Snow and 31 degrees for the Fire and Ice Winter Fest in Lava

Lava Hot Springs – Just over Fish Creek Summit in Lava Hot Springs, this year’s Fire and Ice Winterfest once again saw costumed groups of floaters with questionable judgement braving the Portneuf River in zero degree water, among other events.  The “Penguin Float Race” is probably the most well known and dramatic event of the festival, which is held the first week in February every year.

“I was in the water for long enough to want to get out,” Nicole Sizemore of Salt Lake said.  “You were on the water, not in the water,” her husband Mark said, shivering.  “There’s a big difference.”  “It was enough,” Sizemore said.

Lava Hot Springs invests significant resources into its tourism and tourist promotion.  As a tourism based economy, it relies heavily on visitors’ dollars to keep afloat, to use the operative metaphor.  According to the town’s visitor center, “The Fire and Ice Winter Fest is definitely one of our biggest events of the year.”  It is heavily featured on the town’s web and social media presence, and brings in people from as far away as Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California, judging by the license plates that more than fill all of the town’s available parking spots.  

The Penguin Float Race includes a costume contest, and the sight of fully outfitted and drenched Vikings, Minions, Ninja turtles, Cheerleaders, and Monsters adds a surreal quality to the proceedings.  Luckily, events such as the Chili Tasting and Cookoff, Beer Garden and Chugging Contest, Light Parade, and fireworks are significantly warmer.  The hot pools are also in constant use.

While not for everyone, the festival is certainly up many people’s alleys, and the streets stayed packed through both days of the weekend festival.

No major incidents were reported, though one visitor from an Idaho National Laboratory (dressed as a group in 19th century German outfits) was reported to have slipped and broken an ankle during the Float Race.