Spirit Ballooning

The staff was so friendly and our pilot, Jordan, was very knowledgeable & informative about the history of ballooning. It made my birthday a most memorable one!! Thank you for such a great experience.

My husband and I had a fantastic experience with Spirit Ballooning! Darrell and his family are the nicest people with so much experience ballooning! Our pilot, Jordan, was very knowledgeable and shared with us the history of ballooning, as well as, information about the area we were flying over. The whole afternoon was magic!

What an absolute fantastic time we had! I felt completely safe with Darrel and his team. We had the pleasure of helping to set up and pack up. The flight was breathtaking. We flew across Bethlehem CT, across tree tops and ponds. We landed safely in a vineyard (shame it was closed) and headed back for our champagne post flight celebrations! If this is on your bucket list, I’d highly recommend spirit ballooning. You are in safe hands!!

My wife and I have been married 15 years, and our balloon flight Oct 2 with our pilot Darrel of Spirit Ballooning was the best experience we have had as a couple. Darrel is so communicative, both electronically and in person, that he felt like family right away. The Spirit team all like each other immensely, which makes setting up the balloon and taking it down almost as much fun as the flight itself. I thought liftoff would be an adrenaline rush, but it was so gentle and calm that the altitude we gained just seemed natural, even at 2,500 feet. Darrel has such skill as a pilot, his equipment is so sound (not just the balloon and basket but the communication gear), and his chase people are so on the ball that the whole experience evolved perfectly, even after the wind didn't cooperate through a series of possible landing sites until a baseball field opened up. Driving back in the van hearing ballooning stories from the team was fun, and the closing toast was even better, an unforgettable experience in which Darrel welcomed us to the ranks of those who defy gravity. We were in the air an hour and fifteen perfect minutes, flew fifteen miles over a landscape so harmonious the peacefulness sank inside me, and drove home glowing. Yes, we waited two years for this flight to happen, part of the delay coming when weather cancelled our first flight, more delay coming from COVID, and then waiting again for our Oct 2 flight, when luckily the weather was perfect. But as was demonstrated during our search for a landing spot, the spirit of ballooning involves patience, and having a pilot who won't fly in iffy weather is a very good thing. I figured doing a hot-air balloon flight would be memorable, but I didn't know it would turn out to be as life-changing as this one was, curated by Darrel and the Spirit team. Thank you, gentlemen.

This experience truly exceeded all of my expectations. I bought this experience as a birthday gift for my best friend. We drove up to the Berkshires on a Saturday morning and met Jordan, his girlfriend and father in an airfield. Because they wanted us to have the best experience possible, we drove for about ~20 min away to another site (making sure to extend our flight in the balloon significantly). My roommate and I were blown away by how lovely Jordan, his girlfriend and father were. It really seemed as though they wanted us to experience their family activity as if we were a part of it. On the drive there, Jordan’s father explained how he got into the business (30+ years ago) and Jordan explained how he is now following in his fathers footsteps (albeit with different ballooning “styles”!) We learned about “tree topping” on our flight, where one flies so close over the tree tops that we could literally hear the tops of the trees scraping the bottom of the basket. People would come out of their homes and take photos of us, cars were stopping on the streets to get out and get a closer look. It some ways it almost felt like we were celebrities just for a few hours! When we landed, there were a bunch of people on the road nearby, including a bunch of children who were standing by watching in awe (some had even followed us from the sky for about a mile). Jordan not only let them get in the balloon, he took them for a quick tandem flight for a free (a couple feet off the ground) and probably made their year. Whether it’s a special occasion for a friend, loved one, or family member, this experience is an absolute MUST. Not only did we create beautiful memories, we feel like we met some very special people with a passion / hobby that truly brings pure joy to the community it serves (no matter the age or background). Thank you so much Jordan!! Never stop doing what you’re doing.