minutes, Dennis gestured

that he was done. When they turned the
propeller turned off, he explained to the crew
why he had stopped. Then he returned to the
heated room to warm himself back up.
My turn.
They turned the propeller back on and the
rain began to fall once again. I was able to
easily hold my ground from the practice that I
had in the last attempt. I was in the zone. I
began to tap my heel and sing while the winds
approached 120 kph (74 mph). Harder and
harder, the wind picked up speed. I continued
to go deeper into my song, and myself, to try to
bring out my spirit.
After going deeper, I began to sense a
presence. I felt like I was not myself. It felt like
there was an Indian spirit inside of me. I was
singing chants and I felt connected to the wind;
I could identify with it. The cold of the winds
didn't bother me anymore. I was in a trance and
in total control. I felt like I was facing a great
force, but felt no fear or danger. I was facing it
with total tranquility.
I had never experienced something like this
feeling before; it was incredibly intense. I felt
like I was on top of the world. Even my
experience on Mount Everest couldn't
compare. The camera team was mesmerized,
but the their cameras continued to roll. The
doctor was telling the crew to break off the
experiment, but they were all too intrigued by
the peace I was showing. I felt so much in

balance that I raised one foot of the ground and
was now fighting against 120 kph (74 mph)
winds while only standing on one foot, like a
flamingo.
Soon after, someone heard the cry of the
doctor and signaled to turn off the experiment.
They didn't understand that I was perfectly fine,
but they broke it off anyway. I felt nothing but
greatness. I had seen the identity of the wind
and the spectators told me that watching the
experience had emotionally touched them.
Deep down, we all have a part of us that has
the ability to connect with the elements of
nature. We have the potential to connect with it
fully and have our bodies adapt. Indians, who
were close to nature, understood this very well
and had the wisdom of the land. In civilization,
we have lost that ability. Nature has the ability
to make us whole – to fulfill us.
Therefore, we must strive to become
"wholy."

CHAPTER 34:
PREPARING FOR MOUNT BLANC
I
didn't get to spend much time with my family
after returning home. I needed to get back to
work to pay for my rent at college. Not only that,
but I needed to begin saving up for my trip to
Mount Blanc. My parents were sad to hear that I
would be returning to Europe again in just a
few short months. They felt that climbing a
mountain in only shorts and sandals was
pushing my luck, but I was determined to go.
Brooke and I drove back to State College
only two days after I flew in to Pittsburgh. The
first thing I did when I returned to Penn State
was visit my ex-manager at The Deli. I went in
the morning, before the restaurant opened, to
speak with him. I found him sitting at the bar
reading a newspaper.
"Good morning Joe! How's it going?" I
asked.
"Fine," he replied. Joe wasn't much of a
talker.
"Well, I wanted to stop in and see how you
were doing. I also thought I'd see if you still had
any full-time positions open as a dishwasher."
"Dishwashers… No. Only part time. It's dead
in the summer after all of the students leave. I
only need part-time people right now."
"Oh," I replied, slightly disappointed. "Well,
okay. Do you think you could let me know if any

full-time positions open up?"
"Full-time? Yes. I will." He took a sip from his
coffee and went back to reading his
newspaper. I took that as my cue to leave.
"Well, it was good seeing you Joe!" I began
walking toward the entrance.
"You too. Goodbye. Wait, how was Poland?"
he asked. I was surprised he had remembered.
"Oh, it was good. Had a nice time. Thanks for
asking." "Glad to hear it. Take care, Justin." He
gave me a quick smile and returned to his
newspaper.
I was overcome with disappointment as I left
The Deli. I had hoped to get my old job back as
a dishwasher and begin making money.
Working at The Deli was my only plan. I had no
clue as to how I was going to raise however-
many thousands of dollars to get to Mount
Blanc.
On my way home, I tried coming up with
other ideas. I considered working at other
restaurants, but I knew that it could take weeks
before I would actually get my first paycheck. I
needed to begin making money, immediately.
That's when it hit me – I could apply for Penn
State's Summer Work Study program and work
in the research lab for money instead of credits!
The question was: would it be enough?
When I got home, I phoned my friends in the
research lab and asked about the Work Study
program. Anthony, the graduate student that I
worked under, said it would be okay to work in

the lab for money. I just needed to apply to the
program via the university's website. After I got
off the phone, I went online and signed up. I
didn't know how much I would be able to make,
but I hoped that it would be enough.
While I waited for a response from the
Student Aid office, I realized that I would also
need to take two summer courses, 4 credits
each. As I went through the course list to pick
out my classes, I found only two that really
appealed to me: Russian 001 and Russian 002.
What I didn't realize at the time was that they
were intensive courses. This means that each
class stuffs a semester's worth of information
into two weeks. I signed up for the courses and
told myself that, if everything worked out with
the Work Study program, I could hopefully find
a way to juggle the workload. I knew that if I
survived, it would all be worth it.
A few days after applying, I heard back from
the Student Aid office. I had been approved for
the Work Study program for the amount of
$2,500 dollars while working full-time. This
meant that I could work up to 40 hours a week,
every week, until I had accumulated all 2,500
dollars. Hopefully, it would be enough money to
pay for my living expenses, food, and cover my
costs for Mount Blanc. If I were going to make
all of that money in time, I would need to put in
40 hours, every week, until I left. It was
overwhelming to think about.
Regardless, I knew what I wanted to do. If I

wanted to climb Mount Blanc, I would need to
raise the money. It wasn't just for me; it was to
support Wim. We were spiritual brothers and I
wanted to make sure that he could always
count on me. I didn't spend a week in Poland
just to move on when I came home. The
experience had changed my life; there was no
reverting back to the old me.
After I got things organized with my
research lab and the financial office, I called
Brooke to tell her the good news. She was
happy for me, but seemed a bit sad. Apparently,
her lease was ending soon and would need to
move back home. I told her that she was
welcome to stay at my house for the summer,
as long as she didn't mind me being gone most
of the day. She was delighted and more than
happy to take me up on my offer. She moved in
over the next few days.
Soon after Brooke moved in, my work in the
research lab began. For the first few weeks, it
was easy work. Most of my time was spent
organizing the lab drives. After a while though,
the work began to pick up. The Principal
Investigator of my lab, Dr. Reginald Adams, was
leaving for a month and wanted me to help take
over a project of his. When he left, there was a
lot of miscommunication on my behalf. The
matter sorted itself out eventually, but it created
a problem that spiraled downward. Regardless,
I made a point to come to the lab daily, usually
working for 7 to 8 hours in a row. I always made

sure to stop when I had reached my total of 40
hours.
As the middle of June approached, so did
my Russian classes. I had never taken Russian
before, but I was always interested in learning.
The language intrigued me.
Starting the middle of June, my class hours
were Monday through Friday, 9:05 AM to 3:30
PM with a 30-minute break for lunch at noon.
This schedule threw me for a loop. I hadn't
anticipated class to be that long. Regardless, I
sucked it up and rearranged my lab hours to fit
my schedule.
My weekday schedule now looked like this:
6:30 – 7:30 AM: Eat breakfast and go for a
run with Brooke
7:30 – 8:00 AM: Take a shower
8:00 – 8:35 AM: Study Russian
8:35 AM: Begin my 30-minute walk to class
9:05 – 12:00 PM: Russian Class
12:00 – 12:30 PM: Brooke makes me food
and we meet me for lunch
12:30 – 3:30 PM: Russian Class
3:30 – 4:00 PM: Eat a quick snack/Walk to
the research lab
4:00 – 12:00 AM: Work in the research lab
Sometimes, if I had to miss an hour or two
from the research lab, I'd make it up on the
weekends to fill my 40 hours. It was a hectic
schedule. I was lucky to have Brooke staying
with me for the summer; otherwise I wouldn't

have had anyone to talk to. She made for great
company.
During the weekends, I would spend my
time either studying Russian or making up
missed hours in the research lab. Sadly, there
was no time for Iceman training. My goal was to
make it to Mount Blanc. I figured I could begin
training again once my Russian classes were
over.
…
The days dragged on and I quickly grew
tired of the routine. I felt like I was a prisoner.
Numerous times, I reminded myself that I was
working for a good cause, that soon I would be
back in Europe climbing Mount Blanc with "The
Iceman." Sometimes, it was enough to calm me
down. Other times, I would lay awake at night,
asking myself if it was really worth it. I was
always able to talk myself into sticking with the
routine, even though there were a few close
calls when I had come close to quitting. The
day after my last Russian class had ended, I
received this email from Wim.
"Hi Justin,
The total amount that you will have to pay in
Europe will be 700 euros. This includes climbing
Mount Blanc and transportation from
Amsterdam Schiphol airport.
You will need to arrive in Europe no later

