The 2024 Animas Valley Balloon Rally was off to a slow start Friday morning as storm clouds darkened the skies above Hermosa Meadows Road north of Durango and rain and lightning forced pilots to stick to the ground.
Despite abundant storm clouds floating near the Animas Valley around 7:30 a.m., there were not yet traces of rain, lightning or even wind in the valley, said Doug Lemberg, balloon rally organizer.
But right when pilots stepped out of their flight briefing to set out for Hermosa Meadows Road, the launchpoint for pilots, rain began to fall and lightning struck, he said.
“We walked outside and visibility became IFR (Instrument Flight Rules),” he said. “We're only allowed to fly VFR, Visual Flight Rule, so we don't have instruments, so we're automatically grounded,” he said.
Lightning poses a great risk to balloonists, and rain is incompatible with the balloons pilots are using, Lemberg said. The balloon fabrics have a special coating that can wash or “burn” off, and in short, if the balloons get wet, they can’t fly.
Twenty-eight balloon pilots from Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas “braved the elements” to attend this year’s balloon rally, Lemberg said. Despite the weather, it did not damper Lemberg’s spirits.
He said pilots will take each planned flight through the weekend one event at a time. At 3 p.m., the pilots will check with flight services to see if the traditional Balloon Glow is a go Friday evening. And balloonists will be back at Hermosa Meadows Road on Saturday for another pilot briefing.
A public announcement will be made well in advance if the Balloon Glow downtown is canceled, he said.
“I am so proud of these people,” he said. “... It's just a great outpouring of love for everybody to come up and try to do this.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
