Balloon Fiesta | News & Updates

News & Updates

High Adventure! Photos and Videos from the 24th America's Challenge

October 8, 2021

The 24th America’s Challenge is in the history books – a history preserved on photos, video, and social media. Here is a compilation of interviews shot by our America’s Chall…

It's Official! Forden/Padelt Are America's Challenge Champions

October 7, 2021

Posted Thursday, October 7, 2021, 10 PM MDT (0400Z Friday, October 8) The data is parsed, the tracks are analyzed, the numbers are crunched, and while there were a few little tweaks, the resu…

Forden/Padelt Unofficial America's Challenge Winners

October 4, 2021

Posted Monday, October 4, 2:00 PM MDT (2000Z) Final race results will be released after pilot debriefings and analysis of the tracker data, but unofficially, the winners of the 24th America's…

Some Views from the Teams

October 4, 2021

Posted Monday, October 4, 0830 AM MDT (1430Z) While we wait to see whether Team 4 will prevail or Team 1 will slip into the America’s Challenge lead, we just couldn’t resist sharin…

Race Leaders Land in Texas; The Chase is On!

October 4, 2021

Posted Monday, October 4, 0830 AM MDT (1430Z) The America’s Challenge Command Center has received word that Team 4, Noah Forden and Bert Padelt, have landed safely at the airport in Big…

The Hare and the Tortoise

October 4, 2021

Posted Monday, October 4, 0545 AM MDT (1145Z) As we come towards the finish line of the 24th America’s Challenge distance race for gas balloons, it’s as simple as the old children&…

Team 2 Lands Safely Near NM/TX Border

October 3, 2021

Posted Sunday, October 3, 9:00 PM MDT (0300Z, Monday, October 4) The America’s Challenge Command Center has received word that Team 2, Mark Sullivan and Cheri White, has landed safely ne…

Decision Time! Teams Ponder Whether to Fly Through the Night

October 3, 2021

Posted Sunday, October 3, 5:00 PM MDT (2300Z) As sunset nears in Texas and New Mexico, the three America’s Challenge gas balloon teams still aloft have a big decision to make. Do they w…

America's Challenge Team 3 Lands Near Pecos

October 3, 2021

Posted Sunday, October 3, 10:15 AM MDT (1615Z) The America’s Challenge Command Center has been advised that Team 3, Brenda Cowlishaw and Brian Duncan, has landed safely near Rowe, NM, so…

A Long, Cold Night . . .

October 3, 2021

Posted Sunday, October 3, 6:00 AM MDT (1200Z) Definition of torment (gas balloon race style): Being at 15,000 feet, on oxygen, in the dark, with temperatures in the teens and twenties . . . an…

Big Crowd Cheers America's Challenge Launch

October 2, 2021

Posted Saturday, October 2 9:00 PM MDT (0300Z Sunday, October 3) And . . . they’re off! Flanked by hundreds of inflated hot air balloons participating in an evening glow an all-Americ…

America's Challenge Teams Preparing for 6 PM Launch

October 2, 2021

In the photo: Barbara Fricke and Peter Cuneo (Team 1), Noah Forden and Bert Padelt (Team 4), Cheri White and Mark Sullivan (Team 2) and Brenda Cowlishaw and Brian Duncan (Team 3) Posted Sa…

America's Challenge Launch Scheduled Saturday Evening

October 1, 2021

Posted Friday, October 1 The America’s Challenge is back! If all goes as planned on Saturday October 2, the finest gas balloonists in the United States will take flight in the hopes of b…