Ballooning as much about cameraderie as balloons

At 6:45 a.m. Friday, a balloon lifted into the sky. Small, the kind you might see attached to a string on a child's wrist, this balloon had a purpose other than as a playful children's toy.

This was a Pi balloon, let into the air to determine which way the wind blew and at what speed. And with that, 12 hot-air balloons began to inflate with hot air until they lifted off above Yuma.

Pilot Frank O'Neil has taken to the skies close to 400 times in the last 17 years. As the commander for his hot-air balloon, Gemini, he has seen many things from above, but what he finds most rewarding is not what he sees from the sky, he says, but the friends he's made on the ground along the way.

O'Neil, a Tucson resident, is one of the 30 pilots to float along the Colorado River, over the city or over the desert, depending on the whims of the wind. He's part of the 17th annual Colorado River Crossing Balloon Festival, presented this weekend by Caballeros de Yuma.

Far removed from one another in the air, balloonists who come from around the Southwest enjoy camaraderie that these kind of festivals or "rallies" promote on the ground.

"Every balloon flight is a different adventure," O'Neil said from 1,500 feet in the air. "From the wind speed to where you land, to what you fly over ... but the friends you make along the way are really what makes ballooning fun.

"The people who come out, and the passengers in the basket really must have an adventuresome side to be involved," he said while floating 15 miles per hour above Somerton.

His crew, Lee and Trina Karol, have traveled with O'Neil for the last four years. They admit that they got involved because of how fun it looked from the ground, thinking it must be more fun from the sky.

"Frank said that he got involved because he wanted to be part of the crowd. So did we, and along the way we've met some really nice people." Trina said.

Trina, who estimates she's been in the balloon basket more than 30 times, says a special prayer after every safe landing, the balloonist's prayer. But she said that the hardest part of ballooning is getting into the basket beforehand. "It's not how gracefully you get in the basket," Trina said. "It's how well you stay in it, once you're inside."

"It's hot-air balloon season," Lee said, referring to the time between September and May, when most balloons head upward. "So that means accidents may happen but that's very rare."

Friday's mass ascension went off without a hitch, however, and by 7 a.m. more than 250 people had gathered to watch the brilliantly-colored balloons take off. That crowd had nearly doubled by 7:30, when the first balloon lifted off.

"This is my first time," JoAnn Cornelius, a spectator, said. "I've never seen a hot-air balloon rise so we came up from San Diego in our RV. We just came for the festival."

Her companion John Cade added, "The ascension is awesome, and this is a lot closer drive than the festival in Albuquerque."

Vermont resident Jodi Ketels said, "We all heard about this on the internet while we were in California. Our homes are on wheels, and since none of us had experienced this before we thought it might be fun to drive here and check it out."

Ketels volunteered with her two companions to help O'Neil and his crew for the day. "It's been just a wonderful day," she said.

The festivities are planned to continue, weather permitting, until Sunday, with all events open to the public.

"The people in this community have gotten the taste of ballooning and you can tell they love it, "O'Neil said. "Yuma just is perfect with wind conditions and the small community, it's just ideal."

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COLORADO RIVER CROSSING BALLOON FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

TODAY

Cibola High School - 4100 W. 20th St.

6 a.m. Gates open

6 to 10 a.m. Breakfast - $6 - pancakes, eggs, bacon, coffee, beverages at Cibola High School cafeteria.

Sunrise Flag ceremony

7:15 a.m. Sunrise balloon launch - Mass ascension

Ray Kroc Complex / Desert Sun Stadium, 3500 S. Ave. A

4 to 7:30 p.m. Food, entertainment, vendors, family fun, barbecue dinner available from Texas Roadhouse.

4 p.m. Music - DJ

4 p.m. Student tissue balloon launch

5:30 p.m. AEA Federal Credit Union Desert Glow - An array of tethered balloons inflated and illuminated with accompanying music. Sponsored by AEA Federal Credit Union.

Following glow: Fireworks - sponsored by Hansberger Refrigeration and Electric

SUNDAY

Cibola High School - 4100 W. 20th St.

6 a.m. Gates open

6 to 9 a.m. Food concessions by Cibola High School clubs

Sunrise Flag ceremony

7:15 a.m. Balloon launch - Mass ascension

-Admission to all events: Cash donation or one or more items of nonperishable food to be donated to Crossroads Mission.

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Stefani Guerrero Soucy can be reached at

ssoucy@yumasun.com or 539-6857.