Cold, Hard Facts Polar Plunge Was A ‘Wild And Crazy’ Scheme

Of the hundreds of people who turned out for Monday’s Polar Bear Plunge, few if any knew when the New Year’s Day tradition got started at Lake Coeur d’Alene.

“It must go back 50 years,” said old-timer C.J. Hamilton as he prepared to dash into the icy water.

Wrong. It all started in 1979.

Rob Langstaff and Ken Kohli were seniors at Coeur d’Alene High School in the fall of 1978, standing around their lockers, when inspiration hit.

“It was the era of Steve Martin and the Wild and Crazy Guys,” Kohli recalled Tuesday. “Rob and I dreamed up this idea of proving we were the wildest and craziest guys in our class.”

They were joined by juniors Brian Hunt, Pat Mitchell and Bryan Riba. The chums went to Sanders Beach, then a high school hangout, shortly after Thanksgiving. They talked television and newspaper reporters into showing up and watching them make a mad dash into the water. They justified it all by announcing that they were starting a Polar Bear club.

They invited people to join them at noon on Jan. 1.

“The initial guys in the group only lasted for a year or two,” Kohli said. “By year three, 20 or 30 people showed up, although after that first year there was never any serious organization.”

Hunt has moved to Hawaii, hardly a polar bear hangout. Langstaff and Riba, who went into the Air Force together, are in Germany and Oklahoma, respectively.

“My son’s been back several times at New Year’s, but he won’t do it anymore,” said Riba’s mother, Judy.

Kohli and Mitchell are still in town, and sometimes show up to watch or splash.

Kohli surmised that the lake is a focal point of the community, and folks like the ritual of starting each New Year by diving into it - no matter how many goose bumps it brings.

“You just have to laugh. People found some charm in it.”

, DataTimes