The 20th annual Lovers Aloft Balloon Festival returned to Lovelock over Valentine’s weekend, marking two decades of color, competition and community tradition.
After rain and thick morning fog interrupted festivities planned for Thursday and Friday, clearer skies arrived Saturday and Sunday. Balloon Meister Pat Irwin explained that hot air balloons operate under visual flight rules, meaning pilots must rely entirely on what they can see.
“We have no instruments that can look through the fog like a plane can,” Irwin said. He noted that about 10 miles of visibility is needed for flying. If pilots can’t see the power lines or obstacles, that’s their biggest issue.
Overall competition winners were announced Sunday. Karalyn Mumm claimed first place flying Citrus in the Sky, Ryan Evans earned second flying Aphrodite, and Will Vavra placed third flying the Good Morning Sunshine Balloon.
To compete, pilots use wind currents at different altitudes to navigate to targets set up around town. Alan, competition coordinator, noted, “you have to think about flying a craft that you have no steering wheel.” Once there, pilots drop a weighted bean bag with a long flag on it as close to the target as possible
One of the more challenging tasks this year was the Jane Crowfoot Memorial, set up near the dam. The scorable area is roughly the width of a car and about 30 feet long, making accuracy critical. Pilots can also compete in virtual tasks, where they fly to a designated point in the sky and electronically mark their location instead of dropping a bag.
Along with the main competition, the Lovers Aloft Balloon Festival also featured a ribbon race event. This year’s ribbon race winners were Russ James and Eric Dimond, who flew together over 50 minutes longer than the second-place team. While James has won in past years, this was Dimond’s first time competing in the ribbon race. During this event, two balloons are tied together with a 300-foot ribbon. Then, they must fly together and make sure the ribbon doesn’t come undone.
The Lovers Aloft Balloon Festival was sponsored by Temptations, Granite Propane Service, Lovelock Junction, Lions Club of Nevada District 46, Coeur Rochester Mining, and the Pershing County Recreation Board. Next years festival dates have been announced for February 11-14.
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