Download the Application!

The 2017 Kuskokwim Ice Classic is providing an opportunity for youth-serving groups in Bethel and in Y-K Delta area villages to sell tickets for this year’s Ice Classic event. Groups selected to participate AND which sell the minimum number of required tickets will receive a portion of the Ice Classic earnings. Only groups that sell the required number of tickets will be considered “beneficiary groups” which will receive funds from the Ice Classic. An explanation of this distribution formula is on page 3. The deadline for groups to apply to sell tickets is November 30, 2016 at 5 pm. Groups will be selected in December.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

• Your group’s primary goal must be to provide activities for youth.
• You must name 2 adults who can be a primary and secondary point of contact between January and May. One of the adults must be able to attend a ticket sales strategy planning meeting. We will have tickets available for groups in December if groups want them early, but there will be minimal sales through March & the bulk of sales will occur in April.
• Bethel-based groups must sell a minimum of 100 books of tickets (one book contains 5 tickets). Village-based groups must sell a minimum of 50 books of tickets*(village groups: see page 3). Groups that sell the required minimum number of tickets will receive a portion of the Ice Classic revenue (see page 3 for distribution formula explanation).

Download the Application!

The weather was amazing, the hotdogs were aplenty, and the music and dancing kept the Bethel waterfront hopping this afternoon as we all celebrated the beginning of the summer season. It seems odd to think summer in April, but here it is and we will take it. Have a safe time on the water and remember to always wear your Personal Flotation Device (PFD)!

Here are the photos of the fun afternoon and evening

The official 2016 Kuskokwim Ice Classic breakup time is exactly 11:30 PM on Wednesday, April 20th. Two winners, Olinka Peterson and Evon Waska, Sr., both of Bethel, will split the pot of $10,000. They each guessed 11:25 pm. on the 20th.

This was an unusual year for the Ice Classic. For one, this marks the earliest breakup in recorded history. The earliest recorded breakup prior to this year was April 24, 1940. There were also more than 10,000 guesses, the greatest volume of participation documented in Ice Classic archives. In another “first”, this year also marked the first time a tripod was reused. The 2015 tripod, designed by LKSD STEM students to represent Yup’ik culture, was recovered slightly downriver by Eric Whitney, who had constructed the tripod based on the students’ design. Eric kayaked to the tripod and secured it for a later recovery after the ice cleared the river.

Early breakup and the unexpected increase in participation created a massive amount of work in processing guesses in time to be prepared for a winner announcement within hours of breakup. A devoted team of volunteers and staff worked days and nights this week to ensure that a winner announcement could be made immediately.

The winner of the Ice Classic is determined by the closest guess to the time of breakup without guessing past the official time- in other words, if there isn’t a guess at the exact time of breakup, the next earliest guess (or guesses) -preceding breakup- wins. The time of breakup is determined by the moment the tripod movement causes the clock to stop. This year, the mechanism that stops the clock quit just short of triggering the primary clock, activating the secondary official timekeeper: the webcam time stamp. This secondary mechanism has been in place for 3 years and like the Ice Classic clocks, is synced to universal atomic time. You can watch breakup occurring on the webcam time lapse here at our website.

Youth groups in the Y-K Delta benefit from the Kuskokwim Ice Classic. This year’s beneficiary groups are Delta Illusions Dance Co., Teens Acting Against Violence, Bethel Freestyle Wrestling Club, Gladys Jung/BRHS Archery, the YK Delta Lifesavers and BRHS Cheerleaders in Bethel: Aniak Girls Basketball and the Napaskiak Senior Class. All of these groups were ticket sellers for the event.

For those of you in Bethel, join us for the annual Breakup Bash celebration at the riverfront across from First National Bank of Alaska tonight starting at 5 p.m. We will have live music, Yup’ik dance and free hot dogs to celebrate breakup. For those of you not in Bethel, you will miss the hot dogs but can watch Bethelites celebrating this change in season via our webcam!

From Brian Brettschneider Twitter Post. Earliest Breakup by a Wide Margin!

As of Monday 4/18 at 7:00 PM, 2016 Kuskokwim Ice Classic ticket sales are closed.

Thanks to all who participated! The response this year has been tremendous!

Now just sit back and watch that webcam…

GOOD LUCK to all contestants!