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Book review/ruminations: Becoming The Iceman
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09-10-2012 9:17pm#1...or how I learned to save a few hundred euro on the oil this winter. Just a little something to set ye up for the next eight months, I'll be doing a quick review of Wim Hof's (and Justin Rosales') book about how he manages to survive in subzero conditions for hours on end, clad only in his boxers.
When I first heard about this Wim Hof character in the process of researching survival times and methods for extreme cold temperatures, I have to admit I was sceptical. Apparently he lays the credit for his achievements at the feet of meditation incorporating yogic techniques. Having seen and read about altogether too many gurus and magic men that surivive on sunlight alone among other feats (but won't let themselves be scientifically studied), I didn't start reading wanting to be a believer.
Still, there's a difference between being hard nosed and being wilfully ignorant - Wim has racked up an impressive list of achievements. These include but are not limited to:- Eighteen world records in cold endurance, the latest of which almost broached two hours.
- Reached the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in his shorts within two days.
- Made it seven eighths of the way up Everest, not reaching the top due to a previous foot injury which he got while...
- ...running a marathon in his shorts above the arctic circle. Subsequently he did the same thing in even colder temperatures (minus 20).
- On April 19, 2012, an episode of the US television program Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, featuring Hof, was broadcast. Hof was tested against a member of the team named Austin, both sitting in a tank full of ice. Austin sat in the tank for about 20 minutes, with his surface body temperature falling to eight degrees above freezing. When he got out of the water, the other two team members used a heat camera to reveal that his body was at about forty degrees. Wim's core body temperature stayed the same for the entire twenty minutes, as did his heart rate.
Yes, I would say this has deep implications for people interested in survival.
So, on to the book. It was co-authored by an American named Justin Rosales who first heard of Wim in Penn State university in 2009. To be honest I was a little disappointed when I learned that the book was written in alternating chapters by Wim and Justin; I don't want to hear about the tourist, I want to hear about the master, preferably in the form of a step by step tutorial.
Looking back over the book though I realise it does make a little more sense to walk interested readers through the stages involved from a first person perspective, and I guess it plays well with the American audiences too.
There's a tremendous focus on attaining and retaining the proper mental state throughout the book, very much a mind over matter message, from Wim's early adventures with rock climbing in Spain all the way through to his record breaking attempts and successes. I'm aware that many people are cynical about these concepts, but its one area where I at least have no difficulty.
I find Wim's chapters to be very engaging, with an almost childlike boyish enthusiasm really shining through, unaware or more likely uncaring of nuance or entendre, combined with a deep desire for knowledge. Less a desire to be a superhero and more a general yearning for more and a sense of wonder at the world. It puts me in mind of nineteenth century travelogues and journals, or even Enid Blyton, a kind of unbounded exploration that's hard to come by these days.
He begins with a recounting of his spontaneous decision to cycle to Dakar Senegal with his brother, describing eating nothing but corn flakes and sleeping in melon fields, meeting other adventurers, and baking bread on the beach. Keep in mind that this was long before the days of the internet, even television would have been unusual, and mobile phones were still twenty years in the future.
More usefully, he mentions how this journey awoke in him a centre of spiritual calm and an awareness of himself, which would lead ultimately to his mastery of meditation and his own body.
There are important question marks hanging over the techniques he describes starting with these chapters. Wim was obviously a tough and adventurous type from day one, and not afraid of hardship. He talks about sitting in the snow as a child, climbing mountains as a younger man, swimming in ice water all his life. So how much is the yoga and how much is sheer regardlessness and a lifetime of acclimatisation? I've done cold water acclimatisation training myself, its not mysterious, so what's the missing ingredient? According to the book, that would be the meditation and mental preparation.
He also speaks of his initial surprise at the interest shown by the media in his achievements, leading up to examinations by legions of increasingly puzzled scientists on various continents, whose standard tests revealed that his veins and cardiovascular system were independently poorly conditioned to the cold, but somehow when the whole lot was put together almost immune to its effects. Essentially he seems to lock the heat into his core and release it as needed to his extremities, although the language used is confusing.
Justin initially talks about his own upbringing, time spent in a Christian summer camp, that girl he liked, drunken parties, multitasking anecdotes, how he wanted to be superman, which I guess is meant to ease people into the experience. Once we get past the vacuous made-for-Oprah stuff, he then writes about attempting to learn the Tummo (inner fire) yoga which Wim uses, the positive effects it had on his life, and how it helped him with his own endurance goals. I get the feeling he started out writing a self realisation book but was just blown away by what was actually happening as he progressed.
This culminates in his spending time with Wim on a sort of pilgrimage in Poland. He narrates swimming in ice water, breathing exercises, Wim incanting Sanskrit mantras to help his friend swim further (which seems to work, and does appear to be in accordance with my own external research on the effects of mantras), and a notable lack of asceticism - Wim smokes and swallows vodka with the best of them, and hot chocolate is a favourite treat after a hard day of not freezing the family jewels off.
The last few chapters are also fascinating if somewhat random, including a quick segue to Mont Blanc and Finland. Wim describes being able to stand on one foot in a hig speed wind tunnel being pelted by water (again chanting mantras), and feeling and showing almost no effects when he was injected with an endotoxin under laboratory conditions under the supervision of doctors and scientists. The techniques he uses are apparently effective in many different conditions, a strange mix of mysticism, psychology, and physical conditioning.
Finally, we end up with what I was looking for, step by step instructions and exercises anyone can undertake themselves. I've started practising them, and while its unlikely that I'll be reporting the results on the internet, I can confirm they have proven effective to date. Not included are the Sanskrit mantras mind you, but there are plenty of other resources on that front for the interested wanderer.
Many of the feats described in the book border on the incredible, but the facts do bear them out, so you don't even really need an open mind going into it. Although you're probably better off not approaching this cynicism aforethought.
If these admittedly at times hazardous techniques can be mastered, they will undoubtedly offer an incalculable advantage to the adept in survival situations, and as such I'd recommend the book to anyone who is interested in taking their skills to the next level and considerably beyond if the accounts are to be believed.1
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