About 25 brave Squamish dippers headed into the frigid waters of Howe Sound at Porteau Cove Provincial Park at noon on New Year’s Day.
A crowd of another 25 cheered on the swimmers from the snowy parking lot or rocky beach.
According to Katie Coombs of the Squamish Swim Wild club, the water temperature was 7 C; the air temperature was -11 C with the windchill.
Other members of the club, which weekly takes to local waterways year-round, also took the icy annual plunge.
"It was a wonderful turnout, and we look forward to next year," Coombs told The Squamish Chief.
In 2021, the Jan. 1 Polar Bear Swim was cancelled due to the pandemic, though some hardy folks did individual dips.
Organized by local Mike Wight each year, the group event started more than a decade ago and is usually held at Sp’akw’us Feather Park (the former Nexen/Newport Beach), but due to the construction of the park was moved to Alice Lake this year. That location froze over, so the swim was moved to its final destination at Porteau Cove.
