Two Chinese icemen stripped off and set a new time record for full body ice contact endurance in the minus ten Celsius extreme conditions for around two hours on a mountain peak in southwest China.
The 53-year-old Guinness World Record holder Chen Kecai and the other challenger 57-year-old Jin Songhao have chosen the mountain in Zhangjiajie which is said to inspire the scenery in the blockbuster movie Avatar as their location for performing the stunt. The mountain was blanketed by snow and sleet as the temperature was forecasted at a maximum of minus ten Celsius. Chen and Jin entered the transparent boxes wearing just a pair of swimming trucks. Assistants then filled the boxes with ice cubes. Doctors attached electronic devices to the competitors’ chests to monitor their vital signs during the challenge. Chen was the record holder of longest full body ice contact endurance in the world until December 31st, 2010 when the Dutch Wim Hof set a new record of one hour 55 minutes in Hong Kong. Chen’s goal was to beat the record to one hour 58 minutes. However, his smile faded away 40 minutes later as he started to be shivering with his body temperature dropping to 35 degrees Celsius. Ignoring doctors’ advice of quitting, Chen chose to continue to suffer and was finally extracted out of the ice when the electronic board showed one hour 58 minutes. Different from Chen, Jin finished his challenge easily and set a brand new record of two hours.
01. Chinese “Iceman” Chen Kecai
02. Chinese “Iceman” Jin Songhao
Chinese “Icemen” Jin Songhao (C) celebrates after setting a new world record for withstanding extreme cold in Zhangjiajie, central China’s Hunan Province, Jan. 3, 2010. (Xinhua/Liang Liang)
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