The North Fork Polar Bear Plunge, rescheduled to Feb. 1 due to last Sunday’s snowstorm, has now been cancelled as the forecast for Feb. 1 deteriorates.
The event, which had been slated to be held at Veterans Beach in Mattituck, benefits CAST and Back to the Bays. More than 150 plungers had pre-registered and 300 donors had contributed to the plunge at the time it was cancelled, and the organizers had expected about 100 more day-of registrants at the plunge.
The North Fork Polar Bears announced the cancellation in a social media post on Thursday.
“We have to bow in wondrous appreciation to Mother Nature. This is the first time in ten years that the North Fork has experienced so much extreme polar weather all at once,” they said. “While we generally love winter weather, we love the wellbeing of our vibrant community even more. With another storm on its way, and the continuing extreme cold temperatures, Mother Nature is not supporting the notion of a public plunge event at this time.”
“We are in awe of you, and this community, and the shared love for community, joy, water on the North Fork,” they said.
Plunge merchandise is available to pre-registrants for pickup at CAST, 53930 Main Road in Southold through the Treiber Hall using the entrance on of the Main Road.
Merchandise pickup dates and times are as follows:
Thursday, January 29: 12:00–4:00 PM
Wednesday, February 4: 10:00 AM–1:00 PM
Thursday, February 5: 2:00–5:00 PM
Saturday, February 7: 1:00–3:00 PM (Main Building – CAST Treiber Hall)
If you’re interested in learning more about cold water plunging, the Polar Bears invite the public to visit the North Fork Polar Bears website.
