Nenana Ice Classic Celebrating 100 Years

Ok, so I saw this poster in our local store and I asked, "What is the Nenana Ice Classic?" I was thinking it was maybe a sled-dog race. No. I was way off.

It's a lottery-type contest to guess when the icy Tenana River in Nenana will break up.

You can buy a $2.50 ticket and make your guess down to the minute. 

Last year's Jackpot was $330,330.

  

Nenana is just down the road from Fairbanks.

The tradition began in 1917 when railroad engineers bet $800 guessing when the river would break up.

$13,615,096 has been paid during the past 99 years. Payoff will be made June 1st, 2016. 

So here's the setup.....A big wooden tripod is planted two feet into the Tanana River ice between the highway bridge and the railroad bridge at Nenana. It is 300 feet from shore and connected to a clock that stops as the ice goes out.

Last year the river ice broke on April 24 at 2:25 pm.  

The earliest the river has broken up since 1917 was April 20 and the latest was May 20. 

The first year in 1917 when the engineers were betting, it broke on April 30 at 11:30 am.

The graph below shows the most frequent breakup hours in the past. 

Hmm...it looks like between 3 and 4 pm would be your best guess.

I'm not a gambler, but I found this story to be unique and very interesting.

I will be excitedly watching and listening for the news of the Tenana River ice break-up even though I have nothing riding on it.