Susan and I had heard about the Great Reno Balloon Races and had wanted to attend many times over the 25-years we’ve been coming to and living in Lake Tahoe and this year with the inauguration of the Cloud 9 Club we were guaranteed Starting in 1982 with just 20 hot air balloons the Reno Balloon Race has taken flight with over 100 entries annually. Originally conceived to fill the weekend between the State Fair and the Reno Air Races, it is now an event unto itself. Forty-one years later it attracts upwards of 150,000 attendees over the 3-day run and has become a beloved community tradition.
parking, breakfast, bloody mary’s and a warm place to wait between the shows. As most balloon activities take place in the very early morning when the air is cool and the winds are light, that means 40-degree temperatures in Reno, Nevada. So even though we were bundled up in down jackets, stocking caps and gloves we still almost froze and were happy to huddle around the space heaters with the other Cloud 9 attendees.
The morning starts off with the Super Glow Show at 5:00 AM when about a dozen of the balloons are being made ready for take-off. Only balloon operators who have a special night-time flight rating can leave the ground before sunrise, so we were entertained with a choreographed display of the balloon using their huge propane burners to “twinkle” the balloons against the night sky. At 5:30 AM the Dawn Patrol took off into the night sky creating an unbelievable spectacle. By 7:00 AM the sun has lit the morning sky and everyone takes off to join the Dawn Patrol balloons which are still floating in the area. This Mass Ascension as it is called is another memorable spectacle when over 100 balloons rise into the morning sky.
All in all, it was an interesting day to see something new and different and mix with happy people celebrating lighter than air flight. I would recommend it as something everyone in the area should experience at least once.
All images were taken with Nikon D750 with AF Nikkor 35mm f/2.0 prime lens or AF-S Nikkor 55mm-200mm f/4-5.6G ED (DX) zoom lens in RAW format and processed in Adobe Lightroom Classic CC 12.0.1