than August 4. We will arrive back in
Amsterdam on August 11.
You will need to bring a rucksack, sleeping
bag, clothes etc. Climbing equipment will be
available at the location, provided by the group
(Chamo-nix).
We will prepare our own food and buy
groceries before we go.
We'll stay at the campsite first, and then take
a trolley up to 2,400 meters (7,874 feet) to
acclimatize. As soon as everyone acclimatizes,
we'll make our final climb to the top. It is best to
leave early, something like 3:00 AM. It will then
take us four or five hours to reach the summit.
It is a beautiful challenge, which I'm sure you
already know.
Greetings,
Wim"
700 euros is the equivalent of about $1,014;
that's pretty expensive for a college student. I
was cutting it close. At the time, I was two
weeks away from receiving the rest of my
$2,500 from the Work Study program. After
receiving this email, I did something that was
either very brave or very stupid; I went online
and purchased my plane ticket.
The total cost was $1,190.90, a giant dent in
my wallet. My reasoning for doing so was to put
myself in a situation where I would feel like my
only option was to succeed. Sadly, that is
not

how I felt at first. After purchasing the ticket, I
severely regretted it.
Take a moment and consider my cost of my
rent each month. Including utilities, it's about
$400. If you multiply that by the three months I
lived in my apartment, that's $1,200. Luckily,
some of my college loans paid for some of my
housing, knocking off $600. This left me with
only paying $600 for housing and about $150
for food. This also made me very conservative
about what I ate. To save money, for weeks I
would only eat pasta, peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches, and items from McDonald's dollar
menu. It may not have been healthy, but at least
I didn't starve.
After subtracting living expenses and the
total cost of my plane ticket, I only had about
$559 after I had received my final paycheck.
That's a little over half of what I needed to pay
Wim for Mount Blanc. With no other forms of
income, I resorted to other means. I began
giving plasma again, which my parents didn't
like, and started selling some of my older
possessions. In total, that gave me $900. I was
so close, but my flow of income had stopped.
One hour before I left State College, after I
had packed all of my things that I was taking to
Europe, I came up with one last idea. I had been
saving all of my Psychology books that I had
bought over the years, to use for future reading.
I decided it was time to sell them back to the
bookstore and use the money for my trip. I

searched through my house and found twelve
old Psychology books. Throwing them into a
bag, I made my way downtown to the
bookstore. They gave me $250 for the lot of
them, bringing my total to $1,150! I was ecstatic.
I was the happiest I had been in a long time. All
my worries were washed away and everything
was
finally
set up. All the effort I had put forth
felt worth it.
My family warmly greeted us when Brooke
and I had arrived at my house. Once again, I
could tell from their faces that they were
worried. After giving everyone hugs and
bringing my stuff into the house, my father
approached me.
"Listen Justin, I know you really want to go
climb this mountain, but I want to give you
another option. I will reimburse all of the money
you paid for your plane ticket and fly you to
Hawaii instead, if you change your mind about
climb Mt. Blanc."
"Thanks Dad," I said, "I really appreciate it,
but this is something I really want to do. I want
to support Wim and do something with my life. I
don't want to be like everyone else that he
trained and leave it in the past. I want to
become like him. I want to become The Iceman
too."
"So, nothing I can say will change your
mind?" he asked, putting his hand on my
shoulder.
"Sorry Dad, but I have to do this. I have

committed to it."
"Okay Son, I love you. Just do your mother
and I a favor and come back to us safe, please."
We embraced each other and I thanked him
once more for caring.

CHAPTER 35:
HELLO… SPAIN?
August 2, 2010
T
he day of my departure, I received this email
from Wim.
"Hi Justin,
I know that you are on your way to
Amsterdam now.
Great adventures are awaiting us; there is no
doubt.
I am excited, however, the weather is
dangerously bad on Mt. Blanc.
I might reconsider the location.
Whatever happens, we will go deep and
straight like an arrow.
Live life,
Wim"
What?
What was he talking about? Even
though I hadn't trained for the past couple
months because I had been so busy, I was still
expecting to climb Mount Blanc when we got
there. I was suddenly glad that I purchased a
plane ticket that took me there a day early and
was flying me back two days after we were
supposed to return from Mount Blanc. At least I

would have some flexibility.
That's when I realized that there was
absolutely nothing I could do. I certainly wasn't
going to tell my parents about Wim's surprise
email. They took what comfort they could in
knowing where I would be at all times. If I told
them that I was going to Europe for a week with
no idea where I'd end up, they would freak out
and probably rip up my plane ticket. So, I kept
up the facade and pretended like I had never
received that email.
Around 11:00 AM (EST), my mother and
Brooke drove me to the airport. They both shed
tears during the car ride. When we arrived at the
airport, we unpacked my luggage from the car
and walked in. While I checked in my bags,
Brooke and my mother disappeared. They
came back a moment later with a brown paper
bag. "What's this?" I asked.
"We wanted to buy you a gift," my mother
replied, "so you would remember us."
I took the contents out of the bag. It was a
solar-powered keychain with my name on it.
"Pittsburgh" was inscribed on the back.
"Every time it's in the sun," Brooke said,
"your name will blink. We hope you like it."
Brooke's eyes filled with tears again.
"I love it, thanks guys." I hugged them both
and they began crying in unison.
"We'll miss you," they said together.
With one last squeeze, I told them that I
loved them and walked toward security.

"Thanks again guys!" I called back.
After clearing security, I located my gate and
immediately boarded my flight.
Welp,
I thought,
this should be interesting.
…
When I arrived at Amsterdam's airport,
Konrad was there to pick me up. I found him
looking at a giant screen that showed the flight
arrivals.
"Hello Konrad," I muttered. He turned
around, surprised to see me. His face was
shaved and he looked much skinner than the
last time I had seen him.
"Oh! Hello Justin," he replied. "Wim sent me
to come pick you up. He will meet us at my
house later. Is that okay?"
I laughed, "Of course that's okay. What am I
going to say, no?"
He bought me a ticket for the train and we
rode back to his house. It had been a long time
since we had seen each other. It was refreshing
to see a familiar face. It reminded me of our
times in Poland. Through previous emails, I had
heard from Wim that Konrad would be joining
us on our trip to Mount Blanc.
When we arrived at his house, he told me
that he wouldn't be going with us on the trip. He
had run into an unfortunate set of
circumstances that had left him with no money.
I was disappointed that he wouldn't be going.

A few hours later, Konrad received a call
from Wim.
"Wim says he will be here soon. He is riding
his bicycle over," Konrad told me. "Great!" I
said enthusiastically.
Wim walked through the front door of
Konrad's apartment half an hour later.
"Hello Justin!" He embraced me. Wim was
wearing a crimson sweatshirt and long brown
pants.
"It is good to see you again, my friend," he
said.
"Yeah, it's good to see you too," I replied.
"So, what's the plan?"
"We are not going to Mount Blanc. The
weather is too dangerous there – avalanches
and such. Instead, we will go canyoning in
Spain. We will meet my son, Enahm, there."
"Uh, wait… Canyoning in Spain? Isn't it hot
there?" I started to regret packing all of my
winter clothes. I only had one pair of shorts!
"Yes, very hot, but do not worry. Everything
will be okay."
"Well, how much is it going to cost? I only
have the 700 euros you told me to bring." I
began to worry.
"The same price. It will be enough to cover
your expenses. I am not charging you to be
with me, but we will all split the expenses."
"Oh, okay. Wait a second. I thought Konrad
wasn't going. Who "all" do you mean?"
"It will be you, me, Enahm, and Dennis, but

Enahm will meet us there. We have to pick up
Dennis later today."
"Who's Dennis?" I was starting to realize
how much I didn't know.
"He is a good guy. I met him a few days
ago."
"Okay Wim. Well, I guess I'm up for
whatever."
He looked at me and smiled, "Great! Now, I
have to go meet Caroline in the park. You guys
should come. Meet me there in an hour, okay?"
He left as quickly as he had come.
"I guess we're going to the park," I said
while smiling.
…
About an hour later, Konrad and I had found
Wim in the park. He was talking to a blond-
haired woman and a little blond-haired boy. We
approached them.
"Hello," Konrad and I said in unison.
"Hey guys!" Wim said back. "This lovely
woman is Caroline," he placed his right hand
on her left shoulder and smiled, "and this is my
boy, Noah."
Konrad and I shook hands with Caroline
and waved to Noah. Noah seemed shy; he
clung to his father when we tried speaking to
him.
"He doesn't speak English, yet," Caroline
informed me.

