The Polar Plunge

The Polar Plunge is a huge tradition here in Antarctica. Some people will go out and find a hole just big enough in the ice to fit themselves and jump in. Others will do it while dive tending or on private trips. There is also the option to do the organized plunge at Scott Base (the New Zealand base) and jump in with a medical team all on stand by. Whatever option is chosen it is a pretty crazy thing to do. The water is a frosty 29 degrees. Due to the high salt content it is colder than the normal freezing point of water. Being in the water for just a few minutes will create some serious risk of hypothermia and the possibility of becoming an icicle. You would be an idiot to stay in the water any longer than to plunge in and jump right back out.


I did not do the plunge last year even though I had the opportunity to do it. This year it was on my list of things I needed to do. I really didn't feel like plunging in a dive hut or in a random hole on the ice so I was waiting for the Scott Base event. Last year they had a warm up hut, robes for all the jumpers, and a hot tub to warm up after the event. It was pretty nice hearing all the good stories about it from last year. My experience this year was slightly different.


The start of the event was 2:30 in the afternoon and was expected to go until about 5:30. From 2:30 to 3:30 it was only women, from 3:30 to 4:30 only guys and after that it was open to all of them. I arrived right at 3:30 and the women were still jumping in. From those that finished it sounded like it would be about 5 minutes per jumper. I looked around and at the time I arrived there were at least 60 guys and more coming every minute. I was thinking I was going to be there a very long time. The women who had finished also mentioned how they were walked to the ramp and that they had time to get the courage to jump into the water and then had a chance to walk back to the warm up hut before the next jumper went in. It was nothing like that for the guys. Not even close.


A good number of people do the plunge naked. I had planned that I would do it naked if everyone else was doing it. However, as soon as we were cleared to go to the warm up hut and fight for the blankets and the harnesses (they strap you into before jumping) I noticed that pretty much everyone was wearing some type of suit or shorts to jump in. This was alright by me because I really didn't feel like getting naked with the now 80 guys hanging around. There is just something I feel is really wrong about all that man skin showing and not a female around. Call me crazy if you want, but I'm glad I had my swimsuit with me.



Because of the number of men who showed up the plunge was a slightly different experience than the bonding experience the women all got. I was lucky enough to get a harness rather quickly in the fight to be in the water quick. As soon as I got dressed down and got the harness on I went outside in the cold and waited my turn behind the other 8 guys who already had harnesses. The kiwis running this show were some of the most efficient people I've ever met. They could easily run an assembly line at a car plant. They would quickly hook up a guy to the harness, walk him to the ledge, let him jump in, let him climb out, and unharness him and quickly harness the next guy. All was done in what I swear was less than a minute.



So my experience wasn't all that warm and fuzzy but I did get to jump into the ice cold water, swim a couple quick strokes, and get unharnessed like some peace of machinery. I am extremely glad I did it and I might be crazy enough to do it again.

This is me right before I jumped in. I've been harnessed in for just a few seconds at this point.

Me in Mid Air about to be frozen.





Me in the water and thinking that this isn't so bad.

Me rushing as quickly as possible to get out of the water because it finally hit me how cold it is.

Getting quickly unharnessed so the next guy can jump in.

And there is me moving quickly back up the ramp to the warm up hut. At this point the water still on my body has completely frozen and there are some good pins and needle fun. Notice the other guys waiting there turn in the background. Within a few short minutes they all had jumped.

I know I sound a little critical of the experience in the above. I do want to say though it was an awesome thing for me to do. I enjoyed jumping in and I will never forget it.