Qualla: The Aurora Ice Museum: Drinking Appletinis in a Freezer https://qualla.com/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/b/g/8/4/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum-wk/view-robinson-r22-chen.jpg Qualla: The Aurora Ice Museum: Drinking Appletinis in a Freezer https://qualla.com/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum The Aurora Ice Museum: Drinking Appletinis in a Freezer: Introduction https://qualla.com/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum/ Photo credit Craig Talbert, CC BY 2.0. Sixty miles from Fairbanks, at the end of Chena Hot Springs Road, a resort has figured out how to freeze a building using volcanic heat. The Aurora Ice Museum is kept at 25°F year-round - even when it's 90°F outside in July - using a geothermal absorption chiller powered by hot springs. Inside, everything is ice: carved beds, ice bar stools, chandeliers that glitter without melting, and martini glasses that are themselves frozen. You put on a parka, walk into a world of blue-lit ice, drink an appletini from a frozen glass, and try to comprehend that the same earth producing 165°F hot springs is also keeping this room below freezing. Alaska doesn't believe in making sense. It believes in extremes.

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Image: Craig Talbert | CC BY 2.0

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/b/g/8/4/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum-wk/bg84-the-aurora-ice-museum-drinking-appletinis-in-a-fre-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Aurora Ice Museum: Drinking Appletinis in a Freezer: The Hot Springs https://qualla.com/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum/ Photo credit Carl Chapman, CC BY-SA 2.0. Chena Hot Springs have been known since gold rush days - miners discovered the geothermal waters in 1905. The resort developed gradually, attracting visitors who wanted to soak in naturally heated pools while surrounded by subarctic wilderness. The springs produce water at 165°F,...

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Image: Carl Chapman | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/b/g/8/4/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum-wk/bg84-the-aurora-ice-museum-drinking-appletinis-in-a-fre-the-hot-springs.mp3 0:06 2 full The Aurora Ice Museum: Drinking Appletinis in a Freezer: The Ice Museum https://qualla.com/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum/ Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. World champion ice carver Steve Brice created the Aurora Ice Museum in 2003, and it's been frozen ever since. The museum is kept at 25°F by absorption chillers that use geothermal heat to generate cooling - the same principle as propane refrigerators, scaled up. Inside, Brice's s...

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Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/b/g/8/4/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum-wk/bg84-the-aurora-ice-museum-drinking-appletinis-in-a-fre-the-ice-museum.mp3 0:06 3 full The Aurora Ice Museum: Drinking Appletinis in a Freezer: The Aurora https://qualla.com/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum/ Photo credit PunkToad, CC BY 2.0. Chena Hot Springs sits in the auroral zone - the ring around the magnetic north pole where northern lights appear most frequently. Clear dark nights between September and April bring regular displays: green curtains, pink edges, occasional purple coronas directly overhead. The re...

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Image: PunkToad | CC BY 2.0

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/b/g/8/4/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum-wk/bg84-the-aurora-ice-museum-drinking-appletinis-in-a-fre-the-aurora.mp3 0:06 4 full The Aurora Ice Museum: Drinking Appletinis in a Freezer: The Engineering https://qualla.com/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum/ Photo credit Brady Riemenschneider, CC BY 2.0. What makes Chena Hot Springs unusual isn't the hot springs or the ice museum individually - it's the integration. The resort uses geothermal energy for heating, electricity generation, and cooling, creating a closed system that demonstrates geothermal versatility. The same therma...

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Image: Brady Riemenschneider | CC BY 2.0

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/b/g/8/4/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum-wk/bg84-the-aurora-ice-museum-drinking-appletinis-in-a-fre-the-engineering.mp3 0:06 5 full The Aurora Ice Museum: Drinking Appletinis in a Freezer: Visiting Chena Hot Springs https://qualla.com/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum/ Photo credit Kuruman from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0. Chena Hot Springs Resort is located 60 miles northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, via Chena Hot Springs Road (paved, year-round access). The resort offers lodging from cabins to hotel rooms, hot spring pools, and ice museum tours. Aurora viewing packages include wake-up calls and heat...

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Image: Kuruman from Tokyo, Japan | CC BY 2.0

]]> Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/b/g/8/4/chena-hot-springs-ice-museum-wk/bg84-the-aurora-ice-museum-drinking-appletinis-in-a-fre-visiting-chena-hot-springs.mp3 0:06 6 full