Mass Ascension

Scatterbrained · Oct 9, 2016

So we took the kids to Albuquerque for the International Balloon Fiesta. We only stayed for one day because we had to get to Tuscon, but it was definitely worth doing. According to the announcer there were over 850 balloons that went up in the morning during the mass ascension. It took almost 4 hours.

Mass Ascension

by tltichy, on Flickr

zombiesniper · Oct 9, 2016

Very nice.
That would be a sight to see.

Dean_Gretsch · Oct 9, 2016

That is certainly a beautiful sight! How did they manage that safely? The clarity and colors are extraordinary.

tirediron · Oct 9, 2016

Wow... very cool!

Andrew_Smith · Oct 10, 2016

Saw it on your IG account. Superb shot!

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SquarePeg · Oct 10, 2016

Cool shot, especially with the Canon balloon and tag line so prominent! Your angle appears to be above some of the balloons - were you on an overlook? This looks like quite a sight and something that is on my bucket list for sure. I've been on a balloon and loved it but never been to one of the festivals. So jealous!

Scatterbrained · Oct 11, 2016

SquarePeg said:
Cool shot, especially with the Canon balloon and tag line so prominent! Your angle appears to be above some of the balloons - were you on an overlook? This looks like quite a sight and something that is on my bucket list for sure. I've been on a balloon and loved it but never been to one of the festivals. So jealous!

Thanks. I was on the ground for the shots used here. The ones that are just peaking up from the bottom of the frame are balloons in the distance that are only just being filled up.

zombiesniper said:
Very nice.
That would be a sight to see.

Thanks. It's definitely something that is worth doing at least once. We hit the fairground at 4am and there was already a line to get in, even though the get doesn't open til 4:30am. They start with the "Dawn Patrol" around 6am (sunrise was just before 7am) and just after sunrise they start launching in earnest. 3 and a half hours and over 800 balloons later and it hurts to look up.

Dean_Gretsch said:
That is certainly a beautiful sight! How did they manage that safely? The clarity and colors are extraordinary.

Thank you. They have a large field and they stagger the launches, going back and forth from one side of the field to the other. Even still there were plenty of casual balloon bumps. Imagine two rafters floating lazily down a river and ever so gently bumping into each other. I certainly didn't see any where it was a concern.