Starting the New Year off right with the northern lights and a big dipper

Jim Beckermann said immersing himself in the cold water is an invigorating way to start the New Year. He’s lived in Juneau for the last 45 years and began participating in the annual Polar Bear Dip five years ago.

“It was my New Year’s resolution,” he said. “Start the year off right. When I turned 75, I decided to do it.”

According to Beckermann, it’s never too late to try something new. “Just jump in!”

The New Year got off to a bright start with a vibrant northern lights show overnight before a clear sunny afternoon for the 34th annual polar plunge at Auke Recreation Area — not that the sun offered much warmth for those participating. The water was 39.8°F, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s daily satellite reading, about 14 degrees warmer than the air.

Still, Patricia Forrest said she was grateful for the sun.

“Like many, many years it’s been a really good turnout,” Forrest said. “This is a beautiful sunshiny day. There have been years where we have shoveled off the stairs. There have been years when it’s been way low tide, and this is just beautiful with all these people just right along the beach.”

Forrest said she had been participating for decades. But for some, it was their first time taking the plunge.

“It just felt like a good year to do it,” Khrystl Brouillette said. “The sun’s out. It’s not that cold out here. Just felt like a good year to start off with a change.”

Her friend, Jillian Schuyler, said she had done cold dips throughout the winter in the spirit of resetting. She was told during New Year’s Eve the polar plunge was happening and said she had no question in her mind that she wanted to do it.

Like Schuyler, most people discover the Polar Bear Dip through word of mouth.

Chris Schleck said he moved to Juneau two and a half years ago. This year was his third plunge. He said it was a way for him to join Juneau’s community. Most people rushed in for just a few seconds at 1 p.m. when “Go!” was shouted, but Schleck stayed in, enjoying the views of the mountains.

“It’s definitely toughest at first, as soon as you jump in, and then kind of gets a little easier, and then it comes full circle and gets hard again,” he said in a towel after his swim, looking out at the clear blue waves.

Pete Boyd, a Capital City Fire/Rescue volunteer and member of the water rescue team, said the risk for hypothermia is relatively low during the event since people spend a very short time in the water. CCFR’s team included three people in the water and three on the shore. He said CCFR was there to monitor the cold shock people experience.

“The biggest thing we’re looking for is if somebody was shivering and they’re not shivering anymore,” he said. “Shivering is a good sign. That tells us that the body is compensating. They’re trying to warm themselves up. We also look for what’s called the umbles, mumbles, stumbles, anything like that. So a person with slurred speech, having trouble standing up, walking around, they need to start getting warmed up.”

Boyd said there hasn’t been a serious case of hypothermia due to the cold dip in the past 34 years. People can generally warm themselves up.

“Honestly, most of the issues we’ve had in the past are stubbed toes with people wearing flip-flops or not proper footwear, running in, losing it all, and then walking across the rocks,” he said. “Mostly we’re here just in case something happens.”

Boyd recommended people wear strap-on sandals or old sneakers that can’t be easily kicked off. He said the best way to warm up after the plunge is to get calories and sugar into the system. If someone had to choose between a hot cup of coffee or a cold Coke after the dip, he said Coca-Cola would be the way to go thanks to the high sugar content. Besides that, he said to get out of wet clothes and do jumping jacks.

After the dip, many huddled in their warm clothes and towels over bonfires on the beach, and 150 participation certificates were handed out to the people drying off.

Steve Ball said his wife had to convince him to enter the water, but he’s officially started 2025 with no regrets.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” he said. “It was a lot of fun and cool to see everybody in the community coming out here, and supporting an event that’s really just word of mouth in getting people together. That’s a pretty cool thing for a small town like ours to do that.”

• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.