41st Annual Red Rock Balloon Rally program

41st Annual Rad Rock Balloon Rally December 2-4, 2022 ce

Bridging the gap INTRODUCING A NEW

GENERATION INTO THE WORLD OF BALLOONING

By Molly Ann Howell Sun Correspondent

According to the Balloon Federation of America, about 80% of balloon pilots will age out of the sport in the next 10 to 20 years. In order for ballooning to continue as a sport and pastime, the younger generations will need to become more involved.

ballooning. She started flying in the early ‘80s, and she ended up teaching Meyers’ father. When the couple divorced, Marchand went on to fi nd a pilot to marry in Procopio.

With all that family history, Myers said she was always interested in ballooning. However, she didn’t get her ballooning license at the age of 16. Instead, she went on to give birth to her

And that’s exactly what pilots like Marissa Myers are doing.

Myers is the stepdaughter of Peter Procopio, the founder of the Red Rock Balloon Rally.

In an interview with the Sun , Myers explained that it was actually her mom Colleen Marchand who was interested in

After she gave birth to her children, she went on to become a nurse. It was only recently, at the age of 35, that she decided to pursue ballooning as a fulltime profession. She now

Colleen Marchand, Addy Myers, and Marissa Myers represent three generations of a family of balloonists.

her pilot’s license last

Photo Credit: Justin Treptow

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Pagosa Adventure, a company that helps people take hot air balloon rides and rafting experiences down the San Juan River in Pagosa Springs, Colo.

Along with Pagosa Adventure, Myers is also working with a group that is going to offer scholarships to women and young people to help them get their balloon pilot licenses. The group is also going to be giving presentations at schools around Colorado and New Mexico.

“The demonstrations are just to get the kids exposed to [ballooning] a little bit, get them understanding the science, and maybe spark an interest,” Myers said.

The Balloon Federation of America is also working on getting young people involved in the sport. The organization offers a variety of summer camps where kids ages 13-17 learn the basics of ballooning; including safety, fl ight, and pilot decision-making skills.

While Myers and others are trying to teach people about hot air ballooning, there are multiple reasons why someone may not be able to get into the hobby. One of those reasons is the price.

A brand-new balloon can cost up to $50,000. A used balloon can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000, although that doesn’t include the trailer and truck needed to haul it.

Myers suggested that if someone is interested in ballooning and doesn’t want to buy their own balloon, they should join a crew.

“I just encourage people to come out and get involved. Find a balloon crew that you can be involved with,” Myers said.

A balloon crew is a group of people that helps the pilot get the balloon set up and ready to fly. The average hot air balloon

weighs about 300 pounds, so getting people to help is essential.

Myers said that once someone has found a crew, a pilot is usually pretty willing to help train them. She said people will often trade crew hours for instructional hours.

Ballooning isn’t all fun and games though. Myers said one of the most difficult things about flying a hot air balloon these days is figuring out where to land it.

“A lot of people have become very privatized where they don’t want you landing on their land, so our landing options are becoming fewer and fewer with the explosion of growth, especially in Pagosa and Gallup,” Myers explained.

In almost the same breath though, Myers did express her appreciation for landowners who do let hot air balloons land on their property.

“We are so appreciative of all the landowners, that’s just one of the difficulties we are facing.”

ON THE OLDER SIDE OF THINGS

Tom Gough has been flying his own balloon since the early ‘80s.

Unlike Myers, he did not grow up with balloons. His fi rst experience with a balloon happened when he was driving down a road in Nebraska one Friday in 1971.

He saw a balloon heading toward the ground, and he decided to follow it. He got off the interstate and ran out to where it landed.

That’s when he met Malcolm Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine, and helped him pack up his balloon.

After that, he went back to work, but his life was never the same. He’d caught the hot air balloon bug.

He told his colleagues at work about his experience, and a woman told him that her son actually bought a balloon

recently, and he couldn’t fi nd anyone help him with it. The next Saturday Gough was out in a field in Nebraska in the early morning.

“It was magic because there were about 10 balloons in this park and ground fog up to about your waist everywhere ….,” Gough said about his fi rst experience as a crew member for a pilot.

He said his life was changed forever after that chance encounter, and if he hadn’t been driving down that Nebraska interstate at that time, he would’ve continued on with his life “in a fog.”

