Round Two Brings Together Twenty-Two - Heritage Inn International Balloon Festival

After last year’s successful first event in a long time in High River, Alberta, a number of balloonists will once again descend on the Southern Alberta town for a fun and competitive event in late September.  This time, there are 22 balloons registered (with the possibility of a 23^rd) for the Heritage Inn International Balloon Festival - a huge increase over last year.  With balloonists coming from Belgium, Alaska, Colorado, Ontario and across the West, this event is gathering momentum and this year is hosting the Western Canadian Championships (to compete, pilots must be members of the Alberta Free Balloon Society).

It is growing on the strength of a few good reasons: the town welcomed balloonists with opened arms last year even though it was in the early stages of recovering from a devastating flood, the event was well organized and timely (pilots can head to Albuquerque right afterwards – even though it’s 26 hours away, most crops have been cut and the potential for wild thunderstorms and hail in the evening is diminished permitting evening flights), and it is put on by a sharp and experienced team who are dedicated to building an excellent event…hopefully for the long term.

It is so exciting that Jason Adams and three other Ontarians are bringing their equipment across the country to be involved in addition to a few international pilots.  Adams will want retribution after not being able to get off the ground in last year’s last flight.  Still, he had qualified for the World Championships and in Brazil improved greatly over the 2012 result in Battle Creek.  Last year’s winner and Canadian champion, David Gleed, won’t be participating in High River this year meaning that whoever wins will be a new winner at this event.

There are a number of good candidates for that crown, including Adams, but also including pilots from across the West.  Young stars Cliff Skocdopole and Brant Leatherdale proved they were in it to win it last year while the familiar cast of previous Canadian champions including Dale Ritchie, Del Michaud, Dale Lang, Marvin Schultz, Glenn Penner and Bill Whelan can all find glory on September 28 if things go their way.  In fact, with local conditions playing such a huge factor, everyone has a shot at winning it all if they can figure out the mystery weather and understand the loggers.

Last year, one flight had winds heading from the Northeast to the Southwest, directly towards the High River Airport.  At flight time, winds could be found to go in any direction, except the Southwest, with Marvin Schultz winning one of the tasks simply by landing back where he took off.  Another flight saw winds increase from almost nil to over 30 kts meaning that only three balloons flew in the competition, yet the fiesta pilots enjoyed a safe, normal flight.

With the Rocky Mountains in the background, this year’s Western Canadians at the Heritage Inn International Balloon Festival should be another great showcase for ballooning for fans of intense competition and pretty shapes and colours* in the sky.

All of the results can be found here : http://www.heritageinninternationalballoonfestival.com/news/results/

*Note – colours takes a “u”, I swear!

Let's Get High!

Yes, the typically weak balloon puns cannot be avoided especially as the Heritage Inn Hotel’s 2013 Canadian Hot Air Balloon Championships move to High River, AB next week.  It was a great relief to me and surely others closer to the event that it will go ahead after the terrible floods that have marked the summer of 2013 in Southern Alberta and in High River in particular.  But I’ll get back to that in a second.  First, let’s preview the contest!

Fifteen pilots have registered to compete in what is becoming a biannual event.  Aside from reigning champion Jason Adams, all others are from the West, meaning that the large balloon communities in Ontario and Quebec (even though they aren’t competitive) remain poorly represented.  Still, a good number of previous Canadian champions are in the field and the competition for Canada’s two spots at next year’s World Championships in Sao Carlo, Brazil will be intense.

I expect Adams to lead the pack as he did in Camrose in 2011.  Disappointed by his finish at last year’s Worlds in Michigan, he has worked tirelessly to sharpen his competition skills and has been throwing markers out across the Serengeti.   He won’t be alone at the top as I expect Dale Ritchie, David Gleed and Del Michaud will also have very competitive scores.  I’ve heard many people call Dale Ritchie Canada’s best ever flyer and his international experience somehow always have him hovering around the target.  Michaud and Gleed are also serious about competition and have honourably represented Canada on the international scene in the past.  Others, like Richard Clark, are just happy to see the target field. A new generation of pilots, featuring Cliff Skocdopole and Brant Leatherdale, means that the lessons Canada has been learning won’t be lost through time.

The event director is Gary Lockyer whose experience and preference for cutting-edge competition technology mean that competitors will be taking part in a truly world-class event.  Using SMS to transmit information to pilots should help lessen the learning curve for pilots who take part in international competitions.  This author will be reading the theodolite and is looking forward to the early wakeups.

An interesting part of Canada’s national championship – aside from the poor Eastern representation (it would be easier if it wasn’t so far!) – is that it is truly Canadian.  Whereas other national championships around the world occasionally feature pilots from other countries who want to practice, the Committee voted this year to only let Canadians in the competition department.  It appears as though a number of international pilots, from Europe in particular, would have been interested in participating.  Seeing as the timing of the event is favourable to pilots wanting to go to Albuquerque afterwards, letting them enter could be interesting in the future.

As mentioned, though, the real winners are the residents of High River.  Already, they should have their heads up high because of the courage and patience they have displayed since the floods.  For a few days in late September, they will be able to crane their necks even higher as they watch the colourful balloons above them and we get to admire the skill of many of Canada’s best pilots.  See you there! http://www.canadianhotairballoonchampionships.com/home-1.html