I did it once when I was in my early twenties at a ski resort in New Hampshire with friends.

A couple years ago we went into some natural hot springs in Iceland.

In both cases, we had to walk outside for a bit in just our bathing suits to get to the water. It’s very exhilarating actually. Then the rush of sinking into the hot water is pretty striking.

I do, it’s very relaxing and while yo do have to get out in the cold you’re so warm already it does not matter.

It’s kind of fun, yes. The hot water feels great but getting out doesn’t.

I would love it. I’d be so warm, through and through, that I cold stand a quick sprint into the warm house.

I enjoy it. It is the sensations of both heat and cold and being able to sink down into the hot water to warm your now-cooling skin only to rise up out and feel the water cool down on your body. Seems to relieve stress perhaps because you are experiencing two extremes of the spectrum simultaneously. I recall one year a hot tub snowball fight. That was an experience.

Several times we have a tub set up next to a river and would run (actually fast walk/hobble) from the tub to the river and walk in then sink down and totally submerge ourselves in the cold flowing water.

One time a friend did this, came up and sank back down to his neck and squatted there for a while. When he finally tried to get up he found he could not move, nothing, not a muscle, not even in his face. He said it took a while and quite a bit of mental effort to finally release himself from the paralysis. To this day he wonders if it was physical, mental or some combination. I have never heard of this ever happening to anyone else before nor since the incident. We still wonder what it was that caused it.

BTW he has not stopped using the hot tub/cold water method even after this experience. He is, however, careful to have someone else around just in case.

I had an experience of being paralyzed when I was waking up. I was about 12. I was awake, I could hear everyone down stairs, but I could. not. move. It was scary as shit, until I found that with an effort of will I could break whatever it was. So now that I knew I controlled it, I went back to sleep and then woke up to the same thing. I probably did that 3 times in a row! It was so interesting. I was such a wierd kid.
Years later I came across this, Sleep paralysis

Thanks for the answers! I guess maybe I didn’t really understand the thrill, but you jellies have me better insight on it.

Now my warning after reading about the paralysis: No one should ever go in a hot top alone. Never drink alcohol or stay in more than 15 minutes either if it’s kept very hot like most are. I had a friend who died in one 32 years old. The autopsy indicated he had a little alcohol and likely passed out and drowned. He was found floating by someone who lived in the community.

I love it. I love colder weather anyway but like @cookieman said, it’s very exhilarating.

Scandinavians have a tradition of going from hot to cold for relaxation. This link explains it well: https://www.scandinave.com/en/hydrotherapy/

I use our hot tub in the winter. But this is in the south so it isn’t always freezing. It does get cold when you get out if you stand around. But it is amazing how the warm water raises your core temp so the cold doesn’t impact you as much. The first time I saw this was in Idaho in the winter when I went to a natural hotspring. Freezing weather and I am bundled up. I pay for my ticket and go into the fenced in area. I see people walking around in their swimsuits and sitting on the concrete around the pool. I changed into my suit in a quonset hut that had no heating and ran into the water. It was HOT but felt good. After a few minutes I was sitting on the concrete and walking around in my swimsuit too. It just didn’t feel as cold.