“We go Polar Plunge”

Here they come--the Miss America contestants!

How many of you would like to plunge into the frigid waters of Lake Superior for a mid-winter “Polar Plunge”?  Show of hands, please!  C’mon, I know you’ve been secretly dreaming of this for years.

It’s a little late for the 2010 Heikinpaiva Polar Plunge in Hancock, Michigan, but you can start planning for next year.  Here’s the scoop.  Figure out a crazy costume to wear (pig’s snout, perhaps, or hula skirts, or Miss America contestant or maybe just your bathing suit) and wait inside the Ramada Inn until they send you outside in perhaps 23 degree air temperatures to dive into a hole cut in the ice.

But don’t worry–the water is much warmer!  This year the announcer said it was 29 degrees.  It will seem like bath water compared to air.  Honest.

Contestant #4 heads out. Pig man!

Last year it was really cold.  Really, really cold.  It was 4 degrees.  You can read about it here. If you look closely at the photos from last year you will notice the steam rising from the frozen lake.  Wind whipping around with gusto.  I remember tearing in the wind, and tears freezing on my face.  It was brutal.

This year, as the contestants will surely tell you, was a piece of cake.  I’m sure.

Diving in!

The Heikinpaiva mid-winter celebration comes to us from Finland.  Celebrated since 1999 here in the Copper Country,where we have many Finnish descendants,  it means “when the bear rolls over on his side”. It also celebrates a Finnish saint, Saint Henrik.  You can read more about this year’s celebration by clicking here.

The Hulu skirt ladies

Besides the famous Polar Plunge, one may also participate in boot throwing and wife-carrying, as well as visit the reindeer encampment (two reindeer in a pen), operate a kicksled or a vipukelkka (whipsled).  I really wanted to see the wife-carrying, but we missed it the second year in a row.  Darn.

Splash! In go the Hulu Ladies!

People of Finnish descent around here sometimes leave out the words “to” or “to the”.  For example, one might say “We go Polar Plunge” instead of “We’re going to the Polar Plunge.”  Or “We go Hancock” instead of “We’re going to Hancock.”  It’s rather quaint.  Especially when one finds oneself leaving out prepositions. I mean, why do we need prepositions anyway?

Young guys posing for photography shoot. Cold, boys?

A lot of college students participate in the plunge.  I kind of wondered if our nephew, Doug, who is attending Michigan Technological University, would be diving in.  We looked around, but did not see him.  Too bad!  I wanted a photo of that to send to his parents.

The youngest jumpers. And they are experienced jumpers.

You might be wondering if we will ever take the plunge into our dear Lake Superior.  The answer is a firm “no”.  I couldn’t convince myself to dive in last August, let alone in the middle of winter.

Therefore, these participants need a round of applause.  Good job, plungers!  We salute your sisu.  (Sisu roughly translates as will, determination and perseverance in the face of adversity.)  We really do.