"That's okay. Does he like to play?" I asked.
"Yes!" Wim said. He told something to Noah
in Dutch, and then looked back at me. "He
wants to be like his father. He likes doing yoga
positions and gymnastics, yet he's only 7 years
old! He'll show you."
Noah ran over to a nearby log and climbed
on top of it. He looked at me and smiled. All of a
sudden, he bent down and threw his body into
a cartwheel.
"Wow!" I said, giving Noah a thumbs up.
"Well done!"
He continued to show off for the next ten
minutes. Eventually, I joined in and did a few
somersaults as well. When we grew tired of
that, we grabbed a pair of sticks and pretended
they were swords. I had a lot of fun with Noah;
he had a lot of energy, like his father.
While Noah and I played around, I could
hear Wim and Konrad talking about the
barefoot-snow run in Karpacz.
"Listen," Konrad said. "If we are going to do
the run in Karpacz, I need more details. I need
to start organizing things. Otherwise, my
cousin will cancel the event altogether."
"Yeah, yeah," Wim replied, "it will all work
out. These things always work out. Just give it
time. We will figure it out later."
"But Wim," Konrad insisted, "we can't wait
anymore. I think it would be best to try to
organize the run somewhere else. Maybe we
can hold the run in Karpacz after it's held

somewhere else first."
"Okay," Wim replied, "let's do that then."
Soon after, Wim came over to Noah and
hugged him goodbye. "I have to go," he told
me. "I will pick you up from Konrad's house
first thing in the morning. I will be there early, so
be ready."
"All right," I said, "Goodbye Wim."
He jumped on his bike and rode away.
Konrad and I stayed for another ten minutes,
talking to Caroline. When Konrad remembered
that he was running out of time on the parking
meter, we ran back to the car and returned to
his house. Konrad re-told me what him and
Wim were discussing in the park; he wasn't
aware that I had overheard them talking. I
expressed my concern and proposed that we
could try doing the run in the U.S.
"That's a good idea," he said. "It could be a
lot of work. It will be up to you to organize it."
"I'll figure it out," I told him. I was excited to
have the opportunity to organize the event in
the U.S. I put it in the back of my mind to think
about later. My main focus was Spain. I didn't
know what to expect. It was something that I
had come to understand from being friends
with Wim: he always had surprises up his
sleeves.
I awoke the next morning at 5:00 AM to get a
shower. I didn't know how long of a car ride it
was to Spain, but I assumed that it was farther
than Poland, meaning that we would be on the

road for a
long
time. While I was in the shower, I
tried to imagine myself can-yoning in Spain.
The images that popped into my head were of
me falling off cliffs into a hole the size of the
Grand Canyon. I shook my head, trying to rid
my mind of the pessimistic thoughts. I knew
that I would be with Wim and he was usually
very safe to be around. I knew I could trust him.
When I got out of the shower, I went on my
computer and emailed my parents and Brooke,
letting them know I would now be going to
Spain instead of Mount Blanc. I figured that
they wouldn't take it very well, but their
response wasn't going to stop me. I was in
Europe under the care of Wim. I had no choice
where I was going to go. My last words in the
emails were "I'll try to be safe." It was the only
comfort I could offer them, and the only
promise I could keep.
Around 6:30 AM, Wim pulled up in a small
green car that I had never seen before.
"Hey Wim!" I called as he opened the
driver's side door. "Whose car is this?"
"I borrowed it from a friend of mine," he
replied. "His name is Manely. He is doing a
documentary on me. Since Konrad can't come
and he needs his jeep, I needed to find another
way to transport us to Spain. Come on, we have
to go pick up Dennis."
We packed the car with my stuff and bid
farewell to Konrad. We drove thirty minutes into
the town of Amsterdam until we had arrived in a

vacant parking lot.
"He's meeting us here," Wim said.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"The place he told us to meet him."
Wim and I sat in the car for a few minutes,
waiting for Dennis, until we noticed a coffee
shop nearby. We got out of the car and walked
over to grab a couple coffees while we waited.
We took a seat near the window so that we
could watch when Dennis pulled in. Soon
enough, an unfamiliar car drove in and parked
next to our small green car.
Wim paid for our coffees and we made our
way outside to meet Dennis. When the car door
opened, a tall blond man with braces emerged.
He had bright blue eyes and was wearing a
tight black shirt. He seemed to be slightly older
than I.
"Hello Dennis!" Wim yelled, extending his
arms to hug him.
"Hello Wim!" Dennis accepted his hug and
turned to me.
"And you must be, Justin?" he asked.
"That is correct," I replied, extending my
hand to shake his. "Pleasure to meet you,
Dennis."
Several people got out of the car and
hugged Dennis goodbye. I assumed it was his
family.
"This is my wife," he said.
"Be careful," the woman told me. She
appeared to be the same age as Dennis. I

grabbed her hand and shook it. "All right," Wim
announced, "Time to go! We have a lot of
driving to do."
We said goodbye to Dennis' family, jumped
into the car, and began our journey to Spain.
During the first few hours, Wim, Dennis and
myself spent some time getting to know each
other. I learned that Wim had met Dennis a few
days before at one of his world record attempts.
Dennis had asked about joining one of Wim's
adventures sometime soon, so Wim invited him
along. I also learned that Dennis was a
motivational speaker and loved the power of
the mind. He was selling his interior design
company to become a life coach. It all seemed
very interesting.
Eventually, the barefoot-snow run was
brought up. "Dennis," Wim said, "Justin and I
are organizing a barefoot-snow run in Poland!"
"Wait a second," I interjected, "aren't we not
doing it in Poland anymore?"
"Oh yes," he said, "I forgot."
"Well," I continued, "I was thinking. What if
we did the barefoot-snow run in the U.S.? There
is a park near my house where we could try to
organize it."
"That is a great idea!" Wim said. "Oh! I can
even break a world record, while sitting in the
ice, to draw more people in to the event. We can
do a workshop too!"
"Yeah, that doesn't sound like a bad idea.
My family owns a small business back home

and they rent out a building. You can break the
world record and do the workshop in there."
"Perfect!" he said, visibly excited. "Let's
make it happen. I'll let you organize it, Justin."
"Speaking of running barefooted," Dennis
said, "have you ever seen these shoes
before?"
He lifted up his feet and presented his
strange footwear. "They are called, Vibram
FiveFingers. This particular model is the KSO.
They are amazing. They simulate barefoot
running and are supposed to be better for your
knees, joints, and feet."
"That's awesome!" I said. "I'll have to look
into those." I really liked the design of the shoe.
It gave me a great idea. If I were going to
participate in the barefoot-snow run, I would
need to start running around barefooted. On
the sidewalks and streets at Penn State, you
can sometimes find broken shards of glass.
You could understand why it's not an ideal
environment to run on barefooted. I also
noticed that the material on the shoe looked
relatively thin, assuming that there would be
less protection from the cold. Dennis' Vibram
FiveFingers shoes quickly became a viable
option to allow me to run barefooted through
the snow at Penn State, without cutting up my
feet.
Soon after the conversation about the
barefoot-snow run ended, I fell asleep. The jet
lag had finally caught up to me.

