Cheeky nudists strip naked to celebrate body positivity – in a chilly underground cave: ‘Very exciting’

Talk about places where the sun don’t shine.

Schoharie County’s Howe Cave is preparing its cool underground place to welcome you au natural fun for its sixth annual Naked in a Cave event on Saturday — which sees the elaborate underground system transformed into a nudist sanctuary for one wild night a year.

Colorful autumn leaves won’t be the only thing on display upstate, as hundreds of stripped-down visitors let it all hang out inside the popular underground tourist attraction.

But if you go, you better be brave enough to bare all.

“I’m not going to lie, the first year I sat in the parking lot for about an hour getting up the courage to go in,” Brookfield resident and event regular Chelsey Fay Ostrander, 32, told The Post about the visit her first in 2021. €” even with a newfound sense of confidence after losing 100 pounds.

“In the cave, you have to undress – otherwise you can’t go.”

This year’s sold-out self-guided walking event in west Albany is expected to be bigger than ever, drawing about 350 nude visitors, 21 and older, each paying $85 for what’s billed as a party of body positivity.

‘Very nerve-wracking’ — but ‘exciting’

Ostrander admitted that the event, which begins with a complimentary dress change at the top of the cave lobby, was “very nerve-wracking” because she went by herself.

However, after processing chutzpah To top it all off, she said the frigid 52 degrees below the surface — plus equally cold water dripping from the cave’s ceiling — was barely noticeable. Her adrenaline had kicked in during what she called a “very exciting experience.”

After only a few minutes, she felt at home.

“It wasn’t really a big deal — there were naked people everywhere,” Ostrander said.

“I have never been stared at. I didn’t feel weird… They’re just living their lives, like they’re wearing clothes.”

Eventually, Ostrander even made a friend she keeps in touch with on Facebook — and she hit it off with many others, too.

“It didn’t really feel any different than going to a bar alone,” she said.

Well, at least for the ladies.

Volunteer bartenders Brandy Karczewski and Shannon Avery both alerted The Post to a less-than-liberating, male-centric issue highlighted in a “Seinfeld” episode: “penile shrinking.”

“The joke is that the cave benefits women,” Karczewski said of the cold climate, “but it does. NO benefit men.”

Naked, but without fear

Visitors can take as long as they want to complete the bare-bones, 1½-mile walking tour of the caves, which includes a quarter-mile boat ride.

But that’s only part of the night’s elaborate experience.

Notable extras include an arts and crafts session out front — a cave representative said a local studio brings in visible smoke to keep the ambiance low — along with a filet mignon dinner and the chance to hear the comedian. musician and “The Sopranos” alum Steven van Zandt does a standup set after the nude walk.

Although the E Street Band icon will likely do his show clothed, he retains the option of performing nude, according to Howe’s general manager April Islip.

She added that guests can attend all – but only if they first cover their seats with the complimentary robes.

Better hurry if you want to show off your tush

In its first year in 2018, Sarah Danser from Discovery Channel’s naked reality show “Naked and Afraid” was the evening’s de facto grand marshal. The concept of the event was a “group effort” originally tied to National Nude Day, but has morphed into an upstate holiday of sorts.

No doubt some natives did not understand it at first, but no one found it un-naked-capable, according to Islip.

“In fact, to our surprise, most of the feedback was very positive,” she told The Post.

Unfortunately, there won’t be another cave dive in 2025: this will be the last year for the event

That decision wasn’t based on declining popularity — every edition is either sold out or close to it, organizers said — but instead reflected the hours of organization required to bring in musicians, plenty of hot drinks to keep everyone warm. , many adult libations and countless other logistics.

Bartender Avery, 45, has volunteered her topless services every year but will only be there as a guest for the latest foray this weekend.

The Saratoga resident told The Post that she’s “an Adirondack hippie” who likes to be nude at all costs.

However, she could tell that not everyone was so comfortable during the five years she worked at the event.

“Some were a little worried about the temperature in the cave — so much so that the bartenders were able to help with that,” Avery said with a laugh.

But as Ostrander testified, several hundred people — Avery described them as “people of all sizes, shapes and ages” — all settle in to have a booty-free blast.

“I think with so many people doing something a little different and a lot of fun, it’s like positive peer pressure in a way,” said Avery, who will be going for the first time this year to celebrate. her next birthday in her birthday suit.

Avery, along with fellow bartender Karczewski, 44, also talked about the high volume of arrivals.

“Every year you’d get a lot of new faces,” Karczewski, the Albany-area resident, told The Post, saying they came mostly by word of mouth — and regret they didn’t come sooner.

The bartender said the event even makes for a pretty romantic date night.

“A lot of couples were coming in and saying, ‘Hey, I’m just going to take advantage — when the hell else can you do this?'” Karczewski said. “I think it was really liberating for a lot of people.”