Hundreds plunge into Lake CdA for annual New Year’s Day tradition

COEUR d’ALENE – Bundled in coats, hats and gloves, hundreds of people lined Sanders Beach on New Year’s Day.

Minutes before the clock struck noon, the soon-to-be swimmers of all ages traded their toasty winter layers of clothing for summer swimsuits. The crowd then erupted in cheers and stormed into the frigid waters of Lake Coeur d’Alene, shaking off any lingering effects of New Year’s Eve partying and starting the new year revitalized.

The Polar Bear Plunge, a New Year’s Day tradition for those bold enough to brave the chilly water, appeared to be well attended in comparison to past years. The mild 35-degree weather and the absence of snow on the sandy beach was likely welcomed by many.

Stacy Blair and her friends lined up at the water’s edge in front of the pack and were some of the first to strip down to their swimsuits. Blair said she did the plunge last year. She wanted to “cleanse” and start the new year out right this year.

She was waiting to run into the lake with three others, including friend Kat Detroia, who said Blair recruited them to Thursday’s event at a Tuesday pajama party while they were drinking Champagne.

“We all know it’s freezing, but we’re gonna do it anyway,” Detroia said.

She said they had towels, hand warmers, a change of clothes and whiskey waiting to warm themselves after they retreat from the water back to shore.

Another friend in the group, Clay Lowe, said afterward that he briefly stayed in the water and then exited after he could not feel his body. While he felt numb, he said he was definitely awake.

Lowe recalled jumping into his pool on New Year’s Day growing up in Florida. But, that was a little warmer than the 44-degree North Idaho lake Thursday.

“(It’s) much colder than jumping in a pool in northern Florida,” Lowe said.

The swimmers raced out of the water, dried themselves off, brushed the sand off their feet and put their warmer clothes back on. Some warmed up by a wood-burning fire on the beach.

While some dove in and rushed out of the water, more than 50 stayed in the lake for several minutes, some appearing to meditate to block out the cold.

Randal Allen, a 36-year-old Spokane resident, was one of them.

He estimated taking a six- or seven-minute ice bath in the lake. He said he did not have a length of time he wanted to stay in, but he said he stayed until “my soul told me to get out.”

He called his shivering when he got out of the water “adrenaline shakes” and that jumping in the cold lake is a good mental challenge.

“If we think we can do something, our body will follow,” Allen said. “And I like to put myself up to challenges like that. It’s like a mind over matter thing, kind of rejuvenates you, gives you energy.”

He said it was cool to see the community participate.

“It’s nice to meet people and to see that there’s a bunch of other crazy people like me out here, and we’re not so crazy after all,” Allen said.

He had never done the Polar Bear Plunge at Sanders Beach, which is at the base of the east side of Tubbs Hill. But, he did enter the Spokane River a couple weeks ago. He felt the lake was colder than the river.

“I feel like it’s a really good jumpstart to set yourself up for success,” Allen said. “There’s no better day to do it than the first day of the year.”

Allen, who jumped in with his brother, said he planned to put on his sweats and crank the heater in the car.

“It’s gonna be a good day,” he said. “It’s gonna be a good year.”