CHAPTER 36:
THE SPANISH PYRENEES
O
ur drive took us from the Netherlands took us
through Belgium, France, and finally Spain.
Justin slept a lot because he was still jet-lagged
from the traveling. In that time, Dennis and I
conversed in Dutch and got to know each other
on a deeper level. He expressed that he came
on the trip because he wanted to learn about
The Iceman from the intellectual side.
When we passed through the South of
France, the atmosphere changed. The
architecture of the buildings looked older and
much more unique. Eventually, we crossed the
France border and entered the Beisla tunnel,
leading us into Spain.
As we drove through the Sierra de Guara,
which is a desert-like area just south of the
Spanish Pyrenees, I had a strange feeling. It
had been 10 years since I was last in the
Spanish Pyrenees. I felt like I was finally coming
home.
We arrived at 2:00 AM and found Enahm
sleeping in a hammock at the campsite. He had
arrived a day early and set up the tents so that
we could crash as soon as we got there. It was
a long day of driving, so we left the
introductions for the following day.
Sunshine greeted us in the morning. It was a
typical day in the Spanish Pyrenees. When I

opened my eyes, I noticed a Baccata Big-
nonioides tree to my side. They are well known
for providing a lot of shade as well as large
beans.
We met for coffee at the restaurant, located
on site, and discussed our plans for the day.
Eventually, we all decided to start with canyon-
ing and end with puenting.
Canyoning is a great way to become one
with nature. It a very playful and an exciting
experience. Water channels that eroded away
at the space between the mountains produced
the canyons in the Pyrenees. We now use
ropes and other safety equipment to rappel
down it. We left our car at the site and we all
drove together in Enahm's van.
Enahm is a 28 year old who loves spending
his time canyoning. He's a tall guy with a very
contagious smile. He loves the outdoors and is
a very enthusiastic gentleman. His most recent
goal has been to set up a canyoning business.
He wants me to join him because I have a lot of
experience. I worked for 9 years as a guide
through the Spanish Pyrenees. Spain is like my
second home.
Enahm drives like a racer; we had to hold
our bodies against the force of every turn he
made. We drove through the desert-like region
until we had reached our first canyon, the
Barranco del Rio.
The Barranco del Rio is what we call a
"water canyon." This means that inside the

canyon, there are many holes and paths filled
with water. Sometimes, the holes in the canyon
are as deep as 50 meters (164.04 feet).
To get to the bottom, we must crawl, jump,
and balance on top of rocks and push
ourselves to descend further and further down
the canyon. On the way down, the beauty of our
surroundings are revealed.
Descending can feel like you're trying to find
your way through a labyrinth. Mysterious
places are all around and it can sometimes be
cathartic. Especially if there is cold water
flowing along the path, which there usually is.
The shadows danced across the rocky walls
as the sun changed its position. The sound of
our voices echoed against the rocks. The
mouth at the bottom of the canyon opened into
a large emerald lake; warm water greeted us as
we exited.
Dennis and I coated our bodies with mud
from the bottom of the shallow lake. We let the
sun dry the mud on our skin to give us a make
over. The mud cleans the surface of the body
and gives a nice, smooth feeling.
We had a lot of fun enjoying our stay in
Sierra de Guara. After a quick picnic and a good
bath, we threw our rucksacks back on,
wrapped our ropes, and began hiking our way
back up the mountain to where we had parked
the van.
The heat of the Spanish summer sun soon
had us sweating, but the panorama was

beautiful and the lake was enthralling. After
hiking through the densely covered mountain
with many trees and bushes, we finally found
our way back to the parked van where we had
started hours before.
We placed our equipment in the back of the
van and continued to our next activity,
puenting. The drive was bumpy again as
Enahm kept his foot on the pedal. After several
minutes, we had arrived at our puenting bridge.
The bridge was raised about 60 meters (200
feet) over the water.
I knew what to expect because I had
puented hundreds of times before, with many
other people, but the last time I did that was just
over ten years ago. I fell silent with excitement.
Puenting is an activity where one person has
one end of two ropes tied to their harness,
while the other end is tied to the bridge. Before
putting the ropes on the individual, they are
pulled underneath the bridge and tied to the
opposite side of the railing. Then, the person
fastens the ropes to their harness, using
carabineers, and jumps off. The ropes that are
tied to the other end of the bridge cause the
person to fall straight down until the ropes
catch them. At that point, the person swings
back and forth from side to side until they lose
momentum. You could think of it as a gigantic
swing.
During those first few seconds of free fall, it
is very common to feel like there is an imminent

danger of falling to your death. The tension of
the abyss is enormous and sometimes will
prevent people from taking the plunge.
However, with a little encouragement, most are
willing to try.
I decided to go first to make sure the ropes
were connected properly. Not knowing is
always a scary feeling, but I had experience and
was ready to complete my first jump in ten
years. I took a few careful breaths and began
concentrating.
One of the most important things to
remember when puenting is that you must jump
straight off the bridge. Any other angle can
prove dangerous because you will enter the
possibility of swinging into the bridge.
I jumped. The first few seconds of free fall
are the best part of pu-enting. I continually
picked up speed until the ropes caught me and
swung me to the other side.
Knowing that you are capable of overcoming
hesitation can be a powerful tool. It's an
amazing feeling that gives you boosts of
adrenaline and a rush of endorphins.
After my ride ended, I connected myself to
another wire that they had thrown down. I then
lowered myself into the water below. After 20
minutes of preparation, it was Dennis' turn.
Dennis is a powerful, analytic thinker. He
knows the mind well. All he needed to jump off

the bridge was a decision that he was going to
be stronger than the fear, which he was. After
saying, "mental power," Dennis jumped
backwards into the abyss.
After another 20 minutes, it was Justin's turn
to jump. Regardless of seeming nervous and
tense, he jumped backward off the bridge
without any hesitation whatsoever. Although,
after a few minutes of swinging back and forth,
Justin's motion sickness had kicked in and he
began to throw up. He was successful, but a
slave to his genetic disposition.
After Justin had detached himself and swam
to shore, it was Enahm's turn. No one knew that
he was going. He jumped off the side of the
bridge while no one was looking. The
experience of adventure is what Enahm lives
for.
After Enahm disconnected himself and
returned to the top of the bridge, we
disconnected the ropes and returned to our
van. We all felt different, accomplished. On the
way home, we stopped by a river where there
was a bridge 9 meters (29.5 feet) high. Justin
still felt a little sick, so he stayed in the car while
the rest of us went to leap off the bridge. From
the bridge, Enahm backflipped, I dove, and
Dennis jumped.
When we returned to the campsite, we made
pasta with a nice mixture of vegetables and
wine. Enahm and I played guitar together and
sang a beautiful tune.

The next day, we traveled to a canyon 50
kilometers (31 miles) away called La Panilla.
The canyon was known for its large rappel-ling
walls made of limestone. Wild horses and other
fauna surrounded us as we made our way to
the top of the canyon.
When we had reached the top, we put on
our harnesses, prepared our ropes, and got our
cameras ready. It would be a few hours before
we reached the bottom of the canyon, so we
also had to mentally prepare ourselves.
We groped, jumped, and balanced our way
to the bottom of the first rappelling wall.
Rappelling is a calming movement down the
rocky walls in nature. You have to surrender
yourself to the materials protecting you. It can
be scary at times, but you have to overcome
that fear. Once you begin, there is no turning
back. The only option is down.
When rappelling, people tend to hold on to
the rocks and stay as close as possible to the
wall. This is the complete opposite of what is
necessary. It is important to make sure that
there is never any slack in the rope. To do this,
you must lean back at all times and stay
focused on having your feet flat on the surface.
Yes, it may be scary because it's an unnatural
position to be in, but it is a necessity to rappel
safely. Once accustomed to the material and
the way of using it, it's easy to go down very
quickly.
At the point when the inhibitions vanish, you

are able to enjoy the scenery and view the great
panoramas. It's a hands-on way to enjoy
nature.
Sometimes, people expect happiness to just
enter their lives and change them from the
outside, but it doesn't work like that. Those
people need to work things out inside
themselves. Happiness must spread from the
inside out. I know this because I did a lot of
problem solving to answer my own riddles. It
took me a lot of time and confidence before I
could view the world in color, rather than only
black and white.
For a while, I was emotionally disturbed. I
looked for all kinds of challenges to take my
mind off of worrying. Eventually, I found that
"nature" was the answer I was looking for all
along. The answer varies from person to
person, but that is because each person has his
or her own path.
We need to contemplate and look inside
ourselves. Contemplation is the last stage
before clarity. Try to open your mind and
experience the world for what it is, not what for
you want it to be.
When we finally got to the bottom of La
Panilla, we went swimming in a beautiful,
sapphire-blue river. Enahm left to go pick up
the van while Justin, Dennis and myself got to
swim around. It was very relaxing after a long

