Tips to Make Your Icy Plunge More Bearable

Tips to Make Your Icy Plunge More Bearable

Protective Footwear

Wear something on your feet (old tennis shoes or aqua socks) to prevent cuts on your feet from the ice and to prevent your feet from sticking to the snow and ice on shore.

Warm Boots After Swim

Have warm/dry boots or shoes to put on once you get out of the lake. This is an important point – once your feet get cold, your entire body will want to go on strike. Not good for a long walk back to your car.

Set up Camp

Once you get to the park, make your way to the shore and find a place for your blanket and stuff in the “swimmers only” area marked by two six-foot polar bears holding a JPBC banner. This will save you mass confusion at the last minute and give you a fun photo opportunity.

Do you Wear Glasses?

If you wear glasses, we suggest you obtain a strap or something similar to hold them to your face, or not wear them at all! It is quite difficult to find glasses that have been dropped in the water on a sandy and icy beach.

Blanket to Sit On

Bring an old blanket or towel to put down on the icy shoreline to sit down on and change before/after the swim. Don’t do as others have by finding your swimming suit, with you inside it, frozen to the ground.

The Swim is at Noon, but Arrive Early

Get there by 11 am to get a decent parking place. You’ll be glad afterwards when the walk back to your car is one block instead of five or six.

3…2…1…

Several minutes before noon, get to your blanket/changing area to begin to disrobe. At 10 seconds before noon, the countdown will be on – when it gets to “zero” everyone will hit the water with an enthusiastic yell.

Savor the Moment

Finally, the swim will be over before your goosebumps know what hit them, so savor the moment out in the lake with your fellow Polar Bears – “high fives” and “Happy New Year” greetings never feel so good and you’ve got 364 days until next time.

Tips from the Jacksonport Polar Bear Club, jacksonportpolarbearclub.com.