Tanana
River
Nenana, Alaska
(Back
to Journey North Ice-out Contest)
Predict This Year's Ice-out Date for the Tanana River!
-
Write your prediction on this "Contact Us" form. We'll send news this spring when the Tanana River becomes ice-free and we'll announce the contest winners.
About
This Site
The Tanana River (65.5N, 149.0W) is at the Nenana, Alaska Ice-Out Observation
Post. Since 1917, spring's official arrival in this Interior Alaskan
town is defined as the moment the Tanana River is ice free. This event
is measured down to the second with a special tripod erected on the
ice with a trigger to an official clock.
- See photos and follow the action on the official Nenana Ice Classic Web site. (Click on "Current Ice Conditions.")
To help in your prediction, see the Tanana's ice-out dates since 1990:
| Year |
Month |
Time |
| 1990 | April 24 | 5:19
p.m. |
| 1991 | May 1 | 12:04
a.m. |
| 1992 | May 14 | 6:26
a.m. |
| 1993 | April 23 | 1:01
p.m. |
| 1994 | April 29 | 11:01
p.m. |
| 1995 | April 26 | 1:22
p.m. |
| 1996 | May 5 | 12:32
p.m. |
| 1997 | April 30 | 10:28
a.m. |
| 1998 | April 20 | 4:54
p.m |
| 1999 | April 29 | 9:47
p.m. |
| 2000 | May 1 | 10:47
a.m. |
| 2001 | May 8 | 1:00
p.m. |
| 2002 | May 7 | 9:27
p.m. |
| 2003 | April 29 | 6:22
p.m. |
| 2004 | April 24 | 2:16
p.m. |
| 2005 | April 28 | 12:01
p.m. |
| 2006 | May 2 | 5:29 p.m. |
| 2007 | April 27 | 3:47
p.m. |
|
|
 |
The
Tripod Story
Each year a black-and-white tripod is "planted" into the ice
of the Tanana River. A wire attached to a rope runs from the top of
the tripod to a contraption in a watchman's tower on shore. Watchmen
make sure nobody messes with the tripod. Anticipation builds as the
weather warms. The ice under the tripod gets slushy, and then the water
begins to flow. When water flows on the bank near the watchtower, the
time is near. One day or night, the rocks jerk to the top of the tower
as the tripod begins its journey, jerking along as the breaking ice
chunks begin to move! One watchman described it as just like an earthquake,
with rumbling and shaking when the ice starts to go.
When the ice breaks and the tripod begins to move, the rope raises a
50-gallon drum of rocks to the top of the tower. The action trips another
line that releases a guillotine that cuts the main rope to the tripod.
The cutting of that rope trips two other ropes. One rope stops a clock
and the other sets off a loud siren. That's when the whole town finds
out the winner of Alaska's oldest lottery, the Nenana Ice Classic. It's
a big deal because the Ice Classic has handed out millions of dollars
in prize money since 1917--for guessing the exact time the ice breaks
up. What's YOUR guess for this year?
