These four Osoyoos teenagers braved the chilly waters of Osoyoos Lake last Wednesday afternoon after agreeing to participate in the Winter Challenge 2014, which spread like wildfire across Facebook and other social media. The challenge urged B.C. residents to jump into frozen lakes and rivers and then challenge their family, friends and acquaintances to do the same thing. The four local participants included Janessa Silva, Tatum Brugman, Kaylan Gerrard and Abby Thompson. (Keith Lacey photo)

These four Osoyoos teenagers braved the chilly waters of Osoyoos Lake last Wednesday afternoon after agreeing to participate in the Winter Challenge 2014, which spread like wildfire across Facebook and other social media. The challenge urged B.C. residents to jump into frozen lakes and rivers and then challenge their family, friends and acquaintances to do the same thing. The four local participants included Janessa Silva, Tatum Brugman, Kaylan Gerrard and Abby Thompson. (Keith Lacey photo)

Four Osoyoos teenagers who joined a popular online social media challenge said the experience took their breath away – literally.

The four girls – Tatum Brugman, 14, Janessa Silva, 13, Abby Thompson, 14 and Kaylan Gerrard, 14 – jumped into the frigid waters of Osoyoos Lake last Wednesday afternoon after being “challenged” by their dance school teacher Robin Brady.

The Winter Challenge 2014 has gone viral on social media across British Columbia over the past 10 days.

When their dance instructor Robin Brady challenged the four girls –who are all good friends and members of Osoyoos’ Dance Oasis dance school – they quickly took up the challenge.

The challenge is to jump into a cold lake or river and when you emerge, you must immediately challenge others and they have 24 hours to do the same, said Silva.

The Winter Challenge 2014 quickly spread like wildfire across Facebook over the past two weeks and literally thousands of British Columbians have taken up the challenge.

For the four young Osoyoos girls, it was a thrilling, exhilarating and breathtaking experience.

“I can’t believe how cold that was,” said Brugman laughing after her quick plunge off the dock located on Gyro Beach. “We jumped right into a pile of ice. That was so cold, but so much fun.”

Silva agreed.

“I was really excited before we got here and then I saw how cold the water looked and I got a bit nervous,” she said. “When we jumped in, it took your breath away and it was freezing cold, but that was so much fun. I loved it. What an adrenaline rush.”

Once you are challenged, you have to accept or reject the challenge by posting your response on Facebook and set a time for the cool water dip, said Gerrard.

“We were challenged on Tuesday, we talked about it and decided to accept and here we are,” she said.

The Osoyoos girls wanted to spread the fun by challenging friends who lived in Oliver, Princeton and Grand Forks to participate in Winter Challenge 2014.

Several news reports suggest that the Winter Challenge 2014 was organized in response to the negative publicity generated by the online drinking challenge NekNomination, where participants are asked to film themselves drinking alcohol, posting the videos online and then nominating others to do the same.

Several teenagers have been killed and seriously injured after drinking excessive amounts of alcohol in the NekNomination challenge.

Another game called the “24 Hour Challenge” also started appearing on social media sites. In this game, participants must upload a video of themselves performing a stunt or an activity outside, then uploading the video, nominating others and then chugging a beer.

The Osoyoos girls admitted they have heard about these much more dangerous challenges and wanted to be part of something a lot more wholesome.

“This is about having fun,” said Silva. “Some of those other games are dangerous and stupid, but this is about having fun with your friends and no one gets hurt.”

Several First Nation groups across North America are known to take part in a ceremony where they jump into frozen lakes and rivers as part of a healing ceremony.

Polar bear dips, where participants jump into frozen water after huge chunks of ice have been cut out, have been popular across Canada for decades.

During a polar bear dip, participants jump into the frozen water and then into a steaming sauna to quickly warm up.

None of the Osoyoos girls have ever taken part in a polar bear dip or gone swimming in ice cold water before.

But they did encourage others to join the fun and enter the Winter Challenge 2014 before the weather turns nice and waters turn warm in the South Okanagan and across the rest of British Columbia.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times

These four Osoyoos teenagers braved the chilly waters of Osoyoos Lake last Wednesday afternoon after agreeing to participate in the Winter Challenge 2014, which spread like wildfire across Facebook and other social media. The challenge urged B.C. residents to jump into frozen lakes and rivers and then challenge their family, friends and acquaintances to do the same thing. The four local participants included (from left) Janessa Silva, Tatum Brugman, Kaylan Gerrard and Abby Thompson. (Keith Lacey photo)

These four Osoyoos teenagers braved the chilly waters of Osoyoos Lake last Wednesday afternoon after agreeing to participate in the Winter Challenge 2014, which spread like wildfire across Facebook and other social media. The challenge urged B.C. residents to jump into frozen lakes and rivers and then challenge their family, friends and acquaintances to do the same thing. The four local participants included (from left) Janessa Silva, Tatum Brugman, Kaylan Gerrard and Abby Thompson. (Keith Lacey photo)

These four Osoyoos teenagers braved the chilly waters of Osoyoos Lake last Wednesday afternoon after agreeing to participate in the Winter Challenge 2014, which spread like wildfire across Facebook and other social media. The challenge urged B.C. residents to jump into frozen lakes and rivers and then challenge their family, friends and acquaintances to do the same thing. The four local participants included Janessa Silva, Tatum Brugman, Kaylan Gerrard and Abby Thompson. (Keith Lacey photo)

These four Osoyoos teenagers braved the chilly waters of Osoyoos Lake last Wednesday afternoon after agreeing to participate in the Winter Challenge 2014, which spread like wildfire across Facebook and other social media. The challenge urged B.C. residents to jump into frozen lakes and rivers and then challenge their family, friends and acquaintances to do the same thing. The four local participants included Janessa Silva, Tatum Brugman, Kaylan Gerrard and Abby Thompson. (Keith Lacey photo)