MONTREAL - A few months ago Paul, Nick and I initiated “discovery Wednesdays”. Every week we usually get together and make it a point to try a new restaurant, bar, anything we haven’t done before. Yesterday morning I received a call from Steph who asked if I was down with trying a hot air balloon ride... I said “let’s do it”. I thought this wasn’t going to be scary, I mean we’ve all seen UP and that looked like fun. You chill a few thousand feet up while these balloons cary you around in an oversized bread basket, no problem right?

We drove out to the International Balloon Festival in Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu which is roughly a 25 minute drive South East of Montreal. We decided to park in the residential area vs paying for parking within the festival grounds to avoid traffic when leaving. Turns out that the International Balloon Festival is much more than just a few guys flying hot air balloons in the middle of farm land, this festival had a circus, concert set up and a giant inflatable day care that would make you want to have kids. The quick scoop is that they offer balloon rides twice a day, one @ 6am and one @ 6pm. You can purchase tickets online or chance it like we did, show up at 4:30ish and buy them on the spot. It’s $160 each for the morning flights, $200 for the evenings. For more details see:

Steph and I made our way to the reservations booth which is past the main stage. A lady asked our weight and took down our names. Next step was to purchase the tickets and then move on to booth 3 where we were assigned a hot air balloon. During this process Steph kindly asked if it was possible that we ride alone, I didn’t think this was possible but as luck would have it we were the only ones assigned to balloon 136. As I packed down 2 hotdogs we followed Sue who walked us to our area where we met our captain, Eric Muller from Phoenix, Arizona. Eric and his very friendly team (Sue and Donna) began to un-pack the balloon and set up for our flight. Eric explained the process;link text

At roughly 5:45ish the organizers send out a test balloon (picture a birthday balloon that escapes a kids hands) where they’ll take down key information. If the wind is too strong it’ll remain code red (no flights) with everyone hoping that it reaches code green (clear to fly) by 6ish. Again we got lucky, Eric said that since he’s been here, last night was so far the best night in terms of wind and visibility.

We helped the team set up. When the code green came in all the balloons began blowing air. Eric explained to me that rides can last anywhere from 20 mins to an hour, it all depends on the pilot and weather conditions. As were we were preparing I was surprised to see just how small these baskets were. I thought they were going to be very big, very tall but they weren’t.....and man oh man, that made me nervous.

Our balloon was ready to take off. We jumped in and Sue and Donna let the ropes go. Eric let the gas roar (which keeps your head nice and warm by the way) and we were off! It was beautiful seeing all the other balloons taking off. I kept one arm tightly wrapped around one of the supporting corners but when I realized that the basket only came up to my lower back that’s when it all hit me. My legs got weak, my feet began sweating, I was slowly losing it. Here I was, about 200 feet off the ground and all I could think about was what happens if a gust of wind shakes this little bread basket, would I flip over easily? Holly crap, we don’t even have harnesses, nothing to attach us to the basket if we fall! My strategy was to stay low, real low, I mean to the point where I thought about sitting in the basket defeated.....but Eric told me to just stare in the horizon, don’t look down. I finally chilled out but I’m telling you, I’ve had to wipe my sweaty hands a million times while typing this.

When I finally did calm down I began to fully appreciate the view from up there. It was so peaceful, it felt like being Superman, just slowly making your way to Lois Lane’s house (if he was dating a girl from around here her name would have been Marie-Eve something). In the distance we could see the sun setting behind Montreal. I waved to little kids that were in awe of these hot air balloons.

After flying for roughly 40 mins we slowly descended onto a farmers lawn. Eric told us to hold on tight and prepare for the worst case scenario, the basket falling to its side dragging along as the hot air escaped. Fortunately we landed straight up, a two bounce landing that was pretty smooth by our standards. By the time it was all done 7 other balloons chose the same field to land on. Farmers love it because for every balloon that lands on their field they receive bottles of champaign and gas cards which the captains provide. Throughout the trip Sue and Donna were on the ground following Eric move video radio.

After a customary prayers and bottle of Champaign (I told Eric I like the way he flies :) the team packed up and drove us all back to the festival. As Borat would say: “Great success!” to yet another discovery Wednesday :)