Hundreds take the annual Polar Bear Plunge into Lake Coeur d’Alene for a cold start to 2025

“No big deal.” “Piece of cake.” “Just another day at the office.”

Strangers volleyed dismissive colloquialisms back and forth as they emerged from the frigid waters of Lake Coeur d’Alene on New Year’s Day, partaking in the annual Polar Bear Plunge.

Though trivializing the feeling, hundreds of sets of chattering teeth and cherry-red skin told a different story.

On the first day of each year, crowds pack the lakeshore at Sanders Beach in Coeur d’Alene to charge into the water to ring in the new year.

This year’s event saw a delicate snowfall for the eager dippers, and the city’s forecast high of 34 degrees proved for a typical winter scene as half-dressed bodies lined up along the water’s edge.

Tony Pomarico recognizes the act seems “crazy,” but it’s his eighth year doing the plunge.

“The first year, I originally just decided I wanted to do it because my sister saw it on the news and thought it was crazy,” Pomarico said.

That year, his sister “chickened out” but mustered the guts to do it with him the year after that. Before what would have been their second year together, his sister died.

“It was initially just some craziness for fun, and then it became doing it to remind myself of her,” he said.

It’s also a good challenge, he said, setting a “cold” yet clear tone for the 12 months ahead.

“It clears your mind real quick. You may be tired and groggy if you drank or whatever, but it clears your mind,” he said.

This year, he’s roped in partner Amanda Allison and her 9-year-old daughter, Eva. It’s Allison’s sixth year taking the plunge.

“It actually has lots of health benefits,” Allison said.

Eva’s toes were already freezing minutes before taking the plunge. Asked her strategy for approached the swim, she held up her goggles and shared her straightforward approach.

“Probably dive head first in, and then, I don’t know, swim,” she said.

While she joined the masses on the beach, a dip into cold waters is nothing novel for Jaynelle Kenney. Every week, she meets a group of people at the islands swimming area along the Spokane River in Spokane Valley. She takes a dip into the cold waters regularly, observing benefits to her mood and relaxing tired muscles.

“The one I’ve noticed most is the mood boost it gives me, I’m in an awesome mood the rest of the day,” Kenney said. “It helps inflammation in my neck and shoulders and my knees.”

After a countdown toward the noon hour, the hundreds stormed the lake waters with whoops and shrieks, ringing bells in celebration, partly to distract from the seizing cold.

Though stiff and soggy as the plungers trudged through the adjacent neighborhood back to their parked cars, many were looking to 2026.

“Are we doing this again next year?” one child asked excitedly.

“Of course,” an adult replied.