Interested in freezing away the remnants of 2016?
There are a couple of New Year’s Day opportunities for Okanaganites to do just that
Kelowna and Peachland will both have their annual polar bear dips, where hundreds of locals will get the chance to dress up in festive garb and enter painfully frigid water.
As of Friday morning, Environment Canada’s Bennett bridge thermometre is reporting water temperatures of about 2.7 C, so those planning to jump in should expect to be … refreshed?
The Kelowna dip is in its third year, and is put on in support of CRIS Adaptive Adventures, a charity that aims to allow people with cognitive and physical disabilities experience the great outdoors.
It will be taking place at Tug Boat Bay Jan. 1 at 2 p.m. by the Dolphins downtown and a donation is requested.
The Peachland event is free, but the district asks that participants make it to the Community Centre across the street from the dip for check in by 12:30 p.m. There are Pre-registration forms online.
In Canada, “Polar Bear Swims, plunges or dips are a New Year’s Day tradition in numerous communities across the country.
Vancouver’s annual Polar Bear Swim Club is the most well known, and has been active since 1920. It typically has 1,000 to 2,000 registered participants, with a record 2,128 plunging into English Bay in 2000.
