The fear of heights
soon left me when I became a steeplejack in the eighties, my
grandfather, father and uncles were all steeplejacks and after
walking up my first chimney I was set and stayed in the industry for
twelve years, leaving for a higher earning potential.
Steeple-jacking in
those days, we used relatively simple equipment to access Industrial
Chimneys, Churches, Highrise Tower Blocks... knowing your equipment how to
use it, its limitation and trusting those you worked with were the
key things to survival in the industry. So getting into a hot air
balloon and trusting a stranger and his equipment tweaked the
feelings of that very first chimney climb.
They say that a little
knowledge is dangerous when it came to hot air ballooning in Spain for the first time, too much knowledge made things a little
scary.
I was on my way to Utah
in the USA for a month to take my hot air balloon license and for
three months before I had studied like mad reading everything ten
times and some, so I would pass hopefully with ease, at the last
minute the trip was canceled. I decided to get some flights in
locally in Spain.
The stages from getting the basket out, inflating it, to the equipment
check and the long brief on how to conduct yourself and finally what
to do when we come to land, also the opportunity to ask a few
questions about the safety of the balloon for reassurance was
translated into one word
VENIR – Come,
followed by
VENIR AQUÍ RÁPIDO - come in
here fast!
We then Shuttle
launched to 4000 feet – Who needs a girly safety-brief.
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