Due to the lack of snow further south, Fairbanks had the once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to be the starting point of the Iditarod, which normally starts near Anchorage (and they still had to truck in some snow to cover some spot). A lady in our church has a home on the Chena River, about 15 minutes from the starting line, so she hosted a party. We were able to go out on the ice and cheer on the teams as they passed within arm’s reach!
Also posted a few short videos: https://vimeo.com/album/3295331

Standing in front of the Chena River, sled team in the distance

The foreground is where we walked out on to the river; the top was slushy from recent rain and warm temps

The fire makes neat spiky designs in the edge of the snow