Okay, the fools have begun...

[timer lady]

the New Year already. It's 2 below zero currently with a wind chill of 15 below zero this morning. :cold:

It's all over the morning news & I know this is a New Year's Day tradition but I'm dying at the thought - Polar Bear's Clubs around town are getting ready to dive into several lakes about the Twin Cities! :surprise:

I guess I'm just too much into survival & teaching difficult children safe choices (they have to chop the ice off to jump in) to be diving into sub zero temp waters. :nonono:

Too extreme for me. :hammer:

 

[meowbunny]

Never understood polar bears. At least a real one has this lovely fur coat to protect them from the cold. The human variety are just plain dumb in my opinion.

 

[donna723]

I'm always amazed at the people that do this! It usually seems to be chubby middle-aged guys with beer guts who do it too. Is this not dangerous??? I wonder if any of them ever have heart attacks from plunging into near-freezing temperature water???

I've always been fascinated by REAL polar bears though! They actually have black skin under all that white hair! And their white hair somehow serves to conduct the warmth of the sun down to their black skin! Neat, huh!

 

[timer lady]

Donna,

There will be paramedics at each of these events...have to protect the fools I guess.

I guess I shouldn't make too much of this; many of these clubs are doing this for charity. I just think there is a "warmer" way to achieve this goal.

My dad used to take us down to Lake Michigan each New Year's Day to watch this when we were growing up. I remember some pretty cold days spent watching people swim in Lake Michigan. The highlight was dad buying us hot chocolate to stay warm. :cold:

 

[Sara PA]

When I lived in Alaska, I stayed at a fairly remote lodge where the usual method of bathing was a sauna and a dip in the creek.....in the winter....naked. The day I "bathed" the temperature of the creek was 31F. Fast moving water doesn't freeze at 32F. I don't remember what the air temp was but it was the same mountain pass where, on the 4th of July, I took pictures of the snow left over from the previous winter.

I'd do a polar bear dip on New Year's if that was done around here. But it's not.

 

[ML]

My version of the polar bear dip is to go outside when I'm having a hot flash :smile: It's been pretty cold here in CO.

 

[Star*]

I think I'd give it a go - just once. Why not - I've taken worse abuse from difficult child and it NEVER got me on the news. And I didn't get a cup of hot chocolate either.

Dumber things have been done.

 

[Wiped Out]

I know I could never do it! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

 

[Marg's Man]

We get the Bondi Icebergs. Nothing like your polar bears.

These clowns (yes, they are usually overweight middle aged men) go to Bondi Beach in the middle of our winter, where the air temperature gets down to around 5-6 degrees Celsius (about 40 Fahrenheit) and, cuddling large blocks of factory ice, go for swimming in the ocean pools.

Wind chill would give apparent temps of about -1 to +2 but you won't get me doing that. Marg and I went swimming during the Christmas break - she said the (20 degree Celsius) water was lovely. I stopped singing bass and went tenor!

Marg's Man

 

[mrscatinthehat]

I have so many better things to do with my time than swim in winter. I never understood this but to each his own I guess.

Beth

 

[DDD]

It dipped to 30 last night and I am still in my pj's delaying the trip to work. Nope. No polar bear tendencies here.

The other thing is.. :nonono:..just watching that filmed on TV
triggers terrible claustrophobic nightmares of not finding "the
hole" to get out! Yikes! DDD