Alton bay ice runway

scottfromboston said:
Got really nice conditions late season this year - I think that it was a record year for days open. Always fun.
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20 days Is a record? This is on my bucket list, but having to make the trip from Georgia only to find out it wasn’t open that day would suck.
 
Dave Theisen said:
20 days Is a record? This is on my bucket list, but having to make the trip from Georgia only to find out it wasn’t open that day would suck.
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Hey Dave,

I forget the exact phrasing from the airport manager, but there was some record of note (it may have been the string of open days later in the season).

How long would it take you to get up here? If the place is open and there's continuing good weather (overnight temps below freezing, days not too warm, no/limited precip) it's probably predictable out to that time frame (3-4 days), but you'll need to be ready to go, and have some flexibility.

Glad to help you out around here if you decide to make the plunge. Most of my trips have been in February.
 
They were saying it was a banner year, close to 200+ aircraft movements, and just that one mishap.

I wasn't gonna bring my plane up, but am close enough to drive. Never made it...bummer. Next best thing will be taking the family boat down to Alton Bay for some ice cream in a few months!
 
This is probably never going to be possible for me unless I can swing a private hangar here. New problem is that the FBO owner has been keeping irregular hours and is usually not around to prep the plane (pre-heat) and pull it out when I need it during the winter (community hangar, their rules). Add to that ramp conditions that can't be much better than the runway at Alton Bay, and I've only managed to get up in the air twice this winter, not counting a PnP mission just before Christmas.
 
Saw it last night on Fb. Exciting. Might take a run up there this year but have to get the wheel pants taken off first.
 
Nope, nope, no and no. No how, no way, never ever. No way am I going to land on a sheet of ice with hundreds of gawkers all armed with cameras and the certainty that they could do it better.
 
steingar said:
Nope, nope, no and no. No how, no way, never ever. No way am I going to land on a sheet of ice with hundreds of gawkers all armed with cameras and the certainty that they could do it better.
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Everyone there had to do it at least once right?
 
steingar said:
Nope, nope, no and no. No how, no way, never ever. No way am I going to land on a sheet of ice with hundreds of gawkers all armed with cameras and the certainty that they could do it better.
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The times I've landed on it it was pretty much like any other landing. That said, throw in some sun to put a layer of water on top, add in a crosswind, and yeah you'll end up as a Facebook aviation comedy thread.
 
That looks like a blast. Will try it...
 
This reminds me of landing on the Kuskokwim river in Bethel, AK.

During the early winter, the river would sometimes break up and leave chunks of ice that would ruin your day. My crazy boss would walk out to the middle of the river with a pump and drill into the ice to pump water on top of the frozen river to make us a smooth runway. It worked!
 
Brad Z said:
The times I've landed on it it was pretty much like any other landing. That said, throw in some sun to put a layer of water on top, add in a crosswind, and yeah you'll end up as a Facebook aviation comedy thread.
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so don't land there on a day like that. Simple enough. Every other time I've been there, its pretty pretty straightforward.
 
No ice runway at all this year.

Warm Weather Keeps Alton Bay’s Ice Runway Closed This Season
 
Kevin Eggert said:
No ice runway at all this year.

Warm Weather Keeps Alton Bay’s Ice Runway Closed This Season
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Yeah, the manager alluded a couple weeks ago on a Facebook update that it was unlikely to open this year. Apparently the ice was trash and has swallowed a few vehicles already. Warmer weather, with an unfortunate sequencing of snow, rain, and sun made for some very uneven ice thicknesses, never achieving the continuous 12" thickness necessary to open to operations.
 
Brad Z said:
Yeah, the manager alluded a couple weeks ago on a Facebook update that it was unlikely to open this year. Apparently the ice was trash and has swallowed a few vehicles already. Warmer weather, with an unfortunate sequencing of snow, rain, and sun made for some very uneven ice thicknesses, never achieving the continuous 12" thickness necessary to open to operations.
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The ice on Winnipesaukee regularly swallows vehicles, and claims several lives a year, although I haven't heard of any this year. It's a large lake with many springs and areas that don't freeze well. This has been a warm year, I don't trust the ice this year, there are safe areas, but probably not the areas I would use (snowmobiles).
 
Bummer. Lousy flying year thus far for me here in New England. Beautiful, windless days = Work appointments, and, rain and wind = free as a bird.
Will have to wait until next year to try the fabulous ice runway in NH.
 
AGLyme said:
Bummer. Lousy flying year thus far for me here in New England. Beautiful, windless days = Work appointments, and, rain and wind = free as a bird.
Will have to wait until next year to try the fabulous ice runway in NH.
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Same. Seemed like there was a storm every weekend for a while.
 
You can still fly up there, I just would avoid landing.
 
They're reporting they have over 5" of ice now...
 
We're headed up Saturday to Laconia to look for houses for a week and the forecast has Monday as the only day out of the teens and 20's and they're expecting 5-8" of snow so maybe the game isn't over yet.
 
Overhead today.
 

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Any issue landing there with wheel pants?
 
AlleyCat67 said:
Any issue landing there with wheel pants?
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I don't think so. I've seen video of others, including Cirri with their tight pants, doing it.

In our rental condo looking at Alton Bay right now.... May need to wait for it to lift a little :D

j3OvKUb.jpg
 
No problem with wheel pants. They plow it. There won't be any snow buildup on it.
 
from the FB page...

"Good morning from Alton Bay Ice Runway, as of yesterday January 19, 2022 the runway is still closed. However the ice depth yesterday averaged 10" in depth. With the weather temperatures that are predicted for the next week, we may be looking at plowing the runway by January 26th. Have a great day and thank you for all of your support!"
 
We drove by today and the windsock is out and they have cones laid out for defining the runway and the little ice ops building is there, although there are other ice houses out too with people in them fishing. Supposed to be -4 tonight so ice making weather.
 
This may be shaping up to be a cross the lake on my snowmobile year. We'll see, just need more snow.
 
PaulS said:
This may be shaping up to be a cross the lake on my snowmobile year. We'll see, just need more snow.
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its been a few years since the lake has frozen completely across, hasn't it? I think last time I saw that was 3 years ago. Not sure on last year, didn't make it up to Alton last year.
 
UngaWunga said:
its been a few years since the lake has frozen completely across, hasn't it? I think last time I saw that was 3 years ago. Not sure on last year, didn't make it up to Alton last year.
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Last year the lake was safe for about 2 weeks. I didn't go on it, probably wasn't safe in the middle.
 
considering that it's -10 in Alton right now, they'll probably open the runway after the saturday snow passes through.
 
I went there via the ground today. Beautiful, albeit freezing cold. There was also a tailwind, which was keeping a lot of people away.
 
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