My New Year’s Tradition

Happy Holidays everyone!

This time of year, it seems many families have a special tradition or two that they look forward to doing (or maybe don’t look forward to it as much, haha!). Growing up, I can’t really remember my family doing anything specific besides having an advent calendar and spending Christmas Eve with my dad’s side of the family and Christmas Day with my mom’s side

The past few years however, my dad and I have done something that might seem a little out-of-the-norm for most people. On New Years Day, we get up nice and early, drive about forty minutes, and then jump into a lake.

Yep.

Maybe that doesn’t seem too crazy if you’re reading this from a place where the temperature doesn’t drop below 60, but in the land of 10,000 lakes (aka Minnesota), it tends to be a little chilly around New Years. The past few years we’ve jumped, it’s been below zero and that’s before you include the windchill factor!

It’s called the ALARC Ice Dive and has been going on for over 20 years. While it does cost money to jump, every year ALARC donates the proceeds to a different organization; last year the proceeds went to the Semper Fi Fund and Suicide Awareness Voices of Education. This year the money will be going towards a program called Ride 2 Recovery, which benefits rehabilitation programs for wounded veterans. Personally, I don’t mind spending the money to jump since it goes to benefit others.

Basically, ice blocks are cut out of the lake to expose a hole that three people can jump into at once – the ice blocks line a path from the toasty-warm building where you wait to jump, all the way down to the dock. Only a certain number of people go down to the dock at a time, but the process goes fairly quickly. I’ve found that it’s best to just not think about it and then BAM! It’s done and over with (at least until the next year…).

One difference between this ice jump and others, is that you actually are fully submerged – even if your head wasn’t submerged when you initially jump in, there are a row of buoys that you have to go under in order to reach the other side; where, thankfully, firefighters are waiting to help pull you out!

The first year I took the plunge, once I had jumped in and swam to the ladder to climb out, I realized it had ice covering it…and then a firefighter reached a hand down to help me out and his mitten was also covered in ice. I just remember thinking “Oooo, this is going to burn!!” but honestly, I couldn’t feel anything.

Once you get out, you pretty much run back to the building to change and then get to enjoy a breakfast burrito and coffee/hot chocolate. Everyone also gets a certificate stating what level of a diver they are – you start out as a “Guppy” and then work your way up; once you hit 10 years of diving you become a “Shark” and you receive a robe. My dad keeps saying that once he hits 10 years, he’s done…but we’ll see! He loves doing crazy, kooky things like this :)

It’s definitely cold but really exhilarating too! I always tell people it brings me good luck for the new year :)

What kinds of fun, crazy things do you and yours do during the holidays? Have you ever done an ice dive?
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Photos by Steven Farmer