Exhilarating (!?) Way To Begin The New Year

A few hearty souls will throw caution to the wind – and their clothes to the ground – to take a brisk jump into the lake today.

Polar Bear Swims take place at Centennial Beach in Barrie (12:30 pm) and at Hidden Valley Resort in Huntsville (noon).

Both will be supporting local charities. In Barrie, donations will be collected for the Barrie Food Bank. The Huntsville Polar Bear Dip will be accepting donations for Community Living Huntsville.

All are welcome to participate…at their own risk. Here are some tips via the Polar Bear Dip Barrie Facebook page:

• wear your bathing suit under your clothes and bring a housecoat to wear over you as a coat to keep warm as you make your way to the water
• bring extra clothes to change into
• bring a towel to the water with you and wear slip-on shoes or boots to keep feet warm; open toe shoes are not recommended
• bring a camera if you want to take pictures for proof you did the dip.
• when you are at the water’s edge, slip out of clothes to your bathing suit, pass clothes over to anyone who may be there to help or leave in pile or in a bag while keeping your housecoat on; if no housecoat, a large towel can be used to wrap yourself in, but a housecoat is recommended as you can easily slip it on after your dip to keep warm as you head back to your car
• run in carefully (watch for stones, they hurt your feet) and when you are in deep enough, (water usually around the groin area) you can either dunk in submerging your head, (your head must go right under to be an official polar bear) or dive in
• when you rush out of the water as most do grab your towel and dry off as best as you can and slip on your housecoat and shoes/boots, quickly dry off and get warm again