AMMON — Ever since Kimberly Whiteman was 12 years old, she has been fascinated by hot air balloons. She grew up in California and remembers chasing them in the evenings along the coastline, eventually meeting a pilot, helping him and learning from him.
Now, Whiteman, who lives in Utah, is a pilot herself with a private and commercial license. She’s been flying hot air balloons for more than 20 years.
She brought her balloon, “Flame Buoyant,” to fly over the weekend as part of Ammon Days. There were 22 hot air balloons with plenty of spectators to watch at McCowin Park. It’s a spectacular sight to see, with painted colors in the sky. Pilots came from places such as Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and even Idaho.
“My balloon is the volume size of 70,000 cubic feet,” Whiteman said. “It can take two people plus me (in the basket). It’s more of a competition balloon. I do private flights in it periodically.”
She told EastIdahoNews.com that one of the coolest places she’s been was Australia for a competition. It was the Women’s World Hot Air Balloon Championship in 2023. KSL wrote an article about her during that time. Click here to read it.
“I was the last-minute add-on. They’re like, ‘Oh, we have a spot for you.’ So I scramble, get the money together to get the balloon sent over, and then get myself sent over and back,” she said.
Whiteman explained what competitions typically entail.
“Targets are laid out, according to the winds, and we have to fly to either ground targets or virtual targets. We’re throwing either a bean bag at the target or we’re hitting a button. We have to try to get as close as we can. Then we’re scored according to how close we are to the target,” she said.
As for taking people on flights, she said she enjoys it. Whiteman said she loves to have a good time. If she’s by a body of water, she’ll try to get near it.
“I just love getting people up who have never done it before,” she said. “I’ll find water and go do a splash and dash…come down and just touch the water. So just kind of skim it like a boat, and then just take off again, dripping water everywhere!”
Ammon Days typically has a “Glow Night” where the hot air balloons will light up the night. Anyone can come and meet the pilots and ask questions. The hot air balloons take flight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting.
This year, there was a bit of a shift due to the wind but it didn’t stop people from coming out and having a good time.
“We didn’t fly Friday, (due to) safety. Saturday was a little breezy, but I’ve flown in worse. Then Sunday was beautiful. It was perfect,” Whiteman said.
According to Seattle Ballooning online, hot air balloons are primarily steered by controlling altitude to catch different wind currents. Pilots use burners to heat the air inside the balloon, causing it to rise, and vents to release hot air to descend.
Pilots try to land in places like open fields or parking lots. They try to stay away from obstacles like power lines and other balloons. Interestingly, there have been some misconceptions before with spectators.
“They see the fire, they think the balloon is on fire. They’ll call 911, or they think a balloon crashed when we had a controlled landing. If something happens, our crew knows about it. We’ll take care of it,” Whiteman said.
As for Ammon Days, this is the second time Whiteman has flown in it and she said she hopes to be back again next year.
EastIdahoNews.com recently featured the World’s first paraplegic hot air balloon pilot who flew in Ammon Days. Read the story here.
RELATED | The Rolling Pilot: World’s first paraplegic hot air balloon pilot to fly at Ammon Days
The hot air balloon flights at Ammon Days are sponsored. According to Randal Miller, Ammon recreation director, the sponsors select the passengers. To sponsor a balloon for the weekend, it costs $1,250 and includes logos on promotional materials, announcements at glow night, banners on the hot air balloon basket all weekend, booth at glow night and Ammon Days, and two passengers for one morning flight.
If you are interested in sponsoring a balloon next year, send an email to rmiller@cityofammon.us.
Miller said that they hope to have even more hot air balloons next year. Idaho has three hot air balloon festivals including Boise, Driggs and Ammon.
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