Each year, the stakes are raised when the ice goes out on both Mirror Lake and Lake Placid, and for an important cause.

The Lake Placid Volunteer Ambulance Service holds its annual Ice Out Benefit, where for $5, people can buy a ticket allowing them to submit their guess on when the ice will go out on both Mirror Lake and Lake Placid. The benefit was not held last year, but this year, there was a new twist.

New this year, for accuracy and consistency, chairs were placed on each body of water. Their eventual falling through, with cameras and timers to keep track, marked the fundraiser’s official “ice out” time. On Mirror Lake, that came at 4:22 p.m. on April 14. For the larger Lake Placid — whose ice is typically later to form and later to go out than Mirror Lake — that came at 8:57 a.m. on April 21.

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Mirror Lake winners

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– Joel Stetson — 4:14 p.m. on April 14 (8 minutes early)

– Kami Netri — 4 p.m. on April 14 (22 minutes early)

– Betsy Haracek — 3:33 p.m. on April 14 (49 minutes early)

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Lake Placid winners

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– Fred Jublitz — 9:10 a.m. on April 21 (13 minutes late)

– Fred Jublitz — 8:10 a.m. on April 21 (47 minutes early)

– Deborah Hoer — 8:03 a.m. on April 21 (54 minutes early)

The ice meisters for Mirror Lake this year were the Lake Placid Central School District Earth Science department and Jen Webb. The ice meisters for Lake Placid were Jim Forsythe, Mary Shubert and Marty Shubert.

There was no limit to how many guesses one could purchase and in total, the benefit raised $3,378.50 for the Lake Placid Volunteer Ambulance Service.