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Dutch "Iceman" to climb Mt. Qomolangma

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-03-08 17:20

A Dutch daredevil is to climb the world's highest peak Mt. Qomolangma wearing just boots, shorts, gloves and a cap, an expedition leader said Thursday.

Wim Hof, known as the "Iceman", holds nine endurance records and has recently run 21 km barefoot above the Arctic circle in Finland.

Hof claims to have special abilities to withstand freezing temperatures. His website innerfire.nl shows him cross-legged and semi-naked, meditating on ice.

"He will not climb all the way in shorts, only in sections, but we plan to set many new world records," said expedition leader Werner de Jong by telephone from The Netherlands.

For the attempt on the 8,848-meter peak, Hof will strip off for climbing, but don clothes while resting, Jong was quoted Thursday by The Himalayan Times newspaper as saying.

"He has four extra Sherpas," the team leader said. "Overnight and during tea breaks he will wear clothes," he added.

Last May, Lakpa Tharke Sherpa caused a media furore when he claimed to have briefly stripped off on the summit of Qomolangma.

The main season on Mt. Qomolangma gets under way in late April and May when a small window between the spring and summer monsoon make climbing the peak most feasible.

Temperatures on the summit during spring range between minus 25 and minus 30 centigrade.

The expedition, which includes four clothed climbers, leaves The Netherlands on April 1 and hopes to make a summit attempt on May 16, Jong's website says.

According to the report, as many as 10 mountaineers died last year while trying to reach the roof of the world.

But De Jong is sure that the ascent can be undertaken safely.

"I am the one who will decide when he can continue, and I have enough mountaineering experience," he said.

Hof claims an unexplained ability to control his skin temperature from within and resist frostbite.