Over 1,300 Plunge into Lake George on New Year’s Day

Record crowds gathered at Shepard Park in Lake George Village for the annual Lake George Polar Plunge. The registration line began forming at 10 a.m. outside Duffy’s Tavern on Lower Amherst Street and four hours later was still growing, stretching the entire block and turning the corner onto Canada Street.

Three waves of plunges were scheduled to accommodate the crowd. The first group of 700 ran into the 34-degree water just as the sun broke out at 2 p.m. The second wave took off at 2:30 and the final group, originally scheduled for 3 p.m., shivered on the beach until 3:20 waiting for event sponsors to process the final few registrations.  “Here’s to the first bad decision of 2012!” shouted one plunger as he stripped down to his bathing trunks and headed into the Lake.

This annual event, sponsored by the Lake George Winter Carnival Committee, marks the start of the Lake George Winter Carnival which takes place every weekend through February. New this year was a Zumba demonstration on the beach and free hot chocolate served up by the L.L. Bean Albany Outing Group.

The Polar Plunge first came to Lake George in 1973 when the Coney Island Polar Bears paid a visit to the Winter Carnival.

Registration was free but participants that made a $10 donation received an official t-shirt. Money raised by the event will be donated to charities in the Lake George community.