ice-free

[ ahys-free, -free ]

/ ˈaɪsˈfri, -ˌfri /

free of ice.

(of a harbor or other body of water) free at all times of the year of any ice that would impede navigation.

Origin of ice-free

First recorded in 1890–95; ice + -free

That would have meant a fully re-vegetated (that is, lush with elk food) ice-free corridor.

Incontrovertible Evidence Proves the First Americans Came From Asia |Doug Peacock |March 27, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
New research suggests the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free by 2015, with devastating consequences for the world.

The End of the Arctic? Ocean Could be Ice Free by 2015 |Mark Hertsgaard |December 13, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
In just a few decades, the same ship may be able to sail all the way to an ice-free North Pole.

Shocking Climate-Change Photos |Ban Ki-moon |October 13, 2009 |DAILY BEAST
The great Slav Empire covets an ice-free harbour in Norway, and until this war broke out was busily engaged in compassing its end.

England and Germany |Emile Joseph Dillon

Nor did it equal early spring, when trout streams were ice-free and the earth still too wet for plowing.

The Duck-footed Hound |James Arthur Kjelgaard
The autumn would force the British fleet to leave for ice-free waters.

The Winning of Canada: A Chronicle of Wolf |William Wood
But soon a dark, ice-free cape peeped out of the mist in the north-east.

The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II |A.E. Nordenskieold
Some of these Alpine lakes were ice-free for fewer than thirty days out of the whole year.

Rescue Dog of the High Pass |James Arthur Kjelgaard