19 Oct 2022
Magical is the first word that comes to mind to describe this experience. My wife and I booked the balloon ride to celebrate her birthday and what an unforgettable experience it was.
Originally we had planned to balloon on Wednesday but due to weather conditions Damian reached out a day before to confirm Wednesday weather conditions would not be suitable for a flight. He did offer a full refund but I was able to change my plans and schedule a Sunday morning flight instead.
Firstly I will say if you are scared off by the price of a ride, don’t be. This was such an amazing experience, skip a couple of restaurant dinners and make a few budget cuts as you’ll remember this experience for a lifetime. I was put off by the price at first but after reading some other reviews my mind was thankfully changed.
Secondly if you are worried about safety then you’ll soon find there is no reason to be worried. This is such a professional outfit. No corners were cut anywhere and the entire staff take safety extremely seriously and the equipment they use is top quality.
As for the ride itself we arrived at the store early Sunday morning and were bussed to the launch field about 15 mins away. Our pilot for the ride was Mike who was great fun throughout and an amazing pilot. Mike has vast experience as a pilot and it was a lot of fun listening to stories of his ballooning experiences.
We also shared the balloon with two other groups who were all wonderful fun but we did have our own compartments within the balloon itself.
Now I’ve never been on a balloon ride before but I can’t imagine there are many more beautiful rides than the one we took over the Black Hills. The scenery the entire ride was wonderful and the frosty fall morning definitely added to the beauty. We were up in the air for over an hour and Mike did a fantastic job of landing the balloon despite wind direction changing by the second!
The champagne/mimosa/Buck’s Fizz breakfast at the end was a nice way to end a really special morning. I can’t recommend highly enough this experience. It’s a few days after it now and I still feel on a high from the ride (despite being back to ground).