50 50 YYeeaarrss o off B Baalloonlloon FieFiesstta Championsa Champions Note: Some early years’ winners are missing from the Balloon Fiesta’s records. 1972 Don Piccard 1973 Denny Floden (World Champion) 1975 David Schaff er (World Champion) 1978 Gary deKoevend YNT 1979 Erwin Oertli 11981 981 John WJohn Wrightright ON FL T 1982 George Hahn AL W 1983 Roger Hoppe 1984 Owen Keown O: BILL 1985 Dan Brown T 1986 Joe Brown PHO 1987 George Dennis 1988 Robert Boyd Above: Over the target: note the size of the tumbleweed in 1989 Joe Heartsill relation to the basket! 1990 Olivier Roux-Devillas 11991 991 Chip ZChip Zodrodrooww 1992 Frank Wechter 1992 Frank Wechter 1993 Chris Smith basket when not in use, they had the potential to pop 1994 Gary Tarter people or objects inside the basket, especially in a high 1994 Gary Tarter 1995 Bruce Bussey wind landing. That competition was soon relegated to 1996 Brad Hyde the offi cial Sid Cutter competition task bad idea fi le. 1997 Peter Scherm But at least one new event was a hit. In 1978, the fi rst 1998 Steve Jones Balloon Fiesta Key Grab caused a sensation, as pilots 1999 George Thomas tried to fl y to poles on the fi eld and snatch a set of keys 2000 Mike Bauwens to a vehicle off the top of a pole. Nobody got the keys 2001 Joel Sturdevant that fi rst year, but over the years a number of skilled (and 2002 Wynn Gustafson lucky?) pilots won vehicles. This event – now known as 2003 Mike Wilson the “Ring Toss” -- still endures today, but instead of 2004 John Petrehn grabbing a set of keys, pilots now drop rings over the 2005 Gary Cass top of the pole to earn prizes. 2006 Steve Lombardi 2007 Steve Lombardi 2008 John Petrehn Today’s Balloon Fiesta Tasks 2009 Frank Dickey In the past 20 years, the Balloon Fiesta competition 2010 Brian Hill needle has moved back to the “more serious” side 2011 Joe Heartsill of the scale. Tasks more closely resemble the “fl y 2012 Paul Petrehn in” tasks used in sanctioned regional and national 2013 David Liberti competitions. 2014 Harold “Bubba” Cliver There’s a lot more to the games balloonists play than 2015 Rhett Heartsill fun and prizes. Flying a balloon from a long distance 2016 Scott Allsup away to a small target requires skill and discipline, and 2017 Maury Petrehn helps pilots hone the skills they must use any time they 2018 Maury Petrehn fl y in order to eff ectively use the wind to maneuver safely 2019 Chris Liberti to a landing site. It’s a fun way for Balloon Fiesta guests 2020 No competition to watch pilots demonstrate the profi ciency required to 2021 Zerek Welz fl y safely and create the magic behind the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. ® 226 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta