January 2026

Thunder Road Guitars, the landmark guitar store that has moved twice before is on the move again, this time to the Admiral District to the location of Mud Bay pet store  which itself is moving soon to the former Wells Fargo location.

Owner Frank Gross shared the announcement:

I am thrilled to announce Thunder Road and our roommates The Bass Shop will be moving to the historic Ashcroft Building located at 2611 California Ave SW in the Admiral District here in West Seattle early this spring.

This move nearly triples our current square footage and sets the stage for what I believe will be the very best version of what we do. The building has great bones and our goal is to create an inspiring and visually captivating environment for everyone who walks through our doors. 

The annual polar plunge, held annually at Alki Beach saw a crowd estimated at over 3000, twice what it was last year.

Despite temperatures hovering around 40 degrees (with the water only a bit warmer at 46, people of all ages came prepared to at least get a little wet on the first day of 2026.

Organized by Mark Ufkes and his wife Lois Schipper the event, going strong for 22 years had a twist this year.

He asked that people bring donations to the West Seattle and White Center Foodbanks. They did fillling up several bins with non perishable food items, hoping to make a difference.

At 10am sharp the crowd took to the water amid sceams, hoots and lots and lots of shivers.