Balloon Life,
December 1999
from DIA air traffic control, and an infla-
tion hold due to wind. Watkins and the
DIA vicinity are not necessarily known
for their calm wind conditions. Next brief-
ing scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Still windy,
but the wind direction is not sending the
balloons directly into DIA, looks likethey
will skirt the east sideof the airspace. Talk
Finally it is our turn to launch. Afterbeing
buffeted in the winds for over 2 hours, it is
timeto moveDavid’s balloon to thelaunch
location.Itwassowindy,thataswe
scootedthe basket acrossthe tarmac the
runnerswereactuallysmoking!Were-
movedthenormalexcessbagsofsand
that are used during the launchbut were
still not buoyant. Now
wehavetostartre-
movingthe bagsthat
wouldno rmallybe
usedontheflightas
ballast! After about3
tries at weight off and
removingstillmore
sandbags we start run-
ningwiththesystem
to compensate for the
false lift being gener-
atedbythe windand
thenweighingoffto
test for buoyancy. Af-
teracoupleofrun-
ningweighoffsand
removingstillmore
sandbags, David and
hisbrotherAlanare
finallyintheairand
gainingaltitude.The
crew picksup the ex-
cess sandbags and the inflation parapher-
nalia and we head home for about 5 hours
of sleep ina warm bed.
Su nd ayNovember7 :7:3 0a.m.
(MST).Davidcalls.Heisb etween
Scottsbluff and Alliance, Nebraska head-
ingnortheast.SueandI packthechase
vehicle withclothes,munchies, acooler
fullofbeverages,lotsofmusic,maps,
GPS, and a phone. We’re off! Thechase is
on! We head up Highway76 to Sterling,
ColoradothennorthintoNebraska.We
Chasingthe
REMAX Cup
4,500 miles in four and a half days from Denver,
Colorado to Despinassy, Quebec Canada and back
David Levin (l) and Alan Levin (r) await launch during the RE/MAX Cup Gas
Balloon Race in Denver, Colorado.
BalloonLife,December 1999
reach Alliancearound noon on Sunday
andcalltheCommandCentertoget
David’s last coordinates. He is in South
Dakota near the Pine RidgeIndian Reser-
vation and still heading northeast. 3:00
p.m.., we are in Merriman, Nebraska and
we talk toDavid. He’s over Highway 183
just south of I-80 and heading northeast.
The guy at the gas station in Merriman
toldushe hadseen three balloonsfly over
hisstation around noon and that we were
the second chasevehicle to stop at his
station for gas.
SundayNovember7:6:00p.m.
(MST). Stilltrying to catch up. We blaze
upthroughSouth Dakota andjust outside
of Vivian, South Dakota we talkto David
again. He’s stillheading northeastand we
head to Mitchell, SouthDakota where we
stop for dinner. Unfortunately there was
no time to visit the balloon museumin
Mitchell. On to Sioux Fall and north to
Watertown.
SundayNovember7:Midnight
(MST). After about 16 hours of driving,
we finallycatch up with David and Alan.
Theycross right overus just south of
Summit,SouthDakota andI-29stillhead-
ing northeast. We flashed our headlights
and David flashed hislanding lightsas he
passed over. Hecommented tousoverthe
radio that this was the first time he had
ever seen his chase during a gas balloon
flight. We stop to get gas and David is
gone. They are moving!! As we head for
Minnesota, we continue to play catch up
the theme for the entire chase. We caught
ourfirstglimpse of the NorthernLightsas
we stair-steppedour way throughwestern
Minnesota.
MondayNovember8:3:00a.m.
(MST). We catch up with them again!!
North of Morris, Minnesota at the inter-
section of Highway 59 and27. Time for a
nap. We pull off at the intersection and
snooze in the vehicle for about an hour.
Up and on the road again. Local traffic
startspickingup around4:00 a.m. and we
are on the move. The next update from
DavidputshimbetweenStaplesand
Brainerd,Minnesotaandstillheading
northeast towards Grand Rapids.
Monday November 8: Noon (MST).
We divert from our Duluth heading and
go north to V irginia, Minnesota. (David
hadsaid,beforehelaunched,thathe
wanted togotoVirginia!)There we watch
DavidandAlanfly overus again.28
hours on the chase! We head to Tower,
Minnesota.Therewecangonorthto
International Falls or east towards Thun-
derBay.David calls and says they’re
heading to Thunder Bay, Ontario. So it’s
off to Canada!! A gorgeousdrive through
northern Minnesota to Highway 61 fol-
lowing Lake Superior into Canada.
