photos by Stephen Eginoire

If youre a fan of bright colors, wide-open skies and motorless aviation, then hot air ballooning might be the ticket for you. Ballooning can be enjoyed as a solo experience or as a social outing. Take the 2010 Snowdown Mass Ascension, for example, where 19 prismatic balloons launched into the heavens from the North Animas Valley last weekend, stopping highway traffic and filling the sky with color.

The chase crew rushes to help stabilize a landing balloon. Light filters through the patchwork of a deflating hot air balloon after the ascension. Two balloons float above the Animas Valley during picture-perfect flight weather. Pilot Karl Peterson, of Salt Lake City, lets one rip into his balloon before lift off.

 

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