day of rappelling.
When Enahm had returned, we went back to
the campsite and made dinner. Guitar music
and laughter filled the air until we grew tired
and fell asleep.
The next morning we awoke at 5:00 AM. We
had planned to go climb and rappel a gigantic
canyon, El Mascun. Enahm was not able to
come on the trip because he made plans
elsewhere, but Justin and Dennis were ready
for anything.
We drove through the early morning and
crossed Sierra de Guara. After three hours of
curvy roads, we had finally reached the little
village of Rodellar, which is at the boarder of
the natural reserve for Sierra de Guara."
El Mascun is the Arabic name of the place
that represents where spirits reside. For that
reason, people in ancient times would avoid the
canyon because of the sinister atmosphere.
In reality, El Mascun is a living museum with
gigantic monoliths everywhere. There are
fossilized rocks at the top of the canyon at 1100
meters (3,608 feet). The mountain is the result of
tectonic plates moving throughout thousands
of years.
We got out of the car and took our
backpacks up the winding path of the
mountain. Soon, we began to see the mountain
for the beautiful place that it was. Cars are not
allowed near the mountain, so anyone who
wants to rappel it needs to hike a trail for many

hours before they can begin to descend.
When we reached the top, iron nails
attached to ropes greeted us. The view was
magnificent; pine trees surrounded the
mountain on all sides. After gearing up, we tied
into the ropes and began abseiling. Again, the
feeling of overcoming inhibitions washed over
me. Where most would feel imminent danger, I
felt peace. We all did. Each cliff was a new
challenge, one that we were always anxious to
overcome.
El Mascun didn't "let us down." It was full of
exhilarating twists and turns and we were never
bored. We had arrived early in the morning and
didn't return until the late evening. It had been a
beautiful day and we slept with the weight of
success on our shoulders.
Then, came Monte Perdido. Located in
Ordessa National Park, Monte Perdido reigns at
3355 meters (11,007 feet). It was the largest
mountain we had set our sights on. Enahm was
still gone and wouldn't be able to join us for our
ascent.
What the Monte Perdido lacks in abseiling, it
makes up for in terrain. The night before our
final expedition, we rested our bodies on a
campground a few miles away from Ordessa.
After a hearty dinner, we talked about what we
had accomplished thus far and what we hoped
to gain on Monte Perdido. When the sun slept,
so did we.
The next morning we packed up our

sleeping bags and drove to a bus station. On
the bus ride to Ordessa, we weaved through
many narrow turns. For most of the ride we
teetered on the edge of a large crater, similar to
America's Grand Canyon.
The bus took us to Ordessa at 1,300 meters
(4,265 feet). We grabbed a cup of coffee from
the local shop and started the hour hike to the
beginning of the Monte Perdido path.
Forests full of pine and fagus sylvatica trees
surrounded us. The luscious combination
provided beautiful scenery for the hike. Once
we arrived at the Monte Perdido trail, the incline
became steeper. After an hour and a half of
climbing, we made had our way past the point
at which trees stop growing and the alpine
vegetation begins.
After a couple more hours, we finally arrived
at the Clavijas de Cotatuero. This is the point on
the mountain where this is no trail. The only
way to continue on the path is to climb up metal
nails that are cemented into the wall.
Justin, Dennis and myself had our
backpacks and sleeping bags weighing us
down. We had brought no climbing equipment
with us, but we didn't need it. Our mission was
about overcoming inhibitions.
If anyone is unfamiliar with this type of
climbing, vertigo may be one of the problems
that he or she may have to overcome. This was
the case for Justin. Despite his fear of heights,
he forced himself to continue on with steady

hands and careful steps. Even though he may
have had a bit of hesitation, he was still able to
climb Clavijas de Cotatuero with ease.
In these moments, time seems to stand still.
Nothing else matters except for that next step. If
your focus is on anything else, you will fall.
These moments can teach us to remain in the
present.
Dennis was the last to cross the Clavijas de
Cotatuero. He made it swiftly and safely across.
A great feeling of accomplishment was present
in all of us. We took several minutes to rest and
meditate on a rock, hundreds of meters above
the ground.
After our little break, we continued on our
path. When we reached the upper part of the
walls facing Ordessa, we pulled ourselves over
the cliff. Our eyes were blessed with beauty.
Thousands of beautiful blue and purple
flowers, known as Iris Xiphioides, were laid out
across the land. There was also a miniature
waterfall that opened into a stream, feeding
water down the center and over the cliff. It was
a surreal atmosphere.
To me, this view alone is more beautiful than
Mount Everest. It is always the same thing on
Everest – rocks, snow and ice. Nothing grows
at that altitude; all life is gone. On Monte
Perdido, the climate changes the higher you
climb. Therefore, you pass all kinds of
vegetation during the ascent, providing the
eyes with new surprises every step of the way.

At 2:00 PM we reached a refuge at 2,160
meters (7,086 feet). We rested for half an hour,
raised our expectations, and then set sail for
the summit. Normally, a climb to the summit of
Monte Perdido should be done on a separate
day, after resting at the refuge, but we were
determined to continue on.
As the path became steeper and more
difficult, the air became colder. Justin and I
were wearing only shorts and sandals. Dennis
was wearing a black t-shirt, pants, and his
hiking boots. We had left behind our sleeping
bags and backpacks at the refuge. The people
that we passed were astounded when they saw
us attempting to summit the snow-covered
slopes of Monte Perdido, while only wearing
limited clothing.
At 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) we were still
going strong. The air was thinning out and the
path was becoming even steeper. Our minds
were being tested to overcome fear and fatigue.
We made our way over the snow-covered
rocks, climbing along at a slow pace to
preserve our energy. After a while, Dennis
stopped and decided to turn around. He had
done exceptionally well, but in his mind he had
already decided to turn back. We told our friend
goodbye and continued onward toward the
summit.
Adorned with great views, we felt like eagles
– free from the worries of the world. Our
majestic panorama was the result of much

physical and mental endurance. It was the fruit
of hard labor and constant meditation.
Near the final stretch, Justin and I decided to
take a break and sat down on two large rocks.
"Wim," Justin said, "I was waiting for the
right time to tell you about something that has
been on my mind for a while. I think now is the
perfect time."
My ears listened attentively to Justin's every
word. Curiosity consumed me.
"I was thinking about writing a book entitled
Becoming the Iceman.
I have been keeping
track of all of the stuff that we have done over
the past year and I think it would make for an
incredible book. Ideally, it wouldn't include only
the things that I have learned, but your
experiences as well."
"In it," he continued, "I think it would be
great to have stories leading up to what made
you
The Iceman.
If we combine both of our
experiences and include the challenges we had
to overcome to become Icemen, it may have the
potential to inspire others. We could give
people the opportunity to become Icemen and
Icewomen, especially if the book contained the
method and technique."
My mind was eager and my body language
began to show it. Yes, this is what I wanted as a
book! I didn't just want a book comprised of
methods and techniques. I wanted a book full
of experiences that would inspire people to
become better and give them the knowledge

they needed to succeed.
This book needs to happen,
I thought.
"One more thing," Justin said. "I think it
would be important to show that it is possible
for anyone to do what you have done. To show
that we all have the potential inside of us. A skill
that just needs to be trained. I think a way we
could show that is by you and I breaking a
world record together. It could make our words
more credible. What do you think?"
"Yes!" I told him. "We need to break a world
record together! It will be like I am passing the
torch on to you. It would be a lovely way to end
the book. This time, I'll come to you. Let's do it
in America!"
It was a marvelous idea and a great concept.
Out of excitement and appreciation, we
embraced each other.
We never finished the climb to the summit,
but we came back down in higher spirits than
the summit could have ever given us. The idea
was reward enough; there was no need to
continue on.
With a great feeling of success, Justin and I
continued our way back down to the refugee.
Our stomachs were tightly clenched, telling us
to eat immediately. We ate very little that day
and climbed more than 3000 meters (9,842 feet)
in height.
There were climbers from many different
backgrounds at the refuge. At dinner, many
languages were spoken around the table:

