Due to uncooperative weather and shifting pandemic restrictions, Huntsville’s annual Polar Bear Dip has been postponed until sometime in February, say organizers.
The ninth annual Huntsville Polar Bear Dip was held on Jan. 1, 2020 at the waterfront at Hidden Valley Resort. It was cancelled in 2021 and organizers had hoped that both the weather and the pandemic would cooperate for 2022.
Rather than cancel the event outright, they’ve decided to wait for more favourable conditions on both fronts and run the event—which typically sees several dozen dippers brave the frigid waters of Peninsula Lake—later in 2022.
“The event will definitely happen,” says organizer Markus Latzel. “Ice conditions do not allow us to have the dip on [Jan. 1]. The ice will be too thin to stand on it but too thick to just perform a ‘run-in’.”
Potential February dates for the rescheduled event are either Feb. 5 or Feb. 20, depending on COVID restrictions at that time.
“With the later date, dippers will be able to extend their fundraising as well,” noted Latzel.
In the last several years, the event has supported Community Living Huntsville, which promotes inclusion and supports people with a developmental disability.
Advance registration is not required—you simply show up on the event date ready to dip—but participants are encouraged to start fundraising now. Send your supporters the donation link here.
Watch for updates on the event’s Facebook page here.
Need some motivation to participate? Check out photos from the 2020 event here.
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Hey! I’ve fallen into the lake through the ice three times in my life. Once trying to fix a dock, another time it was trying to catch a fish and the third time was, well lets just call it gross misjudgement of the strength of ice.
In all cases it was not something I’d recommend or repeat voluntarily.
I can say with total assurance that it takes about three to five seconds for water to flood into a snowmobile suite and less than this to follow a wheelbarrow of rocks off a loose plank and into the water beside a dock. No matter how you enter the water it is always harder to get out and back on that ice.
If these folks want to do this it is fine with me but I have warmer things to do with my time.
Besides, you will probably scare the fish!