MondayNovember8:5:00p.m.
(MST). David contacts us to tell us they
are stillmovingnortheastandthey are just
north of Thunder Bay. We get intoThun-
der Bay at 6:00 p.m.. (MST)and call the
Command Center. Davidisheaded across
a reasonably desolate area of Ontario to-
wardsAmos. Where theheckisAmos??!!
The Command Center advises usto carry
extragas and to stockup on food and
water. So weget food,water, maps of
Canada and plenty of extra gas.
Amos is in Quebec. We head north-
east on Canadian Highway 11, the north-
ern most Highway across Ontario. Driv-
ingatnight, we’re dodgingloggingtrucks
careening down the Highway at incred-
ible speeds and watchingthenorthern
lightsdance. Theyput ona beautiful show
for us, startingasa narrow stream of light
shootingup from the horizon, and grace-
fully spreading out into a dancing wave
form. Unfortunately, there were no col-
ors, the but white light contrast with the
blackstarlitskywasbreathtaking.I
thought of David and Alan and the awe-
some view they must be enjoying, peace-
fully floating acrossthewilderness of
central Ontario on that crisp clear night.
We fly ondownthe road, Sue and I taking
turnssleepinganddriving,gettingusabout
another two hours of much needed sleep
as we head into Tuesday morning. Bythe
way, we were so grateful for the advice
from the Command Center to bring extra
gas. What few towns there are in north
central Ontario, they are quite small, and
there are no 24 hour gas stations.
Tuesday November 9:7 a.m. (MST).
We’re inMatheson, Ontarioandthe Com-
mand Center tells us that David is about
100miles tothe northeastof us and head-
ing southeast. Southeast is good,since
there are no roads northeast of his loca-
tion, save one secondary roadwindingits
way up toJamesBay. David and Alanare
stillheading for Amos and so are we. We
arrive in Amos around 10:00 am. (MST)
and David is stillheading southeastbut is
located northeastofAmos. Davidinforms
usthey are planning to land. The chase is
really on now!
TuesdayNovember9:11:13am
(MST).We getanother update and we are
onlya few miles apart and they are stillin
theair. 11:30 am. (MST),DavidandAlan
have landed and we are just a few miles
away, heading the wrong way on a nar-
row, snow covered logging road. We fi-
nallyget turned around, we hada trailer in
tow which made turning around quite a
challenge on that narrow road! We head
backtowardthelandingcoordinates,
watchingtheGPS astheminutes and
secondstickoffas wegetcloserand
closer.
There’s the road! It’s an even nar-
rower loggingroad—withwater hazards!
Smalldamsareholdingthe water back off
the road; with water levels higher than
road.Inseveral places,thewaterhas
spilledover and flooded the road. That4-
wheel drive came in handy.Weget to
David and Alan about an hour after they
landed. They are just a few hundred feet
offtheroad,thebasketandenvelope
gently nestled in young pine trees, bent
over from the weight of the system. No
damage and not too far to carry out the
system to the waitingchase vehicle, now
covered inmudand outofgas. Goodthing
we had refilled those gas cans.
TuesdayNovember9:4:00p.m.
(MST). We’re loaded up and headed out
of the forestby dusk and made our way to
the nearest villageto get awitnessto
document the landing site. We arrived in
Despinassy, about 20 miles south of the
landing site in search of someone who
could speak English well enough to un-
derstand what we needed. Finally a hot
meal and a good nights rest! We got to a
hotelin Amos,enjoyedaniceItalian
meal,and amuchneeded nights sleep
after 2,400 miles and 60 hours of driving.
Then the drive back to Denver. We ar-
rivedThursdayeveningaround6:00p.m..
only 33 hours after we left Amos for a
4,500 mile round trip in four and a half days!
I’d do it again! It was so exciting to be
part of such a extraordinary distance race;
plotting their progress on the maps, plan-
ningourpath,andbeingthereshortly
after they landed was quite a challenge. I
figure we successfully met the challenge
when we found our balloon only an hour
after it landed in the northeastern Quebec
province woods after a 2,500 mile chase.
