Stories about "Puddle Jump"
![](https://www.bates.edu/news/files/2024/02/original-1-400x267.webp)
Picture Story: Puddle Jump 2024
Thursday, February 15, 2024 5:42 pm
Enjoy this immersive (but not submersive!) photo coverage of the Puddle Jump, plus read historical newspaper accounts of our enduring enchantment with jumping into icy cold water in the winter.
![](https://www.bates.edu/news/files/2023/02/230210_Puddle_Jump_3024A-400x267.webp)
Picture Story: Puddle Jump 2023
Friday, February 17, 2023 1:02 pm
![U.S. Rep. Jared Golden ’11 (D-Maine) lights the Winter Carnival torch brandished by Charlie Gainey '24 of Portola Valley, Calif. The torch seemed a little less ornate this year, more of a fuel-soaked rag wrapped around an ax handle. But it got the job done. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)](https://www.bates.edu/news/files/2022/02/220211_Winter_Carnival_Torch_Lighting_Jared_Golden_0079-400x267.webp)
Video: Scenes (and behind the scenes) of Puddle Jump 2022
Friday, February 18, 2022 9:00 am
Within vaunted traditions there are always new wrinkles. Take the Bates tradition of the Maine governor lighting a torch to kick off Winter Carnival
![](https://www.bates.edu/news/files/2022/02/220211_Puddle_Jump_1547A-400x267.webp)
Picture story: After a year’s hiatus, a gleeful return for the Puddle Jump
Tuesday, February 15, 2022 3:49 pm
The pandemic showed us how quickly beloved traditions, silly or significant, can be disrupted. Hence the unbounded glee during this year's Puddle Jump — the Return!
![](https://www.bates.edu/news/files/2020/02/200131_Puddle_Jump_1303-400x267.jpg)
Picture story: Puddle Jump 2020
Friday, February 7, 2020 10:20 am
Bates photographer Phyllis Graber Jensen covers the college’s unforgettable Lake Andrews winter ritual.
![](https://www.bates.edu/news/files/2019/02/190208_Winter_Carnival_Torch_Governor_0203-400x267.jpg)
Video: Winter Carnival torch lighting returned today with Maine Gov. Janet Mills
Friday, February 8, 2019 12:26 pm
Earlier today, a 20th-century Bates Outing Club tradition was reignited when newly…
![](https://www.bates.edu/news/files/2018/02/180126_Puddle_Jump_2846-400x267.jpg)
Video: Anticipation, action, reaction at the 2018 Puddle Jump
Friday, February 2, 2018 11:09 am
The weather: pretty cold. The costumes: wigs and heels, goggles and pig noses, swimsuits and cow suits. Then: the jump.
![](https://www.bates.edu/news/files/2018/02/180126_Puddle_Jump_1767-389x300.jpg)
Picture story: Puddle Jump 2018
Thursday, February 1, 2018 7:08 pm
One, two, three!...Pictures aplenty from the 2018 Puddle Jump, Bates' signature winter student tradition.
![](https://www.bates.edu/news/files/2017/01/170120_PuddleJump_318-jk-400x267.jpg)
Picture story: Puddle Jump 2017
Thursday, January 26, 2017 5:44 pm
Check out photos and video of the Jan. 20 Puddle Jump at Lake Andrews, a joyous student tradition that happily leaves the question “Why?” unanswered.
![](https://www.bates.edu/news/files/2016/02/2016-puddle-jump-screen-capture-383x300.jpg)
Photo Story: Leaping, skimming, and freezing at the Puddle Jump
Friday, February 19, 2016 11:37 am
The Bates Puddle Jump, the annual, you-have-to-be mad dash from shore to pond, has been going strong as a student rite of passage since 1975. A new wrinkle for 2016: Pond skimming!