Colorado's popular Evergreen Lake Plunge kicks off ...spring?

An icy Colorado tradition usually celebrates the beginning of the New Year, but an unseasonably warm winter delayed the Evergreen Lake Plunge until Sunday.

Brave jumpers leaped into Evergreen Lake on March 1, or meteorological spring, as the delayed Evergreen Lake Plunge took place.

The plunge was rescheduled from its traditional New Year's Day event due to a lack of ice. Despite the delay, around 100 jumpers still came out on the new date, hoping the ice would be thick enough during an unusually warm winter. It wasn't.

Participants typically gather on the lake and jump through a hole cut in ice that is ten or more inches deep, but this winter's warm temperatures have caused only a fraction of the needed ice to form. The skating season on Evergreen Lake, usually scheduled to open around December 15th, didn't open until well after the New Year. It remained open for only two weeks before warm weather ended the season, the lake's shortest ever. 

The lake plunge took place in open water where there is usually ice. The jumpers leaped from the end of the docks set up by the Evergreen Lake House.

The water was a little warmer, but spirits were still high, and people dressed up for the event. And even though there was less ice on the lake, the water was still plenty cold.

CBS Colorado's Alan Gionet, longtime emcee for the event, said, "We hope to be back on New Year's next year, but this was still a lot of laughs."

Evergreen Fire Rescue was on standby to fish out anyone in need of help.  

The event is a fundraiser organized by the Active 4 All Evergreen Foundation to support programs run by the Evergreen Park and Recreation District, including the INSPIRE special-needs program, which helps keep kids with challenges active.