Polar Bear Dippers brave extreme cold for New Year's plunge in Nova Scotia

Not even a layer of ice could stop hundreds of jumpers from plunging into the waters of Herring Cove, N.S., on New Year's Day.

The dip outside Halifax was delayed a few minutes while a boat chipped away at a sheet of ice on the water next to the wharf.

But once the water was cleared, 83-year-old Arnie Ross took the inaugural leap with "2018" scrawled across his chest.

The crowd chanted his name as Ross clawed up the icy ladder. He said the water was every bit as refreshing as it had been for his past 21 jumps.

"Twenty-two years," he exclaimed, flexing his muscles for the crowd.

About 250 jumpers followed the octogenarian into the ice-cold water, organizers said, including children as young as 10, international students and burly men who had donned Hawaiian skirts and kilts.

The temperature was about –11 C, but felt like –18 C in the wind.

At Lake Milo in Yarmouth, a smaller but just as mighty crowd of 11 gathered along the shore to join the dip, a fundraiser for the Yarmouth Fire Department.

Firefighters used a chainsaw to cut through 10 to 15 centimetres of ice and snow before participants could wade into the lake.

Alec Pitt, a longtime and enthusiastic participant, said he lingered in the chest-deep water for about 45 seconds and left only after dunking his head underwater.

"I'm one that believes that to do the proper dip you have to totally submerge," he said.

It was "damn cold," Pitt admitted, but "it's not nearly as bad as people think it is.… Mind you, my toes didn't warm up for about half an hour."

The event raised $2,200.

Dips were also scheduled to take place at other locations around the province, including at White Point Beach and the Bras d'Or Yacht Club.