Snowdowners want to float away

While much of downtown Durango served as a putting green for drunken golfers Saturday, other Snowdown festival-goers headed out early to do something different.

The Snowdown Balloon Rally Train stopped in its tracks Saturday morning on its way to Cascade Canyon, in view of a distinctive display of colorful balloons – grounded by wind – that drifted and spun on the floor of the Animas Valley.

Crowds gathered in the early morning sun in Hermosa, along with a train packed with spectators, to watch hot air balloons rise over the valley for Tequila Rose and Tarantula Tequila’s Snowdown Balloon Rally.

But when high winds prevented them from ascending, the balloonists created a colorful display by inflating their vessels – the oldest form of human-flight technology – on the ground.

“The winds are blowing the wrong way to fly this morning,” said pilot Keith Takach of Albuquerque, as crew members held down his balloon. “So, we thought we’d stand up for the people and put on a show for the train.”

In all, six balloons inflated in a snow-covered field, swaying gently as they grew. Pilot Eric Greenwood also came up from New Mexico for the event.

“It’s just fun, all the way around,” he said.

A little later, at the Durango Community Recreation Center, a group of kids enjoyed a different kind of adventure – instead of going up, they went under.

The Aqua Safari for Cubs, sponsored by Splash Down Diving, gave kids, most ages 8 to 13, a chance to learn the basic fundamentals of scuba diving on an underwater obstacle course.

“You see kids coming out of the water, and their eyes are huge,” said Terry Tucker, owner of Splash Down Diving. “They’re completely excited.”

While most kids simply enjoyed trying something new, for others it was more.

Seventeen-year-old Erich Krouse, who has Down syndrome, took advantage of some special assistance from scuba instructor Barry Mason to follow his dream of swimming like a dolphin.

“It’s all about inclusion in our community,” said his mother, Mary Krouse. “I’m glad they let special needs (children) come do this. That’s my baby. It’s a new freedom.”

Mason, who works with the Adaptive Sports Association to help people with disabilities participate in sports such as skiing – or in this case, scuba diving – also helped Anna Caplan, 14, find a new world underwater.

“Anna doesn’t walk normally, so being weightless is a real advantage,” he said.

Caplan said she liked the feeling, and the sense that “nobody else was around down there.”

“I enjoy that,” she said from the surface, although her focus was down below. She just wanted to swim.

“Can we go down one more time?”

via – The Durango Herald.