French, Dutch, English, Spanish, German and
even Basque. It's really great to know multiple
languages; it helps me communicate and
empathize with the random people I meet on a
daily basis.
Finishing with wine and food was the
perfect way to end our day. There was a lovely
sunset outside. Instead of purchasing a room
to sleep in that night, we decided to save the
little money that we had to purchase breakfast
in the morning.
That night, we slept in our sleeping bags on
a grassy hill outside of the refugee. I counted
many stars in the vast night sky as I lay there
trying to fall asleep. My mind was too excited to
rest. Eventually, my thoughts died down and
the quiet, clear sky helped me dose off into a
deep slumber.
The next day, we continued down the
mountain. Justin was a little timid because his
legs were sore and we had dangerous slopes
to climb down without gear, but because he
trusted me, we made it down safely. He got rid
of his inhibitions and descended successfully.
During our long drive back, Justin and I
discussed the possible world records we could
attempt together.
"Well, instead of the barefoot-snow run that
we were trying to organize in the US," he said,
"Why don't we try to breaking a record
together, first. Perhaps, we could try sitting with
our bodies fully exposed in the ice, like you

have done in the past?"
I shook my head, "No. That takes a lot of
training and is extremely dangerous, even for
myself. No, I know what we should do. We
should try to set the fastest time for a 5 and 10-
kilometer run, barefoot through the snow! What
do you think?"
"I think that's a great idea, however, I will
admit that I have had very little training running
barefooted through the snow." I could tell from
his voice that he was worried.
"Do no worry," I assured him. "It is very
easy to learn. Very few people try. If you are
determined to do it, you will adapt very quickly.
I believe in you. We have to do it for the book!"
"All right, Wim," Justin replied. "I trust you.
Barefoot running in the snow will be our record
attempts.
The experiences that Dennis, Justin, Enahm,
and myself had will never be forgotten. They
are deeply rooted in our minds and brought us
closer, like a family. Even though our memories
of the Spanish Pyrenees will last forever, we
now had bigger plans in the making.

CHAPTER 37:
RETURNING HOPEFUL TO
AMERICA
I
came back to America filled with new energy.
Even though I had not climbed Mount Blanc, we
had plans for a far greater goal. I was going to
try and break a world record with my mentor
and spiritual brother, The Iceman.
Classes began shortly after I had returned
from Spain, but I didn't care. My mind was more
focused on Becoming the Iceman. I had begun
to take my training to a new level. I woke up
every morning before class and went for a run
in a nearby park. As I felt more comfortable, I
tried running barefooted on the sidewalks; I
watched my steps carefully to avoid stepping
on broken glass. For the first few runs, it was
extremely painful. I could never run more than a
few blocks at a time before my feet blistered up.
Each day after my, I would immediately shower
to clean my cuts. When I got out, I would put on
socks to provide some comfort for my wounds.
When I wasn't wearing socks to heal from
running, I tried to remain in bare feet as much
as possible. I did away with wearing shoes and
resorted to only wearing my running sandals.
The problem with running sandals is that they
accumulate a lot of sweat over time, making
them pretty smelly. Brooke wasn't a fan. So, I

decided to go give plasma, save up a bit of
money, and invest in the Vibram FiveFingers
shoes that I had seen Dennis wearing in
Europe.
Within a couple weeks, my KSO models
arrived at my doorstep. By then, I had
developed a few callouses on the bottom of my
feet. Therefore, with and without the KSOs, I
was able to run comfortably through the streets
without feeling any pain. Although, I did like the
KSO's a bit more compared to running
barefooted. Running in the Vibrams gave me
the chance to focus on my running and
breathing, rather than constantly looking at the
ground to avoid sharp objects.
As the warmer days of summer faded away
and fall set in, I redirected my focus toward
organizing the world record attempts. I received
an email from Wim asking me to submit a few
applications into Guinness World Records to
see if we could legitimize our world record
attempts. After class one day, I spent a couple
hours going through the application process.
The two applications I submitted were for
fastest 5 and 10k barefoot through the snow.
With the applications submitted, I went back
to focusing on my training. I started
implementing cold exercises back into my daily
routine, specifically, exercises that trained my
feet. These included:
*Foot Immersions
and
*Ice
Buckets
[*Refer to
Justin's Method
section for
more information]. I performed these exercises

several times a day.
As the fall semester continued on, my
workload increased. It began eating away at my
time for training. Therefore, I decided to make a
change. I began cutting back on the amount of
hours I slept each night. I learned from the cold
water exercises that my body could handle
anything I threw at it, so I figured it would be
okay with a little bit of sleep deprivation. Now, I
don't suggest that anyone else try this. It was
just my way of coping with my situation at the
time. I was persistent about pursuing further
training, while still making time to do my
homework.
For months, I survived off of only two hours
of sleep. With all my extra time, I was able to
finish all of my classroom assignments with a
few weeks to spare before the semester ended,
which is exactly what I needed. Soon after I had
finished my assignments, I received an email
from Guinness World Records stating that we
would be able to attempt both records as long
as we provided adequate proof and adhered to
their requirements. Assuming that I would be
running the 5k and Wim would be running the
10k, my time to beat was 30 minutes, while
Wim's time to beat was 60 minutes. I was
unsure of whether or not I could beat that time,
but I knew I had to try.
I began searching around for places that
would be interested in holding our world record
attempts. I called local parks, colleges, and

even my friends to see if they had property that
I could use. Everyone turned me down. No one
would take our attempts seriously. The only
people that supported us were a few friends of
mine who were willing to do anything to see the
event happen. They donated hundreds of
dollars to try to help us organize the event, but
when every place we spoke to turned us down,
I returned all the money to the donors and
wrote each of them an appreciation message.
Our options became extremely limited. It looked
like our hopes of attempting the world record in
the U.S. were dying fast.

CHAPTER 38:
LECTURES FROM THE ICEMAN
I
n November of 2010, an international
conference was held in Florida where
Professor Hopman presented her results from
my autonomic nervous system test. She
presented the results of my experiment from
when I stood in a Perspex box full of ice cubes
for 1.5 hours.
I had a presentation of my own that I had
prepared for 300 doctors, assistances, and
physicians in Europe. I have included that
lecture for you in this chapter, to give you an
idea of what it's like to attend one of my
lectures.
"Good evening. Let me begin by saying that
I am honored to be here and that I have respect
for everything you do.
I usually don't have a lesson plan for my
lectures, so I would like to start off by showing
you a couple video clips of me swimming under
the ice, climbing snowy mountains in shorts,
running a marathon beyond the Polar Circle,
and finally the research explaining how my
body works. Hopefully those video clips will
give you an idea of what my body and mind
have been exposed to.
*I then proceeded to show them some of my

videos that have been displayed on YouTube.
After the video clips finish, I continue on with
the presentation.
So, what can we learn from this?
Well, I believe that if we can go deep enough
into our minds to influence the autonomic
nervous system, as well as the immune system,
we can prevent diseases from harming our
body.
How is this possible?
The cardiovascular system is made up of
muscles that we can train. By exposing them to
natural stimuli, such as the cold, we can make
the muscles stronger. This is easy as taking a
5-minute cold shower after a warm one.
With cold exposure, the muscles in the
arteries are trained. The opening and closing of
the muscular walls are like lifting weights at the
gym. With training, it builds up strength.
With each cold shower, the body improves
immensely. The onset of natural adaptation
happens rather quickly. Once the muscles in
the arteries are strong enough, you will be
ready to go on to the next phase.
In the next phase a psychological aspect
comes in. Here, you don't want to take a warm
shower before turning on the cold. Try stepping
directly into a cold shower. This takes a lot
more determination. The aim of this exercise is
to be able to close your veins by sheer will.

