Sunrise Hot-Air Balloon Ride, Seen From a Wicker Basket
Four Corners Balloon Rides launches its shared sunrise flight from whichever field the morning wind picks, somewhere north-west of Albuquerque. The booking is three hours long and the flying part is about one of them.
The meeting point is a row of shopfronts on Coors Boulevard, and you stand in front of the eyeglass store on the southwest corner at Irving while it is still dark. A white passenger van pulls up towing a white trailer. Everyone climbs in, and the pilot drives ten to fifteen minutes out to whichever field the morning wind has made the best launch site that day.
The booking runs three hours. The flight inside it is about forty-five minutes to an hour. The rest is the drive out, the inflation, the chase, the pack-down, and a champagne toast standing in a field.
Inflation is the part most people do not know they came for. The crew pulls the envelope off the trailer and lays it flat on a tarp, runs a fan until the nylon fills into a long tunnel lying on its side, then tips the burner over and fires into the mouth of it. The balloon comes up off the ground while you stand next to it.
The operator describes this moment on its own site as watching the balloon come to life. That is about right, and it is the only part of the morning you can photograph from the outside.
Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Rides at SunriseShared sunrise flight with Four Corners Balloon Rides. About three hours end to end, champagne toast included.www.viator.comForty-Five Minutes Without a Steering Wheel
A balloon has no rudder. The pilot climbs and descends to find a layer of air moving the way he wants to go, which is the whole of the steering. In Albuquerque that layer is usually easy to find at dawn, because the operator says the morning winds here run down the river valley.
So the flight goes downstream. The operator's FAQ puts a typical run at three to five miles from the launch area, and its experience page says three to seven. The line it describes follows the Rio Grande, with the bosque underneath, the city spread out to the east and the Sandias standing up behind it. Typical is the word to hold on to: one traveller writes that the wind kept them off the river they had been told to expect. The operator puts the usual working height at around two thousand feet.
The Landing Is the Part to Plan For
Balloons have no landing gear and no suspension. The operator's own page explains that this is why the baskets are woven from wicker: the whole thing has to flex when it meets the ground. Its FAQ says landings typically have a little jolt, and that you will be supporting yourself when it comes. Typically covers a wide range. Travellers describe touchdowns with no bumps at all, and they also describe the basket going over on its side at the end, with everyone in it laughing.
There are no seats in the basket. You stand for the entire flight, unassisted. The listing ticks a box saying the trip is suitable for all physical fitness levels, and that box is worth ignoring. The operator is specific about the opposite: there is no age maximum, but passengers have to be able to stand unaided the whole way, and it recommends asking a doctor first if you have any doubt. Getting in means putting a foot into a slot in the side of the basket and swinging your legs over the top. The crew carries step stools and will help.
The listing separately advises against flying with spinal injuries, poor cardiovascular health, or knee, hip and ankle problems. On pregnancy the two sources differ in force: the listing calls it not recommended, while the operator says flatly that it cannot allow pregnant women to fly. Take the operator's version, because the operator is the one at the basket.
Two Weight Limits and One Phone Call
The listing carries two different weight limits. Two places say to call if anyone in your party is over 275 pounds. A third says 250. The operator's own site, its FAQ and its reservation system do not publish a weight limit anywhere, so there is no third source to break the tie. Neither number is safe to plan around. Call the office before you book, give them the weights you are flying with, and have them confirm which limit applies; if they will not confirm one, do not book.
Group size has a similar split. The booking tops out at twelve travellers and the listing advertises eight to twelve people per flight, while the operator's FAQ says its baskets hold two to twelve. The ceiling is the same in both. The floor is not, so how full your basket is depends on the date.
The minimum age to fly is five, and the booking requires an adult on the reservation.
Getting There, and What to Put On
Nobody picks you up. You drive yourself to Coors Boulevard, and the meet time moves through the season with the sunrise. The operator does not publish a fixed departure time for that reason and asks you to call the office for the current one. Arrive ten to fifteen minutes early.
What the operator asks you to wear:
- Comfortable, loose clothing, in layers
- Long trousers by preference
- Closed-toe flat shoes, ideally trainers
- A hat or sunglasses
Its reasoning on footwear and layers is that standing near the burners feels like standing near a fireplace, so the coldest part of you will be your feet.
Two more things to budget for. Gratuities are not included, and the operator puts a typical tip at fifteen to twenty per cent of the total. The other is weather. The booking is fully refundable up to twenty-four hours ahead and its terms let the trip be called off for bad weather or for too few travellers, and the operator's own line is that if weather delays or cancels a flight it will contact you to reschedule, or refund you if you cannot. Neither source says how late that call comes. One traveller says they were told at pickup time, with about two hundred dollars of taxi fares already spent; another was sitting in the van when a breeze called it off. A refund covers the ticket, not the cost of being on Coors Boulevard before dawn.
The chase crew finds you wherever you come down, and the balloon gets packed away while you stand in the field with a glass in your hand. The toast is the one piece of ceremony the sport has kept, and the operator traces it back more than two centuries to the first balloonists. Then the van drives you back to Coors Boulevard, and it is still early enough that the rest of the day is yours.