The skies above Mancos will be filled with balloons this weekend.
Twenty balloon pilots will bring their massive floating devices to Mancos as part of the annual Mancos Valley/Mesa Verde Country Balloon Festival. Some pilots have been coming to the event for years, while others will be making their first appearance at the popular event.
Jim and Sue Barnosky are from Cedaredge, Colo. and have been ballooning since 2006.
We first got interested in ballooning in 2003 when we took a trip to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. At that time we decided to add a balloon rating to our pilot licenses (both of us already had airplane pilot licenses) but thought we would give it a while to see if the enthusiasm would persist, which it obviously did. So we bought a balloon, and have been flying it ever since.
This will be the fifth-straight year in Mancos for the Barnoskys and its near the top of their top spots to take flight.
Mancos is our favorite place to fly, as the town is so welcoming and everyone in the community works so hard to make it a great event.
us it is the one festival that we would never consider missing, Jim Barnosky said.
One balloon pilot has traveled a few thousand miles and crossed the Atlantic to take part in the Mancos event and other balloon festivals.
Graham Bell calls Malvern, England home but hes been coming to the Mancos balloon festival for the past four years. He arrived in the U.S. last week and plans to be here until after the Albuquerque event, which starts on Oct. 1. He was hooked on ballooning 21 years ago when he piled into the basket of his neighbors balloon and they took to the air. Hes always loved aviation. He has flown both gliders and fixed-wing aircraft.
I have been lucky enough to fly in many countries around the world, including Japan, Thailand, Mexico, France and the Czech Republic, said Bell. His favorite place to fly is Cappadocia, Turkey, because of the amazing scenery there.
Maria Chieruzzi of Simi Valley, Calif., said that she has been hot-air ballooning for about two years. She will be bringing a multi-colored Lindstrand to Mancos and this will be her first trip to the festival.
I just love the joy it brings to others and the peacefulness of just being in the air, seeing Gods creation from a different perspective, she said.
Chieruzzi and her family, husband Dave, son Rylan, and daughter Kalyn, are all involved in ballooning.
Another first-timer to Mancos is Tom Wittman, from Appleton, Wis. Hes been hot-air ballooning for 11 years now. He went to Albuquerque for flight training and then bought his own balloon. He now owns three balloons and has over 600 flying hours in balloons.
When he comes to Mancos he will be flying his Jordan balloon, which shows a landscaped sand base with red mountains, a full moon and a star-lit sky.
It was commissioned in 1996 by the government of Jordans Bureau of Tourism. It was built to honor the king of Jordan, a balloon enthusiast himself. and to promote tourism in the country. It toured the United States for about four years, after which time it was sold to Wittmans company, Bums in Paradise.
Ron Martin lives in Tampa, Fla. and will be returning to Mancos.
This is one of my favorite little festivals, Martin said. Its still high on my list. And its nice because its on the weekend preceding the one in Albuquerque.
Martin has been ballooning since 1980 and started out in California. Hes been all over the United States, Europe, Mexico and Canada. His favorite part of ballooning is that it allows him to travel so much and meet lots of really neat people, he said.
Coloradan Alan Luksik is bringing his balloon called Pondemonium for his second trip to the Mancos festival. The Aurora man has been a commercially-rated hot air balloon pilot for 27 years. He got started in the hobby when he took a balloon ride in Steamboat Springs as a Fathers Day present and loved it. I loved the feeling of flying in the balloon and proceeded to get involved with the local balloon company as a crew person.
One of his favorite places to fly is Red Rock State Park in Gallup, N.M. because of the natural canyon formations that he sees there.
Another Coloradan, Mark Irving of Montrose, overcame his fear of heights or what he thought was a fear of heights to get involved in ballooning, which hes been doing since 1979.
His balloon has huge WWJD and WDJD logos, which stands for What would Jesus do? and What did Jesus do? Irving calls it Hot Air Gospel and this is his fifth trip to Mancos.
Steven Stokoe is a pilot who has taking to the air in some interesting places. Venues such as the Philippines, Puerto Rico, China and Europe, places he never would have gone otherwise. He and his wife live in Tampa, Fla. and this is their first visit to the Mancos balloon festival.
Some of the other pilots participating in Mancos will be Bill Woodhead of Grants Pass, Ore, Deb Fowler of Rio Rancho, N.M., Rick Schmidt, and his wife, Jill, live in Belen, N.M., Elaine Anderson comes from Tucson, Ariz., and Jan Miller from Virginia.
Miller will be bringing his distinct Owl and the Pussycat balloon that hes brought to Mancos before. He will also bring a new one called Back in Black, a very colorful balloon which is a bit larger, he said.
The idea is to find the wind that takes you where you want to go. In Mancos, in the mornings, you can go just about anywhere you want to go. Miller said.
The event starts Friday morning and runs through Sunday.
Jeanne Archambeault and Dale Shrull contributed to this story.