The 2026 Kuskokwim Ice Classic is a wrap. Manager Haley Hanson stood beside the ice-chunked Kuskokwim River as she phoned the first jackpot winner with the good news.
“So I want to let you know that with your guess of May 12 at 8 a.m., you have just won half of our jackpot for a total of $9,550,” Hanson said on speakerphone.
“Super cool!” replied Bethelite Louise Russell, modestly.
Russell's guess of 8:00 a.m. was right on the money. The wooden ice tripod depicting a mama and baby moose tripped the clock and drifted downriver early on May 12.
But Russell wasn’t the only one with a lucky guess. Shannon Samuelson of Napaskiak also chose the winning time: 8:00 a.m. on May 12. The two split the jackpot of $19,100. Samuelson said that it was just a random number.
As for Russell? The winnings come as part of a bigger celebration.
“Did you have any reason in particular you picked that day and time?” Hanson asked.
“Oh, no, that's my birthday, ma'am,” Russell replied.
Russell and Samuelson were the winners of the main Kuskokwim Ice Classic jackpot, but they weren't the only ones who received a lucky call this week. Four other winners took home minute madness jackpots from a separate pool where guessers could purchase the minute of an hour they supposed the tripod would drift.
Bertha Chase and Kristine Nick walked away with minute madness jackpots of $10,000, and Jean Simon won $4,000. Gail Michael of Kwethluk won not one, but two of the wheels, taking home a total prize of $14,000.
Part of this year's jackpot went to benefit local nonprofits, including Teens Acting Against Violence, Y-K Delta Lifesavers, Delta Illusion Dance Company, and Bethel Friends of Canines.
Breakup arrived in Bethel one week later than last year, when the Ice Classic Tripod clock stopped on May 5.
Hanson said that hearing how people formed their guesses is her favorite part, especially where winners “just had a feeling.”
“I think those are really fun stories, just because. I don't know, we're super connected to our river and what it provides for us, and how we use it and get from place to place,” Hanson said. “And I like thinking about those connections people have.”
In Kuskokwim Ice Classic tradition, the announcement of the winners is followed by the annual Breakup Bash celebration. The event, put on by Bethel Community Services Foundation, which facilitates the Kuskokwim Ice Classic, will happen Thursday, May 14 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. by the Front Street seawall, across from First National Bank Alaska. Everyone is invited to ring in the end of winter with live music and lots of free hot dogs.
