Students · February 9, 2026
Winter Carnival Wraps With a Residence-Hall Broomball Title and a Record Polar Plunge
Riverside Hall won the Millrace pond tournament for the first time in a decade, and 188 plungers raised $14,620 for the Student Emergency Fund.
The 2026 Winter Carnival ended Saturday after a week in which the temperature never got above 14°F. It bottomed out at −17°F on Wednesday morning, according to the campus weather station. Organizers said that was close to ideal: the Millrace pond froze to 11 inches, and none of the ice sculptures sagged.
Broomball. Thirty-two teams played 61 games on the frozen Millrace pond. Facilities measured the ice every morning before play. The final, Saturday afternoon in front of about 700 people, went to the Riverside Sweepers from Riverside Hall, who beat the Woodworking Club 2–1 in a shootout. It was the first residence-hall championship since 2016. The Woodworking Club played the whole tournament with brooms they had re-handled themselves, which they say is legal and the rules committee says it is still reviewing.
Ice sculpture. Twenty-three teams carved outside Founders Union. First place went to Cooperative Hall for a seven-foot Porter Falls water tower with the town’s name chiseled across the tank. The sculpture team from the welding program finished second with a full-size anvil that several people tried to pick up.
Polar plunge. On Friday, 188 people jumped through a hole cut in the pond ice, with Porter Falls Fire Department divers standing by. They raised $14,620 for the Student Emergency Fund, beating last year’s record by about $3,000. Chancellor Vandehey and the Dean of Students both plunged, after the plunge’s student organizers announced on Wednesday that they had reached the $12,000 goal that made it mandatory.
“I want it on the record that the water was warmer than the air. That’s the only reason I went back for a second one.”
— Jordan Eckstrom, a sophomore in construction management from Lake City and plunge co-organizer
Other events included a snowshoe race on the University Farm trails, a chili cook-off judged by Dining Services staff, and a Thursday-night skate with the pep band. The Dean of Students Office estimates that about 3,800 different students went to at least one carnival event, close to half the student body.
The Student Emergency Fund pays for one-time costs that would otherwise force students to drop out, such as car repairs, a missed rent payment or a medical bill. Students can apply any time through MyPorter.
Contact: Office of University Communications, news@uwporterfalls.edu
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. This carnival week, its teams, temperatures, totals and quoted student are invented, and no money was actually raised.