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Ice Break-up includes $300 on the barrelhead

Watching the ice on Alta Lake break up may be about as exciting as watching paint dry on a wall, but the spring thaw becomes a lot more compelling when you have $300 riding on it.

Watching the ice on Alta Lake break up may be about as exciting as watching paint dry on a wall, but the spring thaw becomes a lot more compelling when you have $300 riding on it.

For the second year in a row, the Alta Lake School is hosting the Ice Break-up Raffle. A sealed oil drum has been placed at the south end of the lake near the old Alta Lake Townsite, and the school will be selling guesses to residents as to when the drum will float past Cypress Point, the site of the Whistler Hostel.

The Ice Break-up Raffle dates back to the 1950s when the Alta Lake Community Club ran it as a fundraiser for the fire department. According to Florence Petersen, who helped to create the raffle, the earliest date the drum floated past the point was March 13 and the latest was May 11.

First prize for this year is $300 in cash. Second prize is a night for two at the Vancouver Fairmont Airport Hotel, and third prize is a guided canoe trip for two by the Whistler Canoe Company.

The proceeds from the raffle will go towards art supplies for the Alta Lake School. Tickets can be purchased from families involved with the school for $3 or $5 for two. Ticket sales close on April 15, or at the first sign the ice is breaking up.

For more information, contact Stephen Vogler at 604-932-4968.