Bringing Back Balloons
07/23/2024 07:00AM ● By Kaitlyn Kinshella
(Photo: Balloons float above the treeline in Steamboat Springs, at last summer’s Balloon Rodeo revival. Courtesy of Karen Beauvais.)
From Steamboat Magazine Home Edition 2024.
Steamboat Springs, CO - Karen Beauvais grew up around hot air balloons. Her father was a pilot, and at a young age she fell in love with what she describes as “the beautiful, ceremonious art of ballooning.” It was her passion for balloons that caused Karen to help create the first Balloon Rodeo in Steamboat Springs in 1981, alongside the Steamboat Chamber.
From that point forward, Karen assisted in the coordination of the historical event for about forty years. As it passed between different sponsors, from the Steamboat Chamber to the Steamboat Pilot & Today, Karen was always there. “I only missed two years: the year COVID hit and the year my husband passed away,” she says.
Each summer, Karen would welcome between 20 and 50 pilots from around the world to launch their colorful balloons into Steamboat’s blue-bird skies. Each year, pilots gathered together to reconnect with one another and soar over the expansive emerald green valley, which many still describe as their favorite place to fly.
When the long-standing tradition was canceled in 2022 due to limited resources and challenging logistics, the regular attendees were devastated. Traditions like the Balloon Rodeo are what keep the town connected to its roots, so the loss of the event was difficult for locals and visitors alike.
After a year without the Balloon Rodeo, Karen knew that she had to do something to bring back the event and fill the hole that its absence had left. She and Scott Flower, formerly the chamber’s marketing director, met over margaritas to brainstorm how they could bring back the balloons.
Getting everything organized was no easy task: they had to find a location; lodging for the pilots; and funding for food, an announcer and facilities. The town banded together to help support the reinvigoration of the beloved event. Ed and June MacArthur lent their land, Bald Eagle Lake, to be used as a launching site. Hotels across town, such as Marriott and Gravity Haus, offered up beds for free so that the pilots would have a place to lay their heads. And perhaps most importantly, many volunteers signed up, eager to lend a helping hand.
In July 2023, the Balloon Rodeo was back. And this summer, it will happen again: Karen is officially launching the event for the second year in a row. The pilots will come from across the United States for the event this year, bringing with them fun, creative and colorful balloons that can hold up to 20 people at a time in some baskets. Weather permitting, balloons will launch during the mornings of Friday, July 26-Sunday, July 28, 2024.
Only volunteers and sponsors will be allowed on site for the launch, but spectators can watch the event from most places in town – once the balloons are up in the air, there is no telling where they will go. Karen fondly recalls that, “one year, a ballooner landed all the way over in Walden!”
Meanwhile, Karen will be in the thick of it all, with those around her appreciating the work she put in to bring back the Balloon Rodeo. Perhaps she will even be transported back to her childhood, when she first became fascinated with the floating vessels that she describes as, “so pretty, so quiet and so wonderful to watch.”
For more information on this year’s Balloon Rodeo, visit www.hotairballoon-rodeo.com.
From Steamboat Magazine Home Edition 2024.
Steamboat Springs, CO - Karen Beauvais grew up around hot air balloons. Her father was a pilot, and at a young age she fell in love with what she describes as “the beautiful, ceremonious art of ballooning.” It was her passion for balloons that caused Karen to help create the first Balloon Rodeo in Steamboat Springs in 1981, alongside the Steamboat Chamber.
From that point forward, Karen assisted in the coordination of the historical event for about forty years. As it passed between different sponsors, from the Steamboat Chamber to the Steamboat Pilot & Today, Karen was always there. “I only missed two years: the year COVID hit and the year my husband passed away,” she says.
Each summer, Karen would welcome between 20 and 50 pilots from around the world to launch their colorful balloons into Steamboat’s blue-bird skies. Each year, pilots gathered together to reconnect with one another and soar over the expansive emerald green valley, which many still describe as their favorite place to fly.
When the long-standing tradition was canceled in 2022 due to limited resources and challenging logistics, the regular attendees were devastated. Traditions like the Balloon Rodeo are what keep the town connected to its roots, so the loss of the event was difficult for locals and visitors alike.
After a year without the Balloon Rodeo, Karen knew that she had to do something to bring back the event and fill the hole that its absence had left. She and Scott Flower, formerly the chamber’s marketing director, met over margaritas to brainstorm how they could bring back the balloons.
Getting everything organized was no easy task: they had to find a location; lodging for the pilots; and funding for food, an announcer and facilities. The town banded together to help support the reinvigoration of the beloved event. Ed and June MacArthur lent their land, Bald Eagle Lake, to be used as a launching site. Hotels across town, such as Marriott and Gravity Haus, offered up beds for free so that the pilots would have a place to lay their heads. And perhaps most importantly, many volunteers signed up, eager to lend a helping hand.
In July 2023, the Balloon Rodeo was back. And this summer, it will happen again: Karen is officially launching the event for the second year in a row. The pilots will come from across the United States for the event this year, bringing with them fun, creative and colorful balloons that can hold up to 20 people at a time in some baskets. Weather permitting, balloons will launch during the mornings of Friday, July 26-Sunday, July 28, 2024.
Only volunteers and sponsors will be allowed on site for the launch, but spectators can watch the event from most places in town – once the balloons are up in the air, there is no telling where they will go. Karen fondly recalls that, “one year, a ballooner landed all the way over in Walden!”
Meanwhile, Karen will be in the thick of it all, with those around her appreciating the work she put in to bring back the Balloon Rodeo. Perhaps she will even be transported back to her childhood, when she first became fascinated with the floating vessels that she describes as, “so pretty, so quiet and so wonderful to watch.”
For more information on this year’s Balloon Rodeo, visit www.hotairballoon-rodeo.com.