2:51 a.m., Saturday, May 6. That’s the official time of breakup on the Kuskokwim this year, when the thawing river carried the Ice Classic Tripod downstream, stopping the clock and marking the start of spring.
Kristine Nick guessed the closest time to break up and received the call Saturday afternoon that she’d won the $12,500 jackpot.
“I honestly was just in shock, and I was shaking. I couldn’t believe it. I just wanted to cry.”
Nick’s guess of 2:42 A.M. — nine minutes before the clock stopped and the nearest time — was pure coincidence.
“Because it was 2:42 at the time at AC, and that’s what I wrote [down].”
While many people buy tickets every year hoping to win, this was Nick’s first time adding her name to the pot. She moved to Bethel just a couple months ago from Nunapitchuk to get a job to provide for her four children and create a better life for her family. The winnings are helping her work towards that goal.
She says she'll use the money to pay her bills and maybe buy a new truck to get to work at the Yukon Kuskowkim Health Corporation, where she registers patients into the hospital and helps book their travel.
But Nick wasn’t the only winner. The Ice Classic added a new contest this year. Instead of guessing the date and time of breakup, in the Second Chance Contest, the first 60 participants just guess which minute the ice will break, in whatever hour it happens.
Bethel resident Susan Charles chose minute 51 because she was born in year 1951. She took home the prize of $10,000 and will use the money to fix her house. She says it needs leveling and new windows.
In total, the Kuskokwim Ice Classic sold 7,381 guesses this year and raised $11,681 for youth groups across the Delta.
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