This is our sixth year running a Clary Lake Ice-Out contest. This year’s prize for first place is the same as last year’s prize, a $25 Gift Certificate to The Jefferson Scoop. Yay Ice Cream! If you guess the correct ice-out date  or come closest without going past it, you’re the winner. When the Scoop actually opens for business we’ll pick up a the gift certificate and get it to you. I swiped the picture at left of a Maple Walnut cone the Scoop’s FB page. Mmmm….

Now I’ve heard rumors that people think our contest is rigged. I guarantee you this will be a fair contest!! Granted, Gayle Knight has won the ice out contest the last two years in a row and while I’m pretty sure she’s cheating, I can’t figure out how. So I spoke to her the other day and while I can’t prevent her from entering the contest, at my request she has agreed to NOT win again this year. We’ll see!

In the event there are two (or more) people who guessed the same winning date, the person guessing first (based on the recorded timestamp) will be the winner and the other less-lucky (but still lucky!) person (or persons!) will win a laminated 8.5″ x 11″ Clary Lake Depth Map as a runner up prize (see below). FYI, the earliest the lake has been deemed completely free of ice was last year on March 8, 2024; the latest the ice has gone out was on April 24, 2001.  Visit our Ice In and Ice Out page to see all our historical data back to 2001. Reviewing historical ice-in and ice-out data is NOT CHEATING! We’ll be closing the contest to new guesses late on March 15th or sooner if it looks like ice out is actually imminent. Guess as often as you want, but remember: only your last guess counts!

Here are the contest entries we’ve received so far, in the order in which they came in (it may take a while for your guestimate to show up). Hint: you can sort the records by clicking on the column header. You’ll find the Entry Form at the bottom of this post. I’ll also put a link to this post in the list of Useful Links on the sidebar at right so you can find it easily. A few hints: 1) Use the little little calendar icon thingy and select your date guess  by clicking on the calendar, this helps prevent botched dates and

2025 Ice Out Contest Guestimates