In winter, the picturesque Lake Tahoe is battered by wind, snow, and icy air. That is nice for skiers who frequent the encompassing ski resorts, however much less so if, like Dane Gaffney and Anders Koijane, your aim is to swim within the lake’s typically frigid depths every single day for a 12 months.The youngsters and Tahoe space residents started the problem final 12 months in September, documenting their adventures on Gaffney’s Instagram web page. One video posted in January exhibits the pair going swimming amidst a snowstorm. Earlier than backflipping into the water, Koijane provides a deadpan evaluation of the climate. “One other excellent day to leap within the lake,” he says. It was one nippy expertise amongst many.Each 17, Gaffney and Koijane have been mates since elementary college and now play on the identical basketball group. Oftentimes, after going to the health club, they’d stroll right down to the marina in Tahoe Metropolis and take a dip. These informal swims spawned the yearlong dedication. “We simply form of determined, ‘Hey, why not simply make it a problem?'” Gaffney stated. “And so we simply filmed the primary video, uploaded it, and by no means appeared again.”Try a spotlight reel of the problem beneath. Maintain studying for extra about Gaffney and Koijane’s Lake Tahoe story.Wish to sustain with one of the best tales and pictures in snowboarding? Subscribe to the brand new Powder To The Folks publication for weekly updates.
Watch: Dane Gaffney & Anders Koijane Lake Tahoe Spotlight Reel:
Alongside the best way, the pair has been joined by mates, Tahoe locals, and Gaffney’s dad, the famed ski filmmaker Scott Gaffney, who made common appearances within the movies. They even secured a cameo from actor and comic Tony Cavalero, identified for taking part in Keefe Chambers within the TV collection The Righteous Gem stones. That celeb presence is not as odd because it sounds. Scott had beforehand met Cavalero by way of a mutual good friend within the filmmaking trade, and instructed POWDER that the actor “was completely sport to have somewhat enjoyable with a bounce with Dane.” Enjoyable certainly. Throughout his cameo, Cavalero actually tears his shirt off on the dock. Later, he leaps into the water holding fingers with Scott.It wasn’t at all times a communal or star-studded effort, although. Koijane, who likes to complete college, get residence, and eat earlier than basketball follow, normally most popular utilizing his neighbor’s pier or one other seaside slightly than going to the marina with Gaffney and Scott. Koijane would ship Gaffney his solitary swimming movies to be included within the Instagram posts. Gaffney despatched him texts to maintain him accountable.”I knew Dane was going to do it every single day, as a result of he was actually adamant about this,” Koijane stated. “I’d at all times overlook, so I might be leaping in at like midnight, barely earlier than the following day.”The 2 described their experiences with the problem in a different way. “There have been positively a couple of days the place we’d drive right down to the lake and I’d simply be like, ‘Why am I actually about to go bounce in proper now?’ However I feel positively having my dad there made it quite a bit simpler for me,” stated Gaffney. Koijane, in distinction, stated it was “quite a bit more durable than I used to be anticipating,” significantly when it was chilly, cloudy, or he was alone. Their rule for missed days upped the ante. Koijane and Gaffney had a couple of basketball video games and different commitments through the winter the place they needed to depart Lake Tahoe. Once they bought again, they’d dive in a number of occasions in a row, accounting for every single day they missed. At occasions through the colder months, the lake’s water temperature dipped beneath 40 levels.”When you bounce in as soon as, it is okay, however that second time, it simply triples in depth of how chilly you’re, and your mind simply stops functioning,” stated Koijane. “I really feel like that punishment really labored out completely,” added Gaffney. “That bought fairly tough.”
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To conclude their effort, Gaffney and Koijane requested those that had been following alongside on-line to affix them on their second-to-last day, September 21, 2025. The video from that celebration begins with the pair standing collectively on the sting of a dock. Then, the digital camera pans to point out the cheering crowd of people that got here out to swim and present their help. The encouraging Instagram feedback had translated to the true world.“That was nice to have that many individuals expertise what we have been experiencing all summer time and the entire 12 months,” stated Koijane.After we spoke a couple of days after the problem ended, Koijane instructed me that regardless of the struggling, he would miss watching Gaffney’s video recaps. Gaffney, for his half, was relieved that he didn’t have to go to the water’s edge every single day anymore. Maybe unsurprisingly, he additionally has a lingering tic from their every day routine. “I will be in my room, it is like, 9 o’clock, and I am going to assume, ‘Oh, wait, I have not jumped in but,’” Gaffney stated.
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