People of the Polar Bear Plunge

[coldclimb]

The Polar Bear Plunge is an event held locally here and a few other places to raise money for the special olympics. The gist of it is, people donate money to the cause, and somebody jumps in the lake, in the middle of January, in Alaska. :rofl I showed up with the weekend duty crew of firefighters and we joined our fellows on the water rescue team to watch and support the fun. Being in bunker boots and turnouts instead of a drysuit and PFD this day, I figured I was more useful as photographer, so here's what I got.



A few birch trees to set the scene.
http://morffed.com/climb/temp/cold001.jpg



One member of the Mat-Su Water Rescue Team, ready for the party to start.
http://morffed.com/climb/temp/cold004.jpg



The first plunge. She totally slipped and bellyflopped! :rofl All in good fun!
http://morffed.com/climb/temp/cold005.jpg



Mid-jump, from another angle.
http://morffed.com/climb/temp/cold006.jpg



One cool customer.
http://morffed.com/climb/temp/cold007.jpg



Icy underwater sandals, property of the tuxedod fellow above. :D
http://morffed.com/climb/temp/cold008.jpg



An Alaska state trooper stepped up to the challenge, complete with ticket book in hand.
http://morffed.com/climb/temp/cold009.jpg



Buffalo Man and Gal, contemplating.
http://morffed.com/climb/temp/cold010.jpg



And going for it! :D
http://morffed.com/climb/temp/cold011.jpg



Evidently over 10,000 dollars was raised at this event. People are sure interesting, sometimes. :rofl :scratch

[PineapplePhoto]

You people are crazy... :scratch

[Moogle Pepper]

I can feel severe shrinkage from just looking at those pictures. :huh

[Mrs F]

Great series! I loved the shot of the trooper with the ticket book.

[Cuong]

At least it's done for a good cause. Cool BEFORE and DURING pics, any AFTER pics?

Cuong

[SloYerRoll]

That one of Dudley Do Right (http://www.adventuremercantile.com/images/product_categories/postcards/p154.jpg) is awesome. He's stil holding his ticket book! Is he gonna give a fish a ticket?:D

[coldclimb]

At least it's done for a good cause. Cool BEFORE and DURING pics, any AFTER pics?

Cuong

You know, I got a couple of awkward shots over people's shoulders of jumpers crawling up the ladder out of the water, and a few blurry shots of running back to the lodge, but I wasn't able to make anything good of it... lol. Someone else got a shot of one of the tuxedo jumpers coming UP after the jump, which is with this article: http://frontiersman.com/articles/2008/01/21/local_news/doc4792e9ae761d0544143472.txt I was generally bummed with my after shots, but oh well, that's how it goes sometimes. ;)

Thanks for the comments everyone!

[Deadeye008]

I love the "superman" dive shot of the lady! Great shots!

[ian408]

ha ha! That's one tough set of customers you got there.

Nice work.

[Seneca]

:rofl Crazy people out there.

[gluwater]

These are great images of a Polar Plunge. A friend of mine is doing one of these to support the Special Olympics Illinois in March and I want to take a couple snaps while there. I've never been to one but from what she says it's a lot of fun and the costumes are great.

[Pilznr]

Great Set of Shots. Love the trooper. That's a great catch. And I have to agree with everyone else, that those are some CRAZY people. :ivar

[coldclimb]

Great Set of Shots. Love the trooper. That's a great catch. And I have to agree with everyone else, that those are some CRAZY people. :ivar

Thanks again all for the comments and compliments! :D The trooper was actually two jumps after a guy that splashed pretty big, so I had to salvage some of the shot, especially the guy up on the left, and some people in the background, they were all under water droplets on the lens. :rofl It kinda ruined the marine who jumped before him.

[mmtoruno]

Love the set. Great cause and looks like fun. Thanks for sharing:thumb

[Travis]

I guess the real question is....did your 200mm turn into 18mm by days end???? :roflGreat shots and I agree - the trooper is priceless!