Gray, choppy water and a steady rain shower didn't stop 17-year-old Jeremy Kaiser from water skiing in Lucky Peak Reservoir near Boise Saturday.
Kaiser was one of an estimated 200 people who turned out for the seventh annual Polar Bear Day, a free water-skiing event each New Year's Day. Boise's Water Ski Pro Shop donates the boats and ski equipment for an event that brings a bit of summer activity to the usually frozen, wintry conditions.Temperatures that were barely above freezing didn't stop lines of people from waiting on the dock for a spin around the reservoir.
"The air temperature is critical to bringing people out here," said Tim Mueller, owner of the Water Ski Pro Shop.
"When it's high, we get more people out here than we do when it's closer to 0," he said. "For January, this is pretty warm."
For skiers who fall into the water, "warm" may not be the first word that comes to mind. Boats are equipped with a shower head that streams hot water onto exposed fingers and toes - a device that made Brett Wykert, a first-time Polar Bear Day skier from Caldwell, a little more comfortable.
"It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," Wykert said. "But I spent most of my time floating. That was the only time I was cold."