Since that fateful day, Gough has traveled all over the world with balloons. He’s been all over Europe, and to almost every providence in Canada. Despite everywhere he’s

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RED ROCK BA LLOON R A LLY BALLOON RALLY

Nizhoni Pagosa is a balloon that has been in Marissa Myers’ family for 40 years. Photo Credit: Marissa Myers

A sight like no other

WHAT IT TAKES TO PUT ON AN AMAZING BALLOON RALLY

By Molly Ann Howell Sun Correspondent

The Gallup skies will soon be full of bright colors as the Red Rock Balloon Rally welcomes about 140 pilots to town on the weekend of Dec. 2.

In an interview with the Sun, Bill Lee, the president of the Red Rock Balloon Association, said the event usually brings in about $2.5 million to the City of Gallup’s economy as people from around the world visit hotels and eat at restaurants. He said last year saw a record attendance number after they took a year off for COVID; roughly 30,000 people attended the mass ascensions.

To prepare for such a big event, the committee in charge of coordinating it began meeting in June to prepare for the December balloon rally. As the event gets closer, they start meeting every week.

Each person in the group has a list of responsibilities. Someone has to coordinate with the hotels that the balloonists stay in; someone else sends out the invitations to the balloonists; and then there are the people who look at the logistics of Red Rock Park and prepare the launch squares that the balloons will take off from.

Lee said the Red Rock Balloon Association sent out 160 invites to balloonists this year, and he expects about 140 pilots to show up.

The Red Rock Balloon Rally was once the second largest balloon festival in the world, with only the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta beating it. Lee said the rally is still within the top five international events when it comes to the number of balloons flown.

The balloon rally is possible thanks to many sponsors. McKinley County is the main

sponsor though, and Lee said the county really stepped up a couple years ago after the Gallup Refi nery, formally a major sponsor, shut down in October 2020.

Gallup Propane also sponsors the event. They used to provide all of the propane, but now they sell it to the Association at a discounted rate. Any excess propane is donated to the Manuelito Children’s Home to help keep the kids warm during the winter.

Lee said one of his favorite parts of the entire weekend is the Thursday evening when the pilots arrive, calling it “a homecoming” for the pilots.

“It’s all of our friends who are really like family,” Lee said. “We have a Ballooning Family. Many of these folks have been coming for years and years and years, and even the folks who haven’t been here before, who are brand new, to see the smile on their face and to welcome them into our part of the world or our balloon family here because they’re so excited to see the Red Rocks, they’ve heard so much about it.”

Besides reuniting with old and new friends, Lee also said he loves the first mass ascension that takes place Friday morning.

“To see all of the balloons fill

those canyons with just so many vibrant colors from all the balloons is just spectacular. To be in the sky and see that, that’s a real blessing; that’s not a view most people get,” Lee said. “It’s really spectacular. It’s really wonderful from the ground too, but I just can’t explain how grand that vision is, how much joy that brings me.”

The Red Rock Balloon Rally will take place Dec. 2 – 4. For a list of events, visit redrockballonrally.com or turn to page 10.

Bill Lee, president of the Red Rock Balloon Association. File Photo

Sights from the 2021 Red Rock Balloon Rally.

Photo Credit: Courtsey of the Red Rock Balloon Association

Memories are made at the Red Rock Balloon Rally

By Holly J. Wagner Sun Correspondent

Going up in a hot air balloon just once is an adventure for most of us.

For Peter Procopio, it was just the start.

The fi rst time he saw a hot air balloon drifting over Gallup – not long after he’d moved from New York in 1977 – he was transfi xed. He followed it and met the pilot, Alan Wilson. Soon after, he ended up trading a construction job to converting Wilson’s carport into a garage for ballooning lessons from Wilson and his wife, Kaye.

The rest is history, and that 41-year history became the Red Rock Balloon Rally in 1981. The fi rst event had just 25 balloons. Eventually that number swelled to 200, and now rallies draw

about 150 participants each year. The Red Rock landscape has been a draw for pilots since the beginning.

“The highlight of this particular rally is being able to fly in the Red Rock canyons around here,” Procopio said. “The attraction for the pilots is to drop in and out of the canyons. We can retrieve balloons from the canyons all around the event.”

The mass ascensions, the most visual aspect of the rallies, are sure to wow observers on the ground every time, but those folks seldom see the unexpected events that balloonists experience.

The early chill this year brings memories of the 1992 rally that got snowed in. One might think that was a “worst” rally memory, but “that turned

into a great weekend,” Procopio explained.

“We had about 200 balloons come to Gallup and then it began snowing the day of the arrival and it didn’t stop snowing for three days. The whole town was shut down. All the

MEMORIES

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ROCK

Red Rock Balloon Rally co-founder Peter Procopio piloting his balloon. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Red Rock Balloon Rally

Peter Procopio’s Koshare balloon is a favorite among Balloon Rally attendees. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Red Rock Balloon Association

When this balloon accidentally landed at a Navajo ceremony one year, the balloonists were invited to join the feast. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Red Rock Balloon Association

balloonists were stranded here and people made the best of it,” Procopio said.

