Koessen (dpa/tmn)
Ballooning in the freezing cold? Sounds like red noses and frozen fingers. But winter is the best time for a basket ride. Field report from Tyrol.
It hisses and hisses over the heads of the passengers. The flame shoots loudly under the balloon envelope. Pilot Heinz Reiter checks the gas burner and does not refrain from the typical joke from the scene in front of the three balloon newcomers in his basket: “It’s my first flight today.”
Reiter laughs and remembers his true beginnings in the late 1990s, when he got his pilot’s license. With every journey he feels anew “decoupled from the earth”.
Riders are in action every year when the winter landscape over Tyrol is spectacularly filled with hot air balloons during the traditional “Kaiserwinkl Alpin Ballooning”. The next ballooning week will take place from January 21st to 28th, 2023, when dozens of balloonist teams from all over the world will climb again after the modest number of participants in the previous year due to corona. It’s less about competition than about the fun and experience factor.
Trust is required
Passengers can book rides, but you should beware of a verbal beginner’s mistake, you don’t want to be the laughing stock of the experts. “We don’t fly, we drive,” explains hobby pilot Reiter, a genuine Tyrolean with a main job as a communications technician.
Before the thrill in the air, he gives the guests his instructions for use: “Don’t cramp up, just relax and enjoy the view. You have to get involved and have faith in the technology and the pilot, just like when you get on a plane or train.”
At the same time, he tries to defuse fear of heights: “It’s very different from going out onto a balcony in a high-rise building, which can be uncomfortable. That doesn’t happen in the balloon.”
He rises and rises and rises
And off we go at minus nine degrees in front of a morning blue sky on a meadow near Kössen. The start is smooth and sedate. slow motion pace. The balloon slowly gains height, but it rises and rises. In the depths, streets and trees shrink, tire tracks are lost in the snow, and the frozen Walchsee spreads out. Gleaming white blends with ice blue.
Alpine peaks appear against the light. Mountain ranges like the Zahme Kaiser and the Wilder Kaiser show their frosty flanks. The last banks of early morning fog remain in the valley. A winter dream.
At the top you feel removed from the rest of the world, floating weightlessly in a bubble through space and time. It’s as if the pilot weren’t in charge, but rather a higher force moving the balloon on invisible puppet strings. Clouds of breath escape from the mouths in the cold. There is not much space in the basket. In this spectacle, people are happy to do without comfort.
Benefits of Winter
Other balloons dot the sky. One hardly dares to speak. Reiter breaks the silence by emphasizing winter’s virtue for riding: “The air is cooler and heavier than summer, so you have better buoyancy. In summer you have to get up very early.” Every balloon ride is different. He gets to places he wouldn’t find otherwise.
In the distance, the Bavarian foothills of the Alps come into view, Reit im Winkl, the Chiemsee. The pilot then establishes radio contact with his colleague Irmgard Moser, who is driving nearby and is both a veteran and an exotic figure in balloonist circles. “It was very difficult, but I fought my way through,” she will say later on the ground about her entry into a male domain.
What does ballooning mean to you? “The freedom to see the world differently from above,” replies the 60-year-old, who describes herself as an “air person” and otherwise works as a kitchen manager in a nursing home.
landing in the unknown
Rider checks the gas supplies. Everything okay. At Kössen, he prepares his guests for the landing maneuver and any imponderables: “You have to interpret the wind correctly. You can’t predict exactly where you’ll land.” He prefers the “Hofrat” landing method, in which the basket touches down in a standing position. Grinding landings, where the balloon basket can tip over, are rare. Always useful: “Stow cell phones and cameras, bend your knees slightly before putting them on.”
In the sun, the shadow of the balloon twitches over a soccer field, houses, the Großache river. Ducks flee from the falling flying object, chattering. people wave. Pilot Reiter fires again and brings the balloon down next to a trail. The cross-country skiers take it easy.
The passengers help squeeze the air out of 1000 square meters of fabric, stuff the whole thing into a cover and load it back onto the trailer together with the basket. The end of the adventure is the balloon baptism with humorous sayings, sparkling wine and a certificate. But that seems artificial and put on. The intoxication of the silence between heaven and earth has too intense an effect on this.
Holiday region Kaiserwinkl
- Getting there: By train to Kufstein (another hour from Munich) and by taxi to Kössen, where there are various accommodation options. Alternative with your own vehicle, for example from Munich in just under two hours.
- Events: Information about “Kaiserwinkl Alpin Ballooning” on the website of Holiday region Kaiserwinkl. Rides cost 280 euros per person, children pay 180 euros. Travel time is usually 80 to 90 minutes. It is important to be prepared for sub-zero temperatures with suitable winter clothing.
In the spring there are other balloon festivals with ride-sharing opportunities in the Alps, including the “Dolomiti Balloon Festival“ from January 7th to 15th, 2023 in Dobbiaco in South Tyrol, the “International Balloon Festival“ from 21 to 29 January in Château-d’Oex in Switzerland or the “Tegernsee Valley Montgolfiade“ from January 29 to February 5, 2023 in Bad Wiessee.
- Additional Information: Website of the Kaiserwinkl holiday region (www.kaiserwinkl.com)
