Sitting here in my office at work in Iowa, looking at our work's thermometer that reads -21 with a wind chill of -42 (!!!), it got me to thinking...what's the coldest you've ever been doing any kind of WAM play, or, for producers, what has been the biggest complication you've encountered with "the cold" and you/your models?
To start things off, I remember in the winter about 2-3 years ago doing some WAM play with a partner and I was shivering cold and tied up in her living room, and I kept getting pied and slimed by her with some once-warm cake batter slime that had quickly went south temperature-wise! Not ideal, obviously, we just needed to add some friction later, so it had a happy ending, if you will.
My family has been in Middle Tennessee for generations. Obviously this is as far north as God ever intended me to live and I'm fine with that. We've had actual cold weather here before but it doesn't last so no matter what you're rarely more than a day or two away from warming up. I found myself in rural Canada in Jan. 2006 and that's when I learned I didn't really own a heavy coat or have any idea what cold was. I can't give you a number other than to say there were kids playing hockey on the river and snow was piled up everywhere. And it stayed that way. You can't play hockey on the river here. Trust me it just won't work.
Winter at Camp MPV is a day at the beach by comparison.
Hands down, it was the Polar Bear Plunge on New Year's Day 2012; we jumped off Pittsburgh's Mon Wharf into the river. Most people wore swimsuits but a few of us went in fully-clothed. They had some volunteers stay on shore to wade in and help those who struggled to swim; in water that cold it can be hard to keep your limbs moving enough to actually get back to shore or do much of anything other than tread water uselessly.
Intentionally bad selfie warning, but they're proof my hair actually froze.
In terms of wam/gunge, it'd have to be the time when I was stark naked and a guy (who I had just paddled) poured two entire large bottles of beer, taken right out of the fridge, all over me. One went over my head. The other got shaken and then sprayed/poured all over me.
It was late August oh, about 3-4 years ago. There was a DIY art/craft show not too far from me and seeing as there was a dunk tank, I just had' to go. Well, it was later in the day and the temps were way below normal so when I did see the dunk tank, it was in the shade of a tree so what sun was available was of no use and I wondered should I bother. Well after awhile a guy got down and there was no one else to dunk so I asked the woman there if she needed a volunteer, she quickly said "yes!" I went over to remove my shoes, wallet, keys etc. wondering, "What did I just do?" but I climbed up on the seat and after a minute or so a throw finally found it's mark and down I went. As I went under this ice cold water I couldn't believe how cold it was & not wanting to show how cold I was I turned around from the crowd as I tried to catch my breath! I probably sat in the tank for around 45 minutes and was dunked a lot! I had no dry clothes to change into so I spread a big black plastic nag over the seat of my car and drove home. I guess it seemed like three hours before I even started to warm up! If it ever comes up again will I be able to resist the urge? Hmmmm
Last spring we had rain for days, and my backyard was a swamp, with several inches of standing water. I resisted as long as I could, but had to try it. I thought it was going to be a chance to get muddy in my own back yard, but the ground was still too cold and hard to soak up the water.
Anyway, I put on my tightest jeans, T, and shirt and sat right in it, and laid backwards down in a huge puddle. It was WAY colder than I expected (I knew it would be cold, but not that bad!)
Anyway, rolled around for a bit but it was just too cold to really have fun with, at least alone
Coldest temp I think I've been in was -27F (about -33 for our friends elsewhere in the world) but I was pretty well dressed for it, so only the hands and feet started tingling.
Coldest, bodily I've ever been...hummm... adventure racing and hitting the canoe into a block of ice causing us to tip over, or adventure racing when it was supposed to be 62F (17C) so I took only a light shirt - then it turned out to be 32F /0C and a rain/snow squall came through, or adventure racing and... well you get the point!
Was out hunting a few years back, was about 30 degrees, ground hadn't quite froze yet. Sank up to my waist in thick black creek mud as I was at a seemingly dry cross point going to get my deer. Soaked me all the way through my layers and down into my boots not fun had to hurry and go to the car before exposure set in. Not a very enjoyable mud experience but it still counts.
Love you, too
