An Englishman In America

This was my first visit the balloon races which this year were celebrating their 25th anniversary so I didn’t know quite what to expect. We arrived early, VERY early at around 4:30 in the morning, packing several blocks away as we had been advised that parking at the balloon races or any closer would be a bitch…and from what we saw, we were not misinformed either.

Following the steady line of bleary eyed, blanket wrapped people who had also braved the 5am start time of the festivities I was somewhat reminded of a pilgrimage off to worship some strange multicoloured flock of deities. Turns out Jesus was there a little later but that’s another story.

Upon arrival my first impression was one of amazement at the sheer volume of people who had turned out of their houses at pre-5am on a Saturday morning. There must have been a few thousand milling around, checking out the soon-to-be inflated balloons, or staking their claim on a patch of grass with picnic blankets and folding chairs.

The start of the festivities began around 5am as the first few balloons put on an event which was announced as the “Glow Show” by the announcer. This was a pretty amazing sight as huge balloons lit up the darkness with vibrant colours and synchronised glows and ‘twinkle’ effects as the announcer put it. The glow show finished with a choreographed glow and twinkle to the strains of Duelling Banjos (which you might remember from the Burt Reynolds movie Deliverance) which was pretty cool.

We avoided the various stalls setting up for the day having no interest in grabbing a corn dog or any other kind of fast food that early in the morning and resisting the urge to pick up a commemorative T-shirt for a change and headed on down to the lower field where the Dawn Patrol would soon begin.

You don’t realise the kind of work which actually goes into setting up a hot air balloon until you see it in action or the sheer size of some of them until you are up close.

They’re pretty darned big.

By this time, even with pullovers and jackets on we were all freezing our butts off despite the temperatures having been holding steady through the early 90’s for the month. 5am is COLD whatever the daily temperatures might be so be sure to wrap up warm and perhaps bring a blanket or two for the early portion of the show. It doesn warm up very fast when the sun peaks over the mountains but 5am in Reno is not a warm time of day.

The dawn patrol was a truely glorious sight to behold. Again we got a “twinkle twinkle” glow show from the grounded balloons before they launched into the still moonlit sky. The brightly coloured air balloons framed by the almost full moon we had that day made a really beautiful sight. Only five balloons took off for the dawn patrol as apparently its pretty dangerous to fly by night and they couldn’t land until the sun came up a little and provided a clear view of the ground.

Then came the waiting…

The Mass Ascension and Hare and Hound race doesn’t kick off until sometime past 6:30am which turned out to be closer to 7am so this gave us a little time to kill.

The sun was coming up so we got to check out some of the balloons as they were prepared for the later event. The American Eagle was the one we devoted most attention to as it was amazing to see its preparation. As a huge and funky shaped balloon it first needed to be inflated with cold air to capture the shape and then hot afterwards to provide lift. Again, you don’t realise the preparation needed until you see it in action.

After checking out the stalls which consisted mainly of nick-nacks and tat, took up a spot to get a good view of the coming events.

The Bald Eagle balloon launched to National Anthem which everyone joined in with. Watching this patriotic symbol rise into the dawn sky with the moon still in the background and the sun rising over the mountains behind us whilst everybody sung the anthem was a stirring sight. American or not you couldn’t help be moved.

Shortly afterwards, the official Great Reno Balloon Races balloon launched and after a brief couple of minutes the start of the Hare and Hound race began as one of the first Wells Fargo Bees launched – the first hare.

I didn’t really understand the rules of this, something about catching the flag or something hanging from the hare balloon but it signalled the start of the mass ascension anyway as over 106 balloons began preparations to launch in pursuit.

This was the really fun part of the day so if the idea of getting up and out to arrive before the 5am start sounds a little too painful then make sure you get there before 7am to see this part and it was truly awe-inspiring.

Part of the fun came from watching the various balloons begin to inflate on the ground and trying to figure out just what on earth some of the novelty hot air balloons were actually going to be when fully inflated. “Is that an orange?” – “No, it’s a duck” – “But it has a comb, must be a chicken” – “A bright orange one?” – “Oh! It’s a fin, it’s a goldfish!”…and so on. It took us ages to figure out why a pair of giant inflatable legs was sticking in the air until we figured out it was actually a humpty dumpty balloon!

Other balloons on display were a very cool Noah’s Ark, a hilarious giant cow, Christ on a cloud, Smokey The Bear, the Wells Fargo Bees – a pair of identical twin balloons, the Eagle and more.

The ascencion was amazing to see as the air became literally packed with multicoloured, multi-shaped balloons. You’ll see how many from the pics below.

Later followed some games put on by the balloonists like balloon balckjack amongst other things but by this time we were all getting somewhat on the tired side and needed to head on back to find our beds. Getting up at 3am after working all week is a tall order.

If you haven’t been before then be sure to check out next year’s event. You’ll find the information on schedules and events, as well as more photographs of the participating balloons and sponsors at http://www.renoballoon.com online.

Next year we’ll probably hit the camel races at Virginia City instead which were held on the same day in the afternoon (so you could do both) but there was no way we’d have survived that long without taking a nap.

Fun day…oh, and did I mention its a totally free event too? Great fun and free with it, not often you can say that.

Some pictures taken from the balloon race follow, not the best quality as I’m far from being a decent photographer. I’m kinda disappointed how many of the night shots came out (or didn’t come out as is more to the point) but it has kinda spurred me to actually learn how to use this darn camera!

Photographs of the Glow Show 5am to around 5:30ish…

Bald Eagle Takes Flight With The Moon In The Background Whilst The National Anthem Is Sung:

The Official Great Reno Balloon Race Hot Air Balloon Takes Off:

 

Some of the Balloons On The Ground:

More Grounded Air Balloon As They Prepare To Take Off:

One of the Wells Fargo Bees takes off to start the hare and hounds race:

Wells Fargo Bee Balloon In Flight:

Balloon In Flight:

Smokey The Bear Balloon:

Noah’s Ark Balloon In Flight:

The Mass Ascension Of The Balloons:

Holy Cow! Two of the more fun balloons