photo/Laura Skovlin Let me outta here! Brave but frozen 2015 Polar Plunge participants head for towels, shelter and hot liquids after a freezing Jan. 1 dip into Wallowa Lake.

As many as 75 people showed up to the 2015 Polar Plunge held at the north end of Wallowa Lake on Jan. 1, but the near-zero air temperature limited active participation in the plunge to 40-50, down somewhat from 2014’s record of an estimated 60 plungers.

The event started promptly at 10 a.m. and finished nearly as quickly. The vast majority of participants spent very little time in the freezing waters. Age appeared to make little difference in the active participation as plungers ranged in age from around 10 years old to plungers in their early 70s.

Joseph resident, Laura Skovlin, whose family participated, cited the cold weather as the reason active participation numbers appeared down slightly from last year’s plunge which featured relatively balmier temperatures.

Longtime participant Rich Wandschneider said that while this year’s plunge featured some of the coldest temperatures he experienced, it wasn’t one of the worst years for sheer torture. He added that the sunshine and lack of wind made the experience tolerable. “You get out of there and the sun beats on you, and it’s like stepping out of a sauna. If you get your head and your feet covered real fast, you don’t get very cold.”

Wandscheider did not swim in the lake, although he got wet from head to foot. “You don’t swim much. The deal is, you’ve got to dive in and get your whole body wet. Most of us dive, get our heads underwater and come out.” Wandscneider added he thought he saw one or two other swimmers attempt to swim a few strokes.

Purely for the sake of safety, Wandscheider took precautions to alleviate his temporary hypothermia. “I went home and took a hot shower and had a couple of hot toddies. Then I watched the ball game,” Wandschneider said.