It was 6:30 a.m. and 45 degrees with the sun still hiding behind the Sandia Mountains as Gary Michalek waited for the perfect moment to fire up his balloon. In the distance, hundreds of colorful balloons started to rise into the air.
“It's like a guessing game. I mean, you see what the winds are doing and you try to launch from upwind over the field,” Michalek said.
Michalek is from California and has been flying hot air balloons since 1987, including 23 years at the Exxonmobil Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. We headed out to find the perfect takeoff site with the rest of his crew. Kathleen Allen came from Arizona to volunteer with her traveling RV group.
“I like getting involved in something rather than just going to it. Ya know, like, I could’ve just bought a ticket and come, but this gives you a whole different sense of the operation and the process. So, it’s been great so far,” Allen said.
The balloon launch area is massive, comparable to 54 football fields, but we drove a mile away to find a large dirt lot. Another balloon crew was setting up there too.
Some balloonists come to exhibit their majestic aircraft. Others, like Michalek come to compete. The goal is to drop their marker closest to a target from more than a thousand feet in the air.
Penny Madanick flies with Michalek every year at Balloon Fiesta. She is the crew chief and instructed them as they started unpacking equipment, explaining all the parts that go into this aircraft.
“He is pulling out the upright. This is the envelope, the balloon itself,” she said as crew members rolled a massive black bag out of the truck and onto the ground.
The “envelope” is the large fabric top that resembles a balloon. This one is almost 300 pounds, and is tightly rolled into the bag to protect it while it's not in use.
The crew walked the envelope out of the bag and across the lot. As they did, it unfolded in colors of blue, yellow and red.
Renne Marshall came all the way from Seattle to volunteer. She said first, they have to inflate the balloon with cold air using a high-powered fan.
“And then, when we’re ready for it to stand up he’ll put the hot air in. So this fan will go on, I’m gonna hold one side, Penny’s gonna hold the other and you’ll start to see the balloon take shape,” Marshall said.
After about five minutes the balloon is fully inflated which means it’s time to get in the basket and take off.
Set-up was loud and tedious, but once we’re in the air it is almost completely silent. The only sound was the occasional flame from the propane tank.
We were about 1,500 feet up, and I thought I’d be scared, but I wasn’t. The quiet was incredibly peaceful. Dozens of other colorful balloons dot the sky and the higher we got, the smaller the world looked below.
We flew for about 45 minutes over Albuquerque, before making our way closer to the field for the competition. As we approached the target, Gary Michalek threw his small bean bag as close as he could.
As the law of gravity states what goes up, must come down. We had a rather bumpy, but completely safe, landing. More than 500 other balloonists participating in this event were experiencing something similar. For the view, it was worth it.
“It’s just a beautiful time of year, especially to see the balloons in the sky and just the comradery of people,” Madanick said.
In the spirit of that comradery, Michalek gives me a job, “We’re gonna be packing up, so if you want a ride back, you’re gonna have to help us,” he said.
He and his crew will be back to compete in their 24th Balloon Fiesta next year.
Bryce Dix contributed photographs to this reporting.
