What remained of the rotting ice on the Tanana River pushed the Nenana Ice Classic tripod downriver, tripping the clock at precisely 3:39 pm Alaska Standard time on Saturday, bringing to an end another year of spring break-up tradition in Alaska.

When the ice began to move on Saturday afternoon, it moved quickly displacing the rotting ice with open water. Within minutes, the river was running ice-free.

While there is bound to be more then one winner, the names of those winners as well as the number, are still unknown as officials at the ice classic are still compiling guesses and entering them into the contest’s database. They say that they will begin contacting winners as soon as they have finished with that task. They expect that to be in about two weeks.

The 100th year of the Nenana Ice Classic had it very first beginnings in 1906 when six people bet on the break-up of the Tanana ice. The first winner taking the pot in what would later become an annual event and springtime rite was Oliver Lee. The losers were Joe Johnson, Louis Johnson, Jonesy, Gunnysack Jack, Jim Duke and Adolph Nelson.

The betting game would end, but only for ten years, then, in 1916, Jimmy Duke’s roadhouse began selling guesses to Nenana residents only. By 1917, the tickets were available to residents of the Alaska and Yukon Territories.

To all who did not guess the correct time, try again next year and better luck next time.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]

  Alaska, contest, ice, ice classic, Nenana, tanana river, tradition, tripod, winners