Nobody can say that they know what true cold feels like until they’ve jumped into the icy, freezing waters of Lake Michigan in 10º weather.

I was one of many people who braved the 34º water on New Year’s Day this year as part of the annual Polar Plunge, held at Bradford Beach.

This year was colder than most. In Kenosha, officials cancelled a polar plunge event that was going to be held at Simmons Island Beach because of the extreme weather. Usually, in Milwaukee, the shoreline is clear. However, this year, it was completely iced over. A hole had to be cut out of the ice to allow people to get in the water, which I did not expect. But this obstacle didn’t deter Milwaukeeans from jumping right in.

I remember that when I got to the beach, I was already a little bit cold, even with my winter gear on. But that was nothing compared to what I was about to experience. I saw a guy who had just come out of the water putting his feet pretty nearly right in a fire. There was a girl crying as she wrapped herself in towels. I didn’t understand until after I too had jumped in. I saw paramedics, ambulances lined up in the nearby parking lot.

It wasn’t until I broke past the crowds of spectators that I saw the hole in the ice into which I was about to submerge myself. That’s when I got a little nervous. I asked myself, “Am I really going to do this?”

Then, the time came when I had to undress to my swimsuit. I stood there, waiting for my turn to go in, with my bare feet on the ice. I watched as paramedics in waterproof suits helped the people before me out of the water.  I was extremely nervous and already cold.

And then I jumped in.

The iciness of the water hit me like a brick, taking my breath away. There was actually a channel, about several feet long, that you had to walk through in order to get to the wider pool- all the more time I had to spend in the water. The second part that made it painful, other than the cold, was the chunks of ice in the water, scraping my legs and making it hard to move through the water.

Once I got to the pool, I fully submerged myself- head and all. You can’t consider it a true polar plunge until you’ve gone under. I didn’t think about it. I just did it- when you start to think about it, you start second-guessing it.

As you can imagine, I wanted to get out of that water fast. But it was hard to move through the ice chunks. I was forced to slowly walk through the water.

When I got out, it felt like no matter how much clothing and how many blankets I put on, it did nothing to stop the cold. I couldn’t feel my hands and feet for at least a couple hours, and they still felt weird that night. When I did put them in hot water, they ached as they warmed up. I had scrapes on my legs from the ice. But it was all worth it. Rarely do you feel such a rush of pure adrenaline pumping in your chest as I did that day. And to hear people cheering you on as you come up out of the water- it was a great experience. Things like that really build up your courage and confidence.

Was it cold? Heck yeah. I’ll probably never be that cold again.  Was it painful? Like I said, I couldn’t feel my feet for hours. But would I do it again? Definitely.