If you plow it, they will come

The ice runway at Alton Bay Seaplane Base in New Hampshire is open for the adventure. In the past two years the “ice” part of the base was not operational because of the warm winters, but this year it was finally cold enough to plow a runway, parallel taxiway, and parking area on Lake Winnipesaukee’s frozen surface.

Alton Bay is a public-use, state-owned general aviation airport. It operates as a seaplane base in the summer and in the winter it turns—temperatures permitting—into the only FAA-authorized ice runway in the continental United States. “The Bureau of Aeronautics developed a basic layout plan for the airport, which provides a guide each year in placing the runway in the proper location on the ice and ensuring adequate clearances can be maintained for the safety of all users on Alton Bay each winter,” according to a summary report on the New Hampshire Department of Transportation’s website. The airport used to be managed by volunteers but is now run by DOT employees, who determine the thickness of the ice and whether it is safe enough to support aircraft and plows, and who maintain the runway’s clear ice surface, which attracts pilots from all over the United States to land on a frozen surface on wheels. After a recent snow event, it took eight hours to plow the runway.

This year, the ice runway has been a hot destination (with breaks to clear snow) since landing 164 aircraft on January 24, which “made it the busiest airport in the Northeast,” including General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport in Boston, according to Airport Manager Jason Leavitt. “That’s one aircraft every four minutes for ten hours.”

On February 22 the airport reported 88 landings, bringing the season total to 730 and setting a new record. The previous record in 2019 counted 643 landings. Pilots this year flew in from as far as San Antonio just to land on the ice runway, and one couple hailed from Atlanta. Another pilot had visited at the age of 16 and returned 16 years later in his own aircraft. In 2002, a pilot flew in from Miami. Most pilots come from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Maryland. The heaviest aircraft to land this year was a Cessna Caravan. “It’s a bucket list item for pilots,” Leavitt said.

Leavitt’s wife operates the “FBO” out of a bob shack, a portable shelter used for ice fishing. It’s where she hands out the coveted “ice chips,” tokens pilots receive together with a certificate for landing on the runway. And hot chocolate.

Paul Russo, who’s been coming to Alton Bay every year the ice runway has been open, shares landing tips with Runway Manager Paul LaRochelle in a video published on the airport’s Facebook page. He recommends that pilots approach as slow as possible; aim for the threshold, which is marked by a snow bank to the side; keep the aircraft straight with the rudder; and modulate the brakes after landing. He also reminds pilots that the runway is “one way in, one way out” and to make sure to understand that a tailwind will add to the approach speed and to act accordingly. He says to keep in the middle of the runway in case of meltwater on the ice, because the runway is actually crowned, so water pools to the right and the left, leaving the center relatively “dry.”

The runway is temporarily closed this week. “We’re hoping to open again on Sunday. The ice is thick enough [two feet], but the surface conditions make it difficult to land,” said Leavitt. Because of the warmer temperatures, there’s water on the ice and traction is highly reduced. Leavitt is hopeful that a cold snap will enable him to open again and remain open for a while. “That ice is not going anywhere anytime soon,” he said. Pilots wanting to cross off that bucket list item should check Facebook for updates.