Frigid tradition: Colorado paddlers celebrate New Year’s Day 2025 on the river

The region’s most passionate paddlers took to Glenwood Canyon on Wednesday in an annual New Year’s Day tradition dating back decades.

Unlike many other areas, the Shoshone Rapids section of the Colorado River doesn’t freeze over due to the fast-moving current found there. As a result, a float through that section of the canyon has become an annual New Year’s Day tradition for many kayakers, whitewater rafters and stand-up paddleboarders across the state and into Utah.

While some have been taking part in that tradition for years, 2025 was a first for others who braved the cold waters on Wednesday.

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Among those enjoying a maiden voyage were Utah residents Will Woodford, Mike Meenehan and Brandy Fagen. They said they heard about the event on Facebook and made the drive from Moab on Wednesday morning to take part. Underdressed in sandals (Woodford) and a sleeveless “Farmer John” style wetsuit (Meenehan), the group might have been assumed to be amateurs if not for their paddling skill.

Woodford, Meenehan and Fagen — all guides with RMWR rafting — took to the river in a cataraft-style boat and had no problems navigating the frigid conditions, although Woodford said he was glad to find a fire burning at the take-out so he could warm his feet when he finished.

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The gas-burning flames that rose from the ground were being emitted by repurposed dishwasher parts that had been modified into a fire wand by Mikey Wrobel of Idaho Springs. Wrobel served as the unofficial organizer of the event this year, creating a Facebook invite and sending it to rafting companies around the region. That’s how groups like RMWR rafting, Canyon River Instruction out of Salida and the Roaring Fork Kayaking Club learned of the event.

The Roaring Fork Kayaking Club set up a tent, provided a warming station and made hot coffee for paddlers emerging from the cold waters of the Colorado. The club has been around since 2021, and this was its first year attending the New Year’s Day event.

“Our mission is to provide access to the sport of kayaking affordably, we even have a trailer of gear for everyone to use,” said Greg Albrecht. “Members of the club have done this event before, but it’s the first year we’ve brought our tent out.”

Whitewater rafter Julie Sutton, of Cotopaxi, and stand-up paddleboarder Gabe Kahn, of Grand Junction, were also participating in the event for their first time on Wednesday. Kahn said some of his Grand Junction friends had invited him to swim in the Colorado River in a New Year’s Day plunge akin to the Polar Bear Clubs across the nation which partook in similar events on Wednesday. The Shoshone Rapids float began as a kayaking version of that tradition, sometimes calling it the “Paddling Polar Bear Club,” and Kahn said when he heard about it he decided to join because stand-up paddleboarding sounded like more fun than simply swimming on New Year’s Day.

But nevertheless, “I did fall in,” he said. “So I still swam.”

While the Shoshone Rapids float dates back to the ’70s, it didn’t become the big event it is today until the early 1990s, said Gypsum paddler Ken Hoeve. Hoeve said he was enjoying his 34th consecutive year of taking part in the event on Wednesday.

“It’s just so incredible, what it has become,” Hoeve said. “When we first started, there was no internet. So it was just purely word of mouth. Now we have new people showing up every year because they saw posts about it on social media. It’s really one of the best outdoor recreation traditions we have here in Colorado.”

Hoeve said the first time he did the New Year’s Day float, it was in a kayak. About 15 years ago he started stand-up paddleboarding it — he’s believed to be the first to SUP the Shoshone on New Year’s Day — and then a couple of years ago he started attempting it in his inflatable truck topper as a way of promoting the durability of the products offered from his company, Flated. This year, Hoeve said he went back to his roots and kayaked it.

“I just felt like keeping it simple this year,” he said.

Salida whitewater rafter Elisha McArthur with with Canyon River Instruction wore her most festive paddling attire for the event. She donned a purple tutu over her purple dry suit.

“It’s an iconic Colorado tradition,” she said. “I love how it brings out the folks who are really diehard paddlers.”