'Winter's over!': Dawson City celebrates Yukon River breakup

Winter may have officially ended with the March equinox, but in Dawson City, Yukon, the true end cameWednesday morning, with the breakup of ice on the Yukon River.

"There's a different feeling in the air once the river's broken," said Paul Robitaille of the Klondike Visitors Association. "Not only is it excitement, it's maybe satisfaction that you made it through the winter."

"You can put another feather in your capyou survived."

The icebroke at 10:04 a.m. The exact date and time is noted and recorded each year with help of a tripodset up on the ice, attached by cable to a clock. When the tripod moves, it stops the clock.

Mayor Wayne Potoroka caught the moment on video and posted it online. When the cable breaks, people can be heard cheering and shouting "winter's over!"

Robitaille says a lot of people in Dawson expected an earlier breakup because the river didn't completely freeze over in certain spots.

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• West Dawson makes do with unofficial ice crossing while Yukon River remains open

"It definitely added to the speculation but lo and behold, here we are with a normal breakup."

Normal, that is, for the dateMay 3 isn't unusually earlyor late, going by the record books.

Last year's breakup happened on April 23, the earliest date in 120 years of record-keeping. The latest breakup was in 1964, on May 28.

'Not too much zip to it'

Joyce Caleyof the Dawson IODE, however, found this year's much-anticipated breakup sort of anti-climactic.

Some years it happens quickly, with massive chunks of ice quickly washed down river.

Not this time.

"It's been a really weird year, and the breakup was a little bit weird too, because of its lack of drama," she said.

"The chunks of ice and whatnot moving rather slow... not too much zip to it."

The IODEruns theannual contest to guess the exact date and time of breakup, with4,999 people payingatwo dollar entry fee this yearto make a guess.

The winner 6-year-old Hannah Ryder of Whitehorse was just a minute off, guessing 10:05 a.m.

She'll win the jackpot of more than $4,000, meaning she had lots to celebrate on Wednesday it was also her birthday.