Procopio remembered that a lot of balloonists spent their time that year making snowmen out on the yard of the El Rancho Hotel, where a lot of them were staying. He said that when the sky did fi nally clear up, about 20 people were able to go out to Red Rock Park and fly their balloons, although they didn’t get very far.

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“[Recovering] your balloon in two feet of snow is difficult, but they had a ball,” Procopio said.

Procopio recalled a rally in the late 1990s in which a balloonist inadvertently dropped in on a Navajo coming-of-age ceremony and became part of the party.

“At fi rst they thought maybe they had done a bad thing, but the people came over and they were thrilled, because this balloon had a big [sun face] kachina on the side of the balloon,” Procopio explained. “They took

it as a sign of good luck. Their crew all participated in the celebration with the Navajo family. That was one of the most special things that I’ve heard of.”

During some of the early years the rally featured an event that saw balloonists competing to collect bundles of weighted helium balloons deposited in various places for them to fi nd. One year a bundle drifted down the rocks and a spectator went down after it.

“One of the balloon bunches landed on the sloping side of the red rocks. A spectator thought

they would slide down and get the balloons and they did, but they didn’t think about how they would get back up,” Procopio said.

The spectator was stranded, until a pilot saw them and maneuvered over toward them and was able to get them into their basket.

“It saved their life maybe and avoided a search and rescue operation,” Procopio said. “The pilot not only saved their bacon, but also got a bunch of balloons.”

That was the last year of the

competition aspect of the rally.

Procopio said that those kinds of stories are often told at the post-fl ight tailgates.

He added the rally is a chance for people from all over the world to see and experience Gallup.

“We have people from all over the country that come to this event, from as far away as Pennsylvania. We had one from England,” Procopio said. “In addition to the flying, what the people come here for is the hospitality. Gallup is a very friendly place.”

questions about the balloon and thanked him for the ride.

been, Gough said Gallup is his favorite place to fly.

“I would rather fly in Gallup than any place I can think of. Part of that is the terrain, and the other part, and probably more importantly, it’s the people,” Gough said. “If the people weren’t nice or fun to be around, you wouldn’t think it was a great place to fly, you wouldn’t want to come back.”

Gough is 80 years old, and he saw that fi rst balloon when he was 40 years old. He said this year’s Red Rock Balloon Rally would be his last time as a pilot, although he still plans to crew for friends when he gets the chance.

“I wouldn’t quit [if I had a choice],” Gough said. “The problem is if you don’t fly very often, you’re not sufficient. Back 20 years ago I use to fly 200 days a year. Now I’d be lucky if I flew 20.”

Gough is still able to reflect back on all the amazing experiences he’s had.

One of the more memorable fl ights happened when he took one of his friend’s acquaintance out for a ride. Gough said the man didn’t talk much during the fl ight, but he did ask some

Later that day, Gough’s friend asked him if he knew who he’d had in his balloon. Gough replied by saying “yeah, he’s your friend Neil.” Gough’s friend laughed, and said, “and his last name is Armstrong.”

Gough said Neil Armstrong, yes, the astronaut who was the fi rst person to walk on the moon, was very polite, and he got his autograph later that night.

Besides Armstrong, Gough has flown two other astronauts in his balloon and a couple of Russian cosmonauts.

After reflecting on his years as a pilot, Gough discussed the future of ballooning. He said the Baby Boomer generation needs to step up if the sport is going to continue.

“Any time the older generation sees someone who expresses an interest, they need to nurture that and support that,” Gough said. “And we do that all the time.”

Gough agrees with Myers about fi nding a crew to learn about ballooning. He said that experience can teach someone everything they need to know, from how to put the balloon away to what everything is called.

“Quite frankly I think it’s just as much fun to crew as it is to fly,” Gough said.

He also suggested looking up the Balloon Federation of America. They have a list of pilots from every state.

He encourages young people to go out and try to learn as

much as they can.

“I would hope that there are young people out there who would desire to explore an area of aviation that most people don’t ever get an opportunity to experience,” Gough said.

Most important of all though, Gough said, is the

people you meet while ballooning. He calls his friends his “Balloon family.”

“Your balloon family is as important to you as your own family because you share a common bond and you share a common interest and the passion,” Gough said.

RED ROCK BA LLOON R A LLY BALLOON RALLY