We have lift-off: First mass ascension of the 51st Balloon Fiesta a success

For first-time Balloon Fiestagoers Rocky and Marcy Stone, opening day was a chance to jump into all that the festival has to offer by volunteering for a chase crew.

“We’ve been trying to come for four years,” said Marcy, who traveled with her husband from Nicasio, California, to be a part of this year’s event. They joined a chase crew “for the experience,” she said.

“In for a dime, in for a dollar,” Rocky said as the couple helped get pilot Mark MacSkimming and the special shape balloon Tiger off the ground.

The 51st Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta got off to a soaring start Saturday morning when the first scheduled mass ascension got the green flag and balloons once again filled the skies. It kicked off the nine-day event that features more than 550 hot air balloons, including more than 100 special shapes.

Opening-day morning festivities at Balloon Fiesta Park included a predawn drone show by Verge Aero, with 500 drones flying through the air over the park. Highlights included a UFO “beaming up” several balloons and the number 51, a nod to the state’s history with alien folklore. The drones also formed the logo of the 66th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett before regrouping to form the iconic logo of Route 66.

Dawn Patrol took off with 11 balloons to monitor the conditions, and the green flag was raised to signal that mass ascension would commence. The “balloons of the day” kicked off the mass ascension with U.S. flags flying under their gondolas as the Enchanted Mesa Show Chorus sang the national anthem. The Chili Flight Team flew a five-plane formation over the duo of balloons.

Balloons launching from the north end of the field lead the charge during mass ascension before the majority of the southern stationed balloons launched.

Glenn Young, a 16-year launch director, or “zebra” veteran, and his zebra-in-training Bill Hurlbert, were working to help the balloons in Column 2, from A to M, get into the air, including the Tiger balloon. The zebras move down the line launching balloons from south to north in two waves, said Young, but winds can affect the order in which the balloons take off.

Hurlbert is a first-year zebra-in-training, and his red ball cap paired with the trademark black-and-white jacket announced his “ZIT” status. He decided to make the switch to launch director after spending time as a balloon crew member, working as part of the Moo Crew, the support team of the cow in the sky Airabelle.

“I’ve been crew off and on for 35 years,” he said. “I was getting too old to lift balloons.” He met several zebras during this time and decided to make the switch.

Young has trained “seven or eight” ZITS during his time as launch director. The first-year of training is spent shadowing a veteran launch director.

Young said as zebras they look forward to “basically safe, boring launches” this fiesta.

“We take safety seriously,” Hurlbert added.

Another first-time fiesta visitor was Nita Stewart of Dallas. She said she knew she had to be here when “I saw pictures in a magazine.”

Stewart said it was hard to pick a favorite balloon from this first mass ascension.

“It’s amazing,” she said.