A big part of being able to do this is by
focusing on your breathing. Try not to gasp
when you are first exposed to the cold water.
When you can do this and feel in control, the
veins around the vital parts of the body
contract, as well as in the skin.
This is all possible after gradual adaptation
of phase one. It is an essential step to develop
naturally, without force. This phase helps your
body consciously control the cardiovascular
system.
Through concentrated exercises, you will
adapt fast. Your will is also tested through all of
these exercises. You may think that it would be
much easier to simply turn off the shower and
put on warm clothes. This is, in fact, true, but
you aren't helping your body. In fact, you are
doing the complete opposite.
Listening to your intuition becomes a big
part of this exercise. If you are willingly in the
cold and accepting the exercise, your body will
begin to give you signs that you are ready to
move on to phase three: ice-water immersions.
With the exercises in phase one and two,
you will have learned how to deal directly with
the cold. You will then understand that it takes
will power and determination to get through the
experience, as well as hopefully knowing your
body better.
The psychological development in phase
two opens up a new range of possibilities. At
this point, you will know how to influence the

cardiovascular system and you will have
tapped into consciously communicating with
the hypothalamus, our mental thermostat.
Once you can control that, why not tap into
another part of the brain. When you can
consciously steer the hypothalamus, you can
bring in visualization. We all day dream at times,
but it's mostly done by our subconscious. I
implore you to practice visualization by
imagining how powerful you will be when
submerging yourself in ice water. Imagine
yourself going in and feeling completely at
ease. Know that there won't be a problem
because your body will adapt.
Now, visualize heat in your lower stomach.
Imagine that with each breath, you are
breathing in fire and it fills your body. It isn't
hocus-pocus; this actually works. Thinking that
your body is getting warmer will actually make
your body warmer. Just try it.
I never had a teacher. I learned from
experiences. With a determined mine, I
generated enough energy to deal with cold
exposures. Eventually, I was able to build up
my stamina by training in snow, ice, ice water,
and cold winds. These breathing techniques
helped me do that.
Phase three is different from the previous
two phases. It is still in cold water, but the
experience is much different. Your mindset is
crucial to develop absolute control over the
body.

The ice-water immersions take
determination and visualization. Controlled
breaths are essential. When you first slide into
ice water, take controlled, conscious breaths.
Do not gasp. Try to relax and let the body adapt
naturally. Usually, this takes about thirty
seconds before the body begins to feel at ease.
Once you have relaxed, the mind will do its part
and keep the body warm.
Concentrate and visualize heat in your lower
stomach. Breathe in and make the heat spread
from your lower stomach to the outer parts of
your body. When you breathe out, get rid of the
cold. When you breathe in, use that breath to
generate heat.
Believe in yourself and trust whatever your
body tells you. The experience is real and it has
been proven using scientific methods.
With these exercises, we can fight disease
and begin to live a healthy life. Just go within
yourself and tap into your inner nature."
Soon after giving the lecture you have just
read, I was asked to give another lecture in
front of the doctors of Albert Schweitzer
Hospital in Rotterdam. It was my next
big
challenge.
Manely, the man who's doing a
documentary on my life, came along as well.
Together, we went with Onno, his cameraman.
We drove in two cars to Rotterdam. It took us a
long time because of the congested traffic,

which is a very typical occurrence in the
Netherlands considering that every day, there
is construction on at least one road.
After a few hours in the car, we had finally
arrived at the location, the SS Rotterdam. It's a
huge cruise ship in the harbor of Rotterdam.
The ship was very impressive, but I tried to
remain focused on what I would say in my
lecture.
We grabbed our gear from the cars and went
to the reception desk. They sent us to the upper
deck where we had a panoramic view over the
harbor and the skyline of Rotterdam. Manely
and Onno got the cameras ready while I
finished preparing the lecture in my head.
The conference room took up the entire
backside of the ship. 100 doctors, sitting in
comfortable chairs adjacent to little tables,
occupied the room. The stage where the
lectures were given was nicely done. There was
a painted background on the back end that had
images of mountains and rocks. Manely and
Onno began rolling the cameras and the
audience became quiet. An experienced
speaker and a cardiologist introduced me.
A microphone and a giant screen were my
utensils to speak and visually show what I
would normally do in my challenges. We
showed three video clips. The first was my
barefooted, half marathon ice run in Lapland.
The second was my world record attempt,
swimming under ice water. The third was the

physiological experiment that took place at
Radboud University Hospital.
When the video clips ended, I began
speaking:
"I have no program, no concrete story in my
head that I'm going to tell you, but that is just
the way I am. Your energy and attention will
help me guide this lecture.
However, I do have a message. I want to
show that everybody is capable of influencing
the immune system. I don't care about the
sequence of my words as long as the message
is well understood and can be passed on to
you."
The lecture continued that way for a while.
Soon, my inhibitions were gone and my words
flowed out like a river with a strong current.
While I lectured, images and video footage
played behind me. Everyone was captivated
and listened carefully. The audience remained
silent and attentive.
I told them about going deep into myself,
about the challenges that present themselves
in hard nature, about exerting more effort than
we usually can contribute, and about nature as
my teacher. I explained that nature is hard, but
righteous.
I also told them about how I had learned to
breath differently, deeper and more effectively. I
explained that my breathing helps me perform

better in nature and makes me more capable of
taking on "impossible" tasks.
It may sound weird, but going into the
extreme cold in nature, especially when you're
barely wearing clothes, induces a different state
of mind. It's almost intuitive. I continued:
"Nature rules. Nature learns. Nature
lectures.
You have to go deep, deep inside yourself to
where the nervous system, immune system,
cardiovascular system, heart and mind all work
together. When all these systems are working
together, it guarantees a tremendous power. I
have learned to trust this, wholeheartedly.
The sensation of overcoming the worrisome
mind and controlling it is unmistakable. To be
able to feel united in body and mind, and not
alienated from nature is a powerful thing.
I have no fear of climbing without gear. I
have the capability to avoid falling rocks
reflexively without consciously seeing them fall.
I have the ability to tell a cramp in my leg to go
away. I can run a full marathon in shorts,
beyond the Polar Circle, without any prior
training whatsoever. I have the capability to use
mind
over
matter.
Deep trust is about knowing that you are
fully capable of functioning at your best within
your body and mind. The cold teaches you
through powerful lessons.
For hundreds of years, we have worn

clothes and developed better fabrics to
maintain our heat. We have confided in the
warmth of our homes and avoided the cold as
much as physically possible. We have settled
for living comfortably, never testing our
boundaries.
To keep our bodies strong, we need to train
ourselves in nature. The cold is a powerful
voice with a wise lesson. With the right
adaptation we can bring back control over the
internal workings of our body. It helps us be
more alert and reactive to any negative
disturbances in our body.
Let us take the cardiovascular system for
example. This can be conditioned to function
better by doing gradual cold exposures. It is a
system that has the ability to become stronger
with training. Training the muscular walls of the
arteries helps pump blood more efficiently
throughout the body. I have found that it lowers
20 to 25 beats off of the resting heart rate!
Overall, this aids in making your thoughts more
peaceful and coherent.
We are capable of building extraordinary
structures, flying into space, and programming
computers, yet we continually avoid the
opportunity to explore our bodies and push
their limits.
Keep this in mind, young doctors, that we
are at the forefront of new discoveries within
the human mind and body.
My message is that everyone is capable of

influencing the immune system and that the
cold is a noble, natural force that can help teach
us how to regain this ability. Our health is
important, why avoid this useful tool any
longer?
In medieval times, we thought the earth was
flat and we wouldn't dare venture toward the
horizon for fear of falling to our deaths. Imagine
the fear that thought must have caused – to be
eternally trapped. Yet, we changed our
mindsets and discovered new worlds because
we were driven to challenge our perceptions.
Our perception shapes the way we live. A lot of
the time, it can prevent us from reaching our
potential.
The cold is a force that must be taken
seriously, as we do with the heat. When you're
sitting in front of a fireplace, you think it's
comfortable and nice. You don't stick your
hand into the flames. The same is true for the
cold. You don't just dive into ice water, stay
there for hours, and expect to live; you must
gradually exposure yourself. The best way to
start is through cold showers.
You don't need to be a professional football
player to enjoy the health benefits of playing
football. Just as well, you don't need to expose
yourself to the extreme temperatures that I do
to reach the immune system. All I am
suggesting is that we start fitting in a few cold
showers into our weekly schedules."

Feeling that my message was well
understood, I thanked the audience for their
time. After Manely and Onno packed their
cameras, we ate dinner and began our long
drive back to Holland.
We had done well. It felt like I had taken a
giant step in the right direction.

