woo....who and i'm just getting into my time slots !!!>>>>>
Organizers on Monday at 5 p.m. hooked up the clock that will determine this year�s winner in Alaska�s richest guessing game.
Now it�s just a matter of time before a winner is decided in the annual lottery that is the 98th Nenana Ice Classic, a uniquely Alaskan contest in which thousands of residents around the state buy tickets to guess the exact date and time the Tanana River ice goes out in Nenana.
The clock is connected by a cable to a wooden tripod anchored in the Tanana River ice about 300 feet from shore. When the ice breaks up and the tripod moves or falls, the cable tightens and stops the clock on shore. The person(s) who guess the correct time will win or share in a jackpot that is expected to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $300,000.
As for when the ice will go out, Ice Classic manager Cherrie Forness said it�s anybody�s guess.
�The ice is pretty rotten now,� she said. �The ice looks thin and there are a few dark spots, so you know it�s rotting.�
The last time officials measured the ice, on April 14, it was still 36 1/2 inches thick, but it was deemed unsafe for another measurement last Thursday and will not be measured again before breakup, Forness said.
The Nenana River, which flows into the Tanana River about one-quarter of a mile downstream of where the tripod stands, has yet to go out but appears to be on the verge of doing so, she said. The Nenana River usually goes out five to seven days before the Tanana River breaks up, Forness said.
Longtime Ice Classic observer and helper Dennis Argall said there have been a couple of times when the Nenana and Tanana rivers went out at the same time, but Forness said that�s never happened in her 18 years at the helm of the event.
As is the case each year, a watchman went on duty when the clock was hooked up Monday and the clock will be under 24-hour guard until the ice goes out, Forness said.
Organizers will announce this year�s jackpot Thursday night, following a meeting of the board of directors. Last year�s jackpot was $318,500 and was won by a couple from Kenai, Warren and Yvonne Snow, who guessed the ice would go out at 2:40 p.m. on May 20. The ice actually went out at 2:41 p.m. but the Snows� guess was closest to the exact time and they were declared the sole winners of the jackpot.
Last year�s breakup was latest in the history of the 98-year-old event.
Ice Classic workers are still sorting tickets and entering guesses into a database, Forness said. There�s a good chance the ice will go out before the ticket sorting is done, so officials probably won�t know how many winners there are or who they are until well after the ice has gone out, she said.
Organizers on Monday at 5 p.m. hooked up the clock that will determine this year�s winner in Alaska�s richest guessing game.
Now it�s just a matter of time before a winner is decided in the annual lottery that is the 98th Nenana Ice Classic, a uniquely Alaskan contest in which thousands of residents around the state buy tickets to guess the exact date and time the Tanana River ice goes out in Nenana.
The clock is connected by a cable to a wooden tripod anchored in the Tanana River ice about 300 feet from shore. When the ice breaks up and the tripod moves or falls, the cable tightens and stops the clock on shore. The person(s) who guess the correct time will win or share in a jackpot that is expected to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $300,000.
As for when the ice will go out, Ice Classic manager Cherrie Forness said it�s anybody�s guess.
�The ice is pretty rotten now,� she said. �The ice looks thin and there are a few dark spots, so you know it�s rotting.�
The last time officials measured the ice, on April 14, it was still 36 1/2 inches thick, but it was deemed unsafe for another measurement last Thursday and will not be measured again before breakup, Forness said.
The Nenana River, which flows into the Tanana River about one-quarter of a mile downstream of where the tripod stands, has yet to go out but appears to be on the verge of doing so, she said. The Nenana River usually goes out five to seven days before the Tanana River breaks up, Forness said.
Longtime Ice Classic observer and helper Dennis Argall said there have been a couple of times when the Nenana and Tanana rivers went out at the same time, but Forness said that�s never happened in her 18 years at the helm of the event.
As is the case each year, a watchman went on duty when the clock was hooked up Monday and the clock will be under 24-hour guard until the ice goes out, Forness said.
Organizers will announce this year�s jackpot Thursday night, following a meeting of the board of directors. Last year�s jackpot was $318,500 and was won by a couple from Kenai, Warren and Yvonne Snow, who guessed the ice would go out at 2:40 p.m. on May 20. The ice actually went out at 2:41 p.m. but the Snows� guess was closest to the exact time and they were declared the sole winners of the jackpot.
Last year�s breakup was latest in the history of the 98-year-old event.
Ice Classic workers are still sorting tickets and entering guesses into a database, Forness said. There�s a good chance the ice will go out before the ticket sorting is done, so officials probably won�t know how many winners there are or who they are until well after the ice has gone out, she said.
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