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The Kuskokwim Ice Classic tripod is up. The clock is counting down to breakup and to that coveted $10,000 prize. The money goes to whoever guesses closest to when the tripod drifts away, unplugging a clock, and marking the official start of spring.

It’s also, of course, a time to invest in youth programs from dance to archery to the lifesaving skill of swimming.

“I think people tend to forget about that part of it — that it’s actually benefiting really valuable causes, which is fine. It’s a fun game, too,” said Paul Basile, the Kuskokwim Ice Classic manager.

Last year 6,000 guesses competed for the $10,000 jackpot and raised over that amount for youth programs. This year six programs are selling tickets at $5 a pop and will keep half the proceeds. Basile said some people consult tide tables to make their guess. Last year, a winner wrote down her daughter’s birthday.

The tripod tradition started in the early 1980s. Basile said, in the past, the classic threw together some lumber to make the structure.

Last year, the group upped their game. They asked the Lower Kuskokwim School District’s STEM program — Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math — to submit tripod designs. From a 9-inch model, the classic constructed a 28-foot tall sculpture. It’s a story knife reaching into the sky with two kayaks streaming out beneath.

If it sounds familiar, Basile said, that’s because you’ve already seen it.

“Never before in the history of the Kuskokwim Ice Classic has a tripod been recovered after breakup. But somebody noticed it washed up on the shore a little bit below town.”

Eric Whitney, a Kuskokwim Ice Classic board member, rescued the tripod.

“The first time I went out in a kayak just to get across the slough and get something on it, so it wouldn’t end up in Oscarville or something,” he said.

He attached anchors to the wooden frame until he could retrieve it with a larger boat.

“And that worked. I really wasn’t sure if that was going to work at all. You never know if the water is going to come up and a big ice floe is going to come and just sweep it down and crush it to bits. But we got lucky,” he said.

Something else good happened this year — a forklift. Last year, the group put up the 28-foot tripod by hand, which, Basile said, involved people standing on ladders on the ice pushing up the structure with a broomstick.

“Last year I was glad I double-checked our insurance,” said Michelle DeWitt, executive director of the Bethel Community Services Foundation, which operates the Kuskowkim Ice Classic.

She said the tripod tradition marries a community event with fundraising, using the excitement of breakup.

“As soon as that water starts flowing on the Kuskokwim, boats are going out nearly immediately and people start engaging in the summer activities. So it’s a really exciting time for the community,” she said.

Which could be soon. Overflow is spilling over the river’s edge, the top layer of ice is crumbling, and forecasts predict highs in the upper 30s through next week.

Kuskokwim Ice Classic tickets are on sale at Bethel Community Services Foundation and Swanson’s until April 18.

Eaglecrest Ski Area is officially closed for the season.

General Manager Matt Lillard called it a “difficult decision” in the ski area’s blog Thursday. Conditions and more warm weather in the forecast drove the call.

The municipal ski area operated for 69 days this season.

After a few inches of new snow on the mountain this week, Eaglecrest Ski Area officials say they’re reopening the Ptarmigan Chairlift and upper mountain terrain for the weekend.

Last week, they’d announced plans to suspend operations. The city-owned ski area’s latest announcement says the season will be reassessed on Sunday.

The ski patrol is asking users this weekend to ski and ride “conservatively” to preserve snow on the Log Jam run and along the summer road, and to be cautious because of hazards.

“We’re excited to get another day up top. Prior to this snowfall, all of our alternative options for getting people off the mountain were just unrealistic given our safety obligations,” General Manager Matt Lillard said in a press release.

The Porcupine Chairlift will also continue to run this weekend. Snowsports School programs will continue as planned.

Eaglecrest Ski Area is heading into what may be its final two weekends of the season.

The city-owned ski area announced Friday that it will suspend its operations Monday, March 21. Previously, general manager Matt Lillard said the suspension would come after this weekend.

They only expect to open the beginner area off the Porcupine Chairlift.

If significant snow does come, officials say staff will be prepared to reopen.

Managers of Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski Area are prepared to shut down their seasonal operation if little snow falls before the end of the month.

General Manager Matt Lillard said they need significant snow or accumulation of over a foot.

“It all depends on the type of snow and how it falls,” Lillard said. “With a big, heavy, wet storm you can open a lot sooner than if it’s lots of dry snow.”

Lillard said they’ll continue running the Porcupine Chairlift this weekend, and again next Thursday through Sunday, March 13. The snowsports school will also continue offering lessons during those days.

But, after March 13, Lillard said they’ll suspend operations for the rest of the month and wait for snow.

“It can always happen,” Lillard said. “But if April 1 comes around and we don’t have it yet, then people are going to be looking elsewhere for activities and it’s just time to call it.”

With no or little snow drawing skiers and snowboarders to the mountain over the last several weeks, Lillard pitched a number of options to the Eaglecrest Board during their Thursday meeting.

Lillard said they operated for 59 days this season with great skiing and powder days in December and January. It was better than last year’s dismal five-day season, but it’s still possible the ski area may end up off budget this year.

Because of the lack of snow, Lillard said they had to cancel their usual March and April events such as the terrain park competition series, the annual Slush Cup, and the Bill Tugman Memorial Obstacle and Town Downhill races. The Juneau Ski Club was able to host a series of races a few weeks ago.

 

Lillard blamed El Niño and warm ocean temperatures for the warm weather and lack of precipitation.

As for February, almost any Juneau resident could tell that it was unusually warm and dry.

“So, again, really a low snow month,” said Wes Adkins, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau. “Skiers are not very happy, as are a lot of people.”

Only about 2 inches of snow fell last month. Normally, about 10 times as much falls. Adkins said the average for Juneau in February is 16.8 inches.

It was also very dry last month with 3.26 inches of rain and melted snow.

The average temperature for Juneau in February was 38 degrees or nearly 8 degrees above average.

“It was the second warmest February on record for Juneau,” said Adkins.

This winter’s warmer than normal weather could set an Alaska record. National Weather Service Alaska region climate science and services manager Rick Thoman points to a lack of extremely cold temperatures across the state.

“When we look at the whole state, looking at all of the (Federal Aviation Administration) airport stations, the weather service stations,” Thoman said. “The lowest temperature reported so far has been 47 below at Arctic Village and in the past century, Alaska has not had a winter wind, some place didn’t report a temperature of at least 53 below. And almost all winters, somebody gets to at least 55 below.”

Fairbanks lowest temperature so far this winter is 29 below, a December 2015 reading Thoman says just barely eclipses the low mark of another unusually warm Fairbanks winter.

“In 1976-77, the lowest temperature at the Fairbanks airport was 28 below,” said Thoman. “We’ve already been 1 degree lower than that so we won’t have the warmest winter minimum, but this would be, if it holds up, only the second winter in 110 years when it didn’t get to 30 below.”

Thoman notes that the 1976-77 winter was characterized by a shift in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) toward warmer ocean temperatures. He says the recent year’s unusual Northeast Pacific warmth known as “the Blob” has transitioned to a similar condition.

“The blob has grown up into a PDO, and we’re left with still a blob-like looking feature in the northeast Pacific,” Thoman said. “That warm water that had characterized the blob is now extending to a significant depth and so that will take a long time for that to be mixed out and to cool back to normal.”

Thoman says a strong El Nino, which more prominently drove this winter’s weather, is waning but also expected to continue to help keep temperatures above normal across Alaska through the remainder of the winter