rom the very first time they let go of the string attached to a party balloon, children imagine what it would be like to soar aloft with it. Balloonists probably come closer than anyone else to being able to answer that question. And gas balloon pilots, who F see the vastness of the world slowly unfold below them mile after mile, hour after hour, may know best of all. Perhaps this is the fascination of the America’s Challenge. What is it like to live for days suspended thousands of feet above the ground in a basket the size of a broom closet? What do the teams see, hear, and experience? Why do they do it? And why is it worth it? It turns out that flying the America’s Challenge is as much about the journey as the result. The extraordinary ordinary people who test their skills and endurance in trying to achieve the greatest distance savor the friendships they’ve made, the people they meet, the challenge of competition and surviving aloft, and above all, the small moments – the sunrises and sunsets, a coyote’s howl, the vast panorama passing below, the billions of stars visible in the night sky. What is it like? Here are some things the America’s Challenge teams have told us through the past 25 years: PHO T O: NO AH F ORDEN “I love the aspect that with every balloon launch, you have only a rudimentary idea of PHO T where you are going and no idea of who you O: BILL might meet when you land.” W AL T Noah Forden, ON FL U.S., 2021 America’s Challenge champion YNT OFFICIAL PROGRAM 197