Alton Bay ice runway open day-to-day

Among them was Texas pilot Rudy Schmitt, who flew in from San Antonio to collect his coveted "ice chip" and signed certificate from Airport Manager Jason Leavitt, who said in a telephone interview that no other pilot he's aware of has flown so far to land on the only officially recognized ice runway in the lower 48 states. (The previous record for long-distance travel to Alton Bay was a trip from Miami, Leavitt said.)

More snow and wind soon followed during the final week of January, temporarily closing the popular runway that is expected to reopen January 31, subject to change based on weather. Pilots are encouraged to consult the official Facebook page for updated advisories, or call 603-271-7398 for recorded updates.

The runway officially opened for the 2025 season on January 24, drawing a Friday morning crowd of about 40 aircraft. Paul LaRochelle, the longtime volunteer who has handed off overall management to Leavitt (a state employee who joined the volunteers who make the runway possible in 2021) remains very much a part of the crew.

"The place couldn't happen without him," Leavitt said of LaRochelle, who manages the plowing and tending of the Alton Bay Seaplane Base, and who told a local television station that the ice is plenty thick this year, "the conditions couldn't be any better."

The ice runway first established in the 1960s has been a beloved, if unpredictable, winter tradition. Warm temperatures scuttled the runway in 2023 and 2024, and the duration of the 2025 season will depend on continued cold.

The warm welcome pilots can expect from local residents, restaurants, and ice runway volunteers will not take the edge off the winter temperatures that make the runway possible. "It would be good for pilots to think about making sure they bring warm clothes, and ice cleats," Leavitt said. Plows scrape the ice clean in many places, and pushing an airplane into a parking spot wearing ordinary shoes on bare ice can become more of an adventure than you would want.