For the first time since 2022, the Alton Bay Ice Runway on Lake Winnipesaukee is open.
On Friday morning January 24, 2025, a mix of about 40 planes and helicopters took off and landed on the ice runway. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, New Hampshire and Alaska are the only states in the country to have an ice runway.
Paul LaRochelle and Jason Levitt have been hard at work to get the runway safe and ready to go for aircrafts. The runway was closed from 2022-24 due to concerns the ice was not solid enough.
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This year, LaRochelle and other community members said the runway is back to its original glory.
“The conditions couldn’t be any better. We have good, thick ice. It’s a good black ice. It’s very safe ice,” LaRochelle said. “This is just like one of the best years we’ve had so far.”
“The field is the best we’ve ever seen it. We’ve been coming in for 40 years,” said another community member.