Under gorgeous, crystal blue skies on a crisp 37-degree New Year’s Day, a record crowd of around 80 people braved the chilly waters of Puget Sound as they rang in 2015 at the annual Three Tree Point Polar Bear Plunge. This year’s winner was 13-year old DJ Voellger, who was crowned champ because of his “exuberance” – he ran and plunged into the water way before the countdown even started, as seen below: [youtube]http://youtu.be/GMCtuI_in3M[/youtube] Here’s video of this year’s full plunge as shot by Scott Schaefer: [youtube]http://youtu.be/2WoKZU_k07M[/youtube] Here’s a GoPro video courtesy Del Rivero of our Intern Sterling Paris taking the plunge:

And photos courtesy Jana Kleitsch (click images to see larger versions/slideshow): View More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-pointView More: http://janakphoto.pass.us/polarbears2015-three-tree-point Here’s a point-of-view GoPro video shot by Andrew Cull: 2015 Polar Bear Plunge from Andrew Cull on Vimeo. And pics courtesy Del Rivero of Nehamiah Rivero, at age 6 the youngest participant to take the plunge: FullSizeRender_1FullSizeRender_2 And a great pic taken from the water by Brad Wilson (click image to see larger version – worth it to see closeups!): P1240681 Check out our extensive prior Polar Bear Plunge coverage here.]]>

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