Despite thaw, ice thicker than normal at Nenana
Ice Classic sales end April 5
Published Friday, April 4, 2008
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Stumble It!With just two days left to buy tickets for the Nenana Ice Classic, the ice in the Tanana River at Nenana remains thicker than normal.
Officials measured the ice on Thursday at 45.6 inches, which is 2 inches thinner than Monday’s measurement but still almost 4 inches thicker than normal. The average ice thickness on April 1 is 42 inches.
The deadline to submit guesses for the Nenana Ice Classic is midnight Saturday.
Started in 1917, the Ice Classic is Alaska’s version of the lottery. Each year people pay — $2.50 a ticket nowadays — to guess the exact date and time that a wooden tripod sitting on the Tanana River ice will move downriver and trip a clock it’s attached to on shore.
Those who guess right split a jackpot that annually reaches about $300,000.
In 2007, 22 winning ticket holders split a jackpot of $303,272 when the ice went out April 27 at 3:47 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time. That amounted to almost $14,000 each.
Ice Classic manager Cherrie Forness said there’s no way to judge how ticket sales are going until the Ice Classic’s distinctive red ticket cans have been collected and tickets are counted, a process that will begin Sunday. Several vendors requested additional tickets after selling their original allotment, which is a good sign, she said.
The ice thickness this year is slightly thinner than in 2007, when it was measured at 49.7 inches April 2. Officials will continue to measure the ice until it is unsafe. The final measurement last year was taken April 11 and recorded a thickness of 46.5 inches.
For more information on the Ice Classic and a list of ticket vendors in the Interior, go to www.nenanaakiceclassic.com or call 832-5446.
Contact staff Writer Tim Mowry at 459-7587.
Community Discussion
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Should say, "Despite global warming there is still ice on the river"
Yeah, global warming caused the excess build up of DHMO on the Nenana.
Vote for the 'Clean Water Initiative' and the ice will go out exactly on Bob Gilliams birthday from now on.
Thicker ice has never necessarily been an assurance or indicator an early break-up.
The more snow to run on existing ice during the thaw, and the more honey-combed or rotted ice as a result of previous thaws during the winter, also create significant variables in potentially speeding the break-up. That, and the intensity of the Spring heat.
At least for now, it appears that we've headed into an abrupt thaw period, following a chilly early Spring.
And there's enough snow out there to create some interesting acceleration to the erosion of the rotting ice.
Sure would be nice to have one of the remote cameras, like they use of the Mars rovers, attached to the ICE CLASSIC pole to watch all the "action" of river break-up as the pole heads down stream. Of course, we had better fund it from private donated funds or other wise it would make the NATIONAL LIST for pork.
By the way, the statement, "thicker than normal," is open to interpretation; by my count, at least three out of the last 9 years had ice thicknesses of roughly the same as, or similar to, the current thickness. 30%+ does not an anomale make.
Maybe they just want lots of people to buy more and later-dated tickets this year??
If that's the case, I guess that it can't hurt the winners, in terms of the amount of the 'prize money.' But implying that this year is somehow significantly different than others is not a very accurate claim.
Does anyone know the weight of the tripod. It looks pretty heavy. I'm guessing 6 to 12 inches could be penetraded by it's weght.
Ice, ice baby.
What matters is... I'm the one who's going to win the money :)
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