You know its been a long winter when you have to gamble on the ice breaking up. Well, spring is here and its time for salmon. Enjoy the video from last year’s ice breakup.
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FAIRBANKS – A Fairbanks man is the sole winner of the record $350,000 jackpot in this year’s Nenana Ice Classic. Officials had yet to identify the individual as of Tuesday morning, but Ice Classic manager Cherrie Forness confirmed there is only one winner and he is from Fairbanks. “I’ve got a call in to him,” Forness said. “I”m just waiting for a call back.” The Tanana River ice at Nenana went out more than a week ago — at 7:39 p.m. Alaska Standard Time on April 23 — but workers didn’t finish sorting the more than 220,000 guesses that were submitted until late Monday night, Forness said. This year’s jackpot was the biggest in the 96-year history of the Ice Classic, a springtime tradition in Alaska since 1917. Every year, thousands of Alaskans pay $2.50 a ticket to guess exactly what time a wooden tripod set up on the Tanana River at Nenana will float down the river and stop a clock it’s wired to on shore. This year’s breakup was the fourth-earliest on record and nearly caught organizers by surprise. The clock was hooked up to the tripod only three days before the ice went out. Typically there are several winners but the early timing of this year’s breakup resulted in a winner-take-all affair. Last year, 22 winners split a jackpot of $338,062 when the ice went out at 4:24 p.m. on May 4. via Fairbanks Daily News-Miner – Fairbanks man sole winner of Ice Classic jackpot.
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- Wait is on for winner of Alaska ice guessing game (juneauempire.com)
- It’s Breakup Time!: The Nenana Ice Classic (girlmeetsbulgaria.com)
- Wait is on for winner of Alaska ice guessing game (hosted.ap.org)