On Sunday 15 February, Jeff Berquist, Kevin Green and Rich Brown flew from RUT to the ice landing strip at Alton Bay to participate in the Winter Carnival being held that day.

Alton Bay is at the southern tip of Lake Winnepesauki in New Hampshire. During the summer, this area of the lake serves as a seaplane landing area designated B18. In the winter, a 2500 foot landing strip, complete with taxiway and parking ramp, is plowed out on the surface of the ice.

Except for some light turbulence, the weather was ideal with unlimited visibility for both legs of the trip. It was by far the busiest airport using 122.8; the frequency was buzzing continuously with Alton Bay traffic. Our landing with a light breeze straight down the runway was uneventful. Taxiing a taildragger on the slick ice surface was a little more challenging, but the airport was well staffed with burly helpers wearing crampons to keep us all separated?

There were many activities taking place at the Winter Carnival including a pancake breakfast, fishing derby, horse drawn sleigh rides, snowmobile drag racing and even a bed race.

For the return trip, the takeoff was as uneventful as the landing had been. The turbulence experienced on the outbound trip had settled down and the whole trip turned out to be yet another example of the pleasures of winter in New England.