It’s October, that means hot air balloons have taken over the Duke City for the International Balloon Fiesta, the largest gathering of hot air balloons in the world.
Early Thursday morning families gathered at Balloon Fiesta Park where over 500 balloons were preparing to launch during the Mass Ascension, when the flattened pieces of fabric rise to show their true form.
It was also the Special Shapes Rodeo Day, so among the standard balloon shapes there were also frogs, mice, Darth Vader, Zozobra, elephants and the most popular among many kids: Spyder Pig.
The radioactive arachnid swine hybrid draws special attention from one boy by the name of Reed.
“The spider, the Spiderman piggy,” he said when asked to name his favorite.
Reed scored the last balloon card for the Spyder Pig balloon. His mom Missy, who didn’t give her last name, said she takes her kids to the Balloon Fiesta every year.
“They love it,” she said. “They love all the characters and getting up early and having hot cocoa.”
Family also runs strong through Zackery Maxwell-Griego, 25, from Albuquerque.
“I’m a balloon baby through and through,” he said. “I’ve been in balloons my entire life.”
He’s been a pilot for five years and he was in the gondola beneath Spyder Pig surrounded by his crew as he periodically pulled on the burner to keep the balloon inflated.
“I think it's fun, I think it's cool,” he said. “It's the same kind of physics as 1783, when the first balloon ride or the first hot air balloon was invented. It's very challenging. It's very technical. Unlike a plane where we can pitch right and left, we have to use the winds to our best ability, and we have to navigate.”
He compares flying a balloon to playing chess.
“You're thinking 10 steps ahead of where you need to be. The balloon's not always very instantly reactive, so you have to stay ahead of it. It's a mental challenge,” he said.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, there are only about 12 to 15 hot air accidents per year, but flying is still risky. Maxwell-Greigo acknowledged this, but said he’s been trained by the best pilots in the world.
“We're taught to always trust our gut instinct,” he said. “If we don't like what we see, we just won't fly. So today, that's why we're keeping the pig on the ground. If I was in a round balloon like some of the other balloons over here, I know my limitations and I know my ability. With a round balloon, it's a lot easier to land. You're one solid shape, where unlike Spyder Pig, I've got four feet. I'm a little wider than a standard round balloon.”
It's not worth the risk to fly, he said.
“And plus, if we stay on the ground the kids can see the balloon for a lot longer than they can when we inflate it and take off and go into the air.”
Maxwell-Griego travels all year long to different hot air balloon events to fly for various companies. The Albuquerque native now resides in Seattle, Washington.
“I fly right in front of Mount Rainier everyday, in front of a 14,000-foot mountain,” he said. “But I fly big ride balloons, so I fly anywhere between two to 12 people at a time.”
He said his favorite part of being a pilot is the experience of being in the sky.
“Once you get up there, it's dead calm and quiet, and you're up there and you're floating with the wind, and it feels like the world is at a standstill for an hour. It's beautiful. It's a feeling that you can't quite describe until you do it,” he said.
He has thoughts for those too scared to try it.
“If you're scared of heights, or you're scared to fly, just do it, send it. You won't regret it. Because every passenger that I've ever flown, that's like, ‘I'm afraid to fly.’ After they're like, ‘I want to do it again, all over again.’”
Maxwell-Griego said for those interested in getting involved in ballooning he recommends reaching out to the Balloon Fiesta to sign up to volunteer crew.
“You'll meet a lot of interesting people, a lot of friends, and you make a family very quickly. And it's cool,” he said. “Who else gets to play with a balloon all the time?”
The International Balloon Fiesta continues through Sunday.
