August1999
lotandannouncer,Ihaveattendedbal-
loon festivals in Snowmass, Colorado for
most of the event’stwenty-four year his-
tory. The thrill of watching the valley fill
with color as the giant bubbles float on the
everchangingmorningbreezes,within
camera shot, fortwo hours never ceases to
excite me.
One ofthemostexciting“competi-
tions” is theDawn Quixote event. Numer-
ous, small, helium filled balloons areteth-
eredaboutthevalleyandpilotsuseall
theirskills and the variable winds to move
aboutwithnail-tippedbroomstickstry-
ingtooutdooneanother.Thisyear,
Colorado Springspilotandformer Clas-
sicorganizer,DeweyReinhardtooktop
honors by maneuvering Free Spirit 2 into
position sothree of thetargetscouldbe-
come history.
Once upona time, another competi-
tion was dropping golf balls in the cups on
the course the balloons fly over. For obvi-
ous reasons, they say, that was changed to
dropping tennis balls into innertubes float-
ingonthegolf courseponds.Since the
very first gathering ofaeronauts, the ponds
have beena focalpoint for shutter bugs,
and this year was no exception. As pilots
foundtheir way fromthe launchsitesto
the targets, the conditions were perfect for
splashes and dashes and at least a gazillion
camera clicks.
Snowmassisagatheringpointfor
pilotsfrom aroundthe nation.This year
statesrepresentedincludedColorado,
Nebraska, California, Connecticut, South
Dakota, Arizona and New Mexico.
Theweekendwasfilledwithbal-
looning, jazz music, restaurant sampling
and general goodtimes. The Friday “Rat
Race” down the Roaring ForkValleyto-
eningclouds andrainreportedinthedi-
rectionof flight. Inthe Snowmass valley
theconditionswereperfectforpartici-
pants to inflate and fly to the enjoyment of
theearlyspectatorsandtheorganizers.
Errantbreezesandacommunicatio ns
glitch, which allowed the park area to be
watered—heavily—during the afternoon,
stifledtheevent’sfirstnighttimeglow.
Not wanting to leave tire tracks or soak up
MotherEarthinenvelopes,mostpilots
opted to spectate. A few were able to rise
tothe occasionfor a short time along the
outer edgesof the launcharea.
Pilots new to the Snowmass Balloon
Festival were treated to beautiful and ex-
flyinglike theyhadnever experi-
enced before and look forward to return-
ingin the years tocome.
The folksin California’sNapa Val-
leywhobottleanddistributeCalistoga
wat ersp o ns oredth e24 thAnn u al
SnowmassBalloon Festival. Calistoga is
celebrating their 75 years in business. The
Snowmass Resort Association was also a
huge part of the event asorganizer of the
Festival(morethanjusttheballoons).
They,alongwiththosewhodidballoon
detailworkdeservemuchcredit.Many
pilots who flyin rallies, andpeople who
come as spectators, have little sense as to
the amount of work it takes to make reali-
ties from the plans.
