12 winners share jackpot in Nenana Ice Classic

Updated: May 12, 2021 Published: May 12, 2021

The Nenana Ice Classic tripod, pictured here in a Borealis Broadband webcam image, was still standing Friday evening, April 30, hours after the clock stopped. The 2021 Nenana Ice Classic ended at 12:50 p.m. Friday, April 30, when the ice shifted and the clock inside a tripod set up on the river ice tripped. (Borealis Broadband webcam image / www.borealisbroadband.net)

NENANA — The 12 winners of this year’s Nenana Ice Classic will get equal shares of the jackpot in Alaska’s favorite guessing game, an official said Tuesday.

Each ticket holder correctly guessed the ice would go out 12:50 p.m. on Friday, April 30, said ice classic manager Cherrie Forness.

The ticket holders will each get $19,465.92 for guessing the exact time when the ice would move enough to trigger a mechanism that stops a clock inside a tripod set up on the Tanana River.

There were three winners from Anchorage, and two people purchased their tickets from the ice classic office in Nenana. The other winners were single tickets purchased in Juneau, Sitka, Fairbanks, North Pole, King Salmon, Wasilla and Palmer.

Not every winner has been contacted yet.

The event began in 1917 as a bet among railroad engineers waiting for river ice to break up. It has paid out more than $14 million in its history.

Nenana is located about 55 miles southwest of Fairbanks in Interior Alaska.