Snowmass Balloon Fest Selfie :)
IT WAS more of an exciting day than I had expected or should I say, wanted after jumping into the basket of a hot-air balloon and attempting to report from the skies for the 40th Annual Snowmass Balloon Festival in Snowmass Village. LISTEN now.
It was a once in a lifetime experience. My sister had warned me however, that I would not enjoy it. She knows about my slight fear of heights and claustrophobic tendencies. Still, somewhere inside my 8-year-old self, I had decided that this was on my bucket list. My boss would probably appreciate the fact, because of the circumstances that would later unfold, and for perhaps- legal reasons, this was my idea and not his.
I met Pilot Tom, 10 minutes before lifting off the ground the morning of my flight. I joked with him, as I introduced myself, “Aren’t you known as Tom the Talker?”
Tom sternly looked at me and shook his head no. He then asked me, just who had told me that.
I could tell this ride would be bumpy, I just thought it would only be the conversation and not the ride.
To say, Pilot Tom was uninterested in being interviewed would be an understatement. Tom cringed whenever I asked for an interview and I even think purposely pulled the burner (you can hear this on the audio) while I was recording to drown out my voice.
Before flying, I asked his daughter, Mary-Beth Oberhiede about her dad’s previous flying experience. According to Mary-Beth, Tom had been flying for thirty years and lived in Illinois. What she left out was that, this would be Tom’s first-time visiting Colorado and first-time flying in mountain air.
So, up, up and away, Tom and I went.I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing venue than Snowmass Village to go hot-air ballooning. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the sun was shining brightly upon my face and only a slight breeze landed on our shoulders. It was incredible. The mountains were just starting to come alive with fall colors and if I could accurately describe what heaven looks like-this may be it. Just not, what heaven feels like. The majesty of it all wore off as my attention was brought back into the basket.
My claustrophobia and fear of heights began to kick in, as sort of a double whammy of a truly uncomfortable situation. That’s when I also realized, there wasn’t a seat belt strapped around me. It also came to my attention, I was free floating and only a wicker basket was standing between me, Tom the non-talker and a 1000 ft. fall to the ground.
That’s when Tom suddenly turned to me and said he was about to do something illegal. Perfect timing Tom. He then whipped out a Ziploc bag that seemed to be full of sand.
As you can imagine, my mind started going wild with ideas of what was in the bag.That’s when someone’s name written in black sharpie, caught my eye. Apparently, it was Tom’s friend that was inside. Tom had come to the mountains with a plan to spread his friend’s ashes on the mountains of Snowmass.
There was a lot of media/volunteer rides that day in Snowmass and of all them were randomly assigned with participating pilots for theSnowmass Ascension and X marks the Spot Competition.
Tom’s cold shoulder suddenly made sense to me. He was planning on having a sentimental flight that involved saying goodbye to his friend. As Tom’s luck would have it, he got assigned the lady with the microphone from the local radio station in his basket.
Haning out in a basket in the dirt.
That’s when we began to drift towards the mountains. According to Tom, pilots have pretty good vertical control, but not horizontal, and the wind was carrying us astray.
As I mentioned before, this was my first balloon experience and I was told these balloons have a mind of their own and to expect the unexpected. In addition, I was in a can-do attitude after dealing with the most mute interview I have ever had and was on a mission to make the best of the situation. Needless to say, I didn’t feel threatened by the nearness of the mountains. I even happily waved to the construction workers, constructing on that very house that seemed to be getting quite close.
Where Tom and I hit the roof.
I did ask Tom, if this was normal, which is heard in the recording. Tom, in true Tom fashion didn’t respond. He instead yelled to the construction workers, “Can I land in the front yard?”
That’s when we hit the roof of the house. Not once, but multiple times. Tom was completely calm. I was abnormally calm. In fact, he had me convinced for a bit that this was a normal balloon ride.
We ended up landing in a gravel pit next to a tractor in the backyard of the house. The construction workers came out, but didn’t seem to speak English. They took photos of the event with their phones and then helped us out. Tom’s voice is on the audio, asking, “if they could just drag him into driveway….”
Our chaser crew to the rescue!
I immediately wanted to exit the balloon but Tom informed me that if I left, he would return to the air.
So there, Tom and I stood in a balloon…next to a tractor…in a gravel pit, high in the mountains of Snowmass, together, but safe on the ground, awaiting a crew to come pick us up.
I imagine Tom is safely back in his mid-western home talking about the silly reporter that wouldn’t shut up as he was trying to give his friend in the bag one last adventure. Well Tom, it was quite an adventure… for all THREE of us.