Lifelong Balloon Fiesta dream takes flight for first-year pilot
With support from Balloon Fiesta’s mentor program, Triston Garcia is taking the controls after a lifetime spent watching from the field
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —
Piloting a hot air balloon for the first time is a mix of excitement and challenge, and Triston Garcia is one of 66 rookie pilots participating in this year’s balloon fiesta.
“My first balloon fiesta, I was just an infant wrapped in a blanket, and I’ve wanted to do it since I was a kid,” Garcia said.
Garcia attended his first fiesta at just three months old, while both of his parents were piloting balloons. After years of photographing balloons, he decided it was time to pursue his dream of flying one himself.
“It was a little easy, but a little difficult. Just having to find the right people to help me out and get where I wanted to go,” Garcia said.
As a first-year pilot, Garcia joined the fiesta’s mentor program, which pairs rookies with experienced pilots to provide guidance and support.
“They’ve made the advice of what not to do and how to do it safely. And also, just what if I feel unsafe or just don’t feel certain, but what I can do to help?” Garcia said.
With the help of his mentor, Garcia is ready to take to the skies in his balloon, Odeon, and experience the fiesta from a new perspective.
“It’s going to be a different view, a different overall emotion. I might break a little bit of a tear in the first flight once I get up off the field,” Garcia said.
Garcia is also excited to meet children at the event and inspire them to become pilots as well.