CHAPTER 39:
THE NEW YEAR
December 2010
A
fter a heavy period of snow here in Holland,
daily cold baths and running barefoot through
the snow, I had one thing in my mind: Hong
Kong. Another opportunity had presented itself
where I could travel to Hong Kong to attempt
my world record again, encased in ice.
The plane tickets were arranged for me to fly
out over Russia, Siberia, China, and then
eventually land on an island near a giant status
of Buddha. When I arrived, a 54-year-old
Japanese man greeted me; his name was Sano.
The temperature was warm compared to
Holland. In Hong Kong, the temperature was
19°C (66.2°F) while in Holland it was -10°C
(14°F). Despite the warmer weather, a lot of
people were heavily clothed. They seemed like
they had a natural disposition to "feeling cold"
and were in desperate need of staying warm. I
was walking around in a t-shirt and felt
completely comfortable!
As Sano guided me through the river
floating through the city, he pointed out huge
buildings with mesmerizing architecture. He
escorted me to the giant entrance of a five-star
hotel. My room was relatively small, but the
view was magnificent. I felt like a king.

I saw many statues of Bruce Lee around the
city. There were many photos that showed
great respect for him as a martial artist. I feel
that he died too young. His statutes gave me
inspiration to perform well in the beautiful city
full of exotic palm trees and subtropical botany.
Two days after my arrival, the city was
blessed with the heat of a warm summer day. It
was a heat that could touch the solemnness of
the soul. It helped take my mind off the
upcoming challenge. Sano took me all kinds of
places. He was a very nice man who was a
pleasure to be around. He was also extremely
busy because he was helping to organize the
events surrounding the countdown to 2011.
Sano arranged a press conference focusing
on global warming awareness; I was his
protagonist promoting the message. I didn't
know anything about global warming, but I tried
my best to represent the issue.
There were 15 microphones, 30 journalists,
and 10 video cameras while I did a lecture on
global warming. Here is what I said:
"I have no knowledge in politics, nor am I
someone against the love of the world. I think
that children are our future and that the coming
generations, who will inhabit this world, need to
be raised in a world that is balanced.
We, as humans, can protect ourselves
against the changing weather conditions, but
animals and plant life cannot!

In the end, we won't be able to turn our back
on the world and avoid the consequences of
our actions. Exploiting our ecosystem to
receive financial gain is not worth it.
I am here to break a world record in the ice
and therefore, take the opportunity to raise
attention worldwide. I would like to help
broaden the vision concerning this delicate
matter of global warning. The nature outside of
ourselves directly influences the nature within
us.
We have become strangers to nature over
the years because we are no longer living
directly in nature. We are always spending
money on clothes and surrounding ourselves
with technological luxuries. We have lost our
touch with nature.
We have become blind, in a way. Therefore, I
am thankful for the opportunity to express my
thoughts with you and show you what can be
done when you are connected to nature."
Then it was time to immerse myself in a cold
ice bath inside of a transparent container.
Click. Click. Click.
A photo shoot was happening outside of the
container. My exposed body was being
imprinted on the cameras of those around me.
Two days after that, the record attempt was
imminent. The plan was for me to begin the full-
body ice endurance record at precisely 10:20
PM. When I would get out 1 hour and 50

minutes later, it would be 10 minutes into the
New Year, 2011!
A little before the event, I sat down in the
audience and tried to relax. The crowd was
enthusiastic and many gave me admirable
looks.
After some dancers performed on stage, the
announcer mentioned that the world record
was about to begin. I walked up beside the
announcer and he asked a few questions.
"How are you feeling?" "Are you confident that
you will break the world record?"
My mind was only set on one thing:
Just do
it.
A few of the people lifted the Perspex box
and I walked in. They set the box upright and
began filling it with ice. It usually takes between
5 to 10 minutes to fill it completely.
The ice poured over my shoulders and I
checked how my body was reacting to it. This
is what was happening inside of me:
Full of determination, I charged myself up
with adrenaline and dopamine. The adrenaline
made me feel strong against the cold impact
and the dopamine was my pain reliever.
When I was completely covered in ice, the
walls of my cardiovascular system contracted
and began their search to find a way to work as
efficiently as possible, without releasing heat.
The veins around my vital organs
contracted and I steered the blood to circulate

around them to keep warm. This keeps my core
temperature stable.
When all these conditions were met, the time
to endure began. The better I was at keeping
my core temperature stabilized, the longer I
would be able to stay in the ice. Sometimes, I
would begin to feel cold in a certain part of my
body. By simply concentrating on that spot, I
was able transfer heat to that area to warm it
back up.
I have two important responsibilities when I
am fully immersed in ice. I feel like they are the
perfect example of mind over matter. The first is
being able to keep the veins and arteries
closed, around the core. The second is
redirecting heat toward parts of the body when
they get cold. Both are done consciously.
This reminds me of a 55-year-old man named
Leonard, who had once emailed me. He was
interested in some of the articles that he had
read about reaching the immune system.
Leonard's body was completely paralyzed, save
for his head. Despite Leonard's inability to move
his body, he still suffered from chronic aches
and pains.
I visited Leonard and told him that there is a
power in man that can alleviate that pain. Simply
direct energy to the aches and imagine them
going away. It only took him twenty minutes to
figure out how to do it and ever since then, he
has been able to relieve his pain using only his

mind.
The influence of the mind is powerful. When
you are completely fed up with a situation, you
are more willing to break through the
conditioned mind. Leonard just needed a little
push to get him going.
Now, back to the story…
So, there I was, standing on a stage in front
of thousands of people, all cheering me on. I
was completely in control and winning the fight
against the cold!
Groups of performers danced beside me.
Sometimes, the steps that they would take on
the stage would shift the ice inside of the box,
making it harder for me to stay warm.
Every performance in the ice is a different
one. I can't ever go in unprepared because if
something unexpected happens, there is a
huge chance that I will get hypothermia.
I know a perfect example of this. The last
time I attempted the record, I was in Tokyo.
They had stuck a temperature probe in my
mouth to monitor my body heat. It made it
extremely difficult for me to breath.
My oxygen saturation fell dangerously low.
After an hour of this, I had enough. I made them
take the probe out. Immediately, everything felt
much better. By the time I had reached the new
record time, my oxygen saturation was back to
100%!
I had another problem with this particular ice

record when I did it in Austria. The temperature
outside was freezing. When I broke the world
record and they tried to get me out, they failed.
The air had completely frozen all of the ice
cubes together. I had become part of an ice
sculpture. After they pulled the Perspex box off
of me, they needed to chop away at the ice with
axes.
So, like those time, I had to deal with
something unexpected. I needed to battle
against the ice as it massaged my skin. I was
determined to break the world record, so I
pressed on.
1 hour and 50 minutes after being immersed,
I had finally set the new world record! Big
cheers from the audience came as I was freed
from my icy tomb. It was finally time for my
warm bath
I went back to my hotel room, jumped in the
hot tub, and fell asleep. Hours must have
passed by because when I woke up, everyone
who was partying in my hotel room was gone
and the wine that was given to me as a gift was
empty. In it's place, someone had left a basket
of fruit. how kind.
Regardless, I had succeeded once again.
The following day, Sano took me to the Chinese
Sea. We spent the day walking along the water.
When we got back to the city of Hong Kong,
there was a surprise waiting for me. There was
a Chinese wedding taking place and they
wanted me to be the guest of honor! It was a

beautiful ceremony. Sadly, I wasn't able to
attend the reception because my plane left at
11:00 PM.
We took the subway back to the airport
where we had cheap, but tasty Japanese sushi
before we separated. Sano was really nice
company and he made the experience feel like
a movie. We embraced each other and said our
final goodbyes.

CHAPTER 40:
STRENGTH AND HONOR
M
anely, a talented film director and a good
friend of mine, is making a documentary that
relates to this book and helps illustrate the
point that we can all reach and influence the
immune system.
This finding could have huge repercussions
on the world and shift the perception of the
general population. As I continually show
people the health benefits of gradually training
in the cold, I hope it leads to a total prevention
of diseases.
A few days ago, from the time of writing this
chapter, I visited Manely and brought some
DVDs of my former documentaries over to him.
While he reviewed the DVDs, one particularly
clip caught my attention.
"The Superhumans and the Quest of the
Fantastic Four," is a series that claims I am a
"superhuman." This is the video footage that
shows me running a barefooted, half marathon
in the snow. Specifically, this is the run that
resulted in frostbite.
I can't say that my decision to keep running
was only based off of intuition; I had let my
emotions get the best of me. I had a situation at
home that had left me emotionally distraught. I
wasn't thinking properly. Sadly, I let it affect my
decision.