HELEN — Though Thursday morning's upper-level winds were not conducive for hot air balloon racing toward the East Coast, visitors to Helen are getting opportunities to see plenty of hot air balloons.
The 43rd-annual Helen to the Atlantic Hot Air Balloon Race officially began early Thursday, though no balloons left the field at that time because the winds were not sufficient to take balloons out of the mountains.
"This morning the conditions were ideal for inflating but not ideal for taking off because the wind was blowing in a northerly direction, which would have taken everybody up over the mountains into the national forest," said Race Coordinator Catherine Cleiman on Thursday. "That's not the best place to land and expect all your friends to come retrieve you with chainsaws."
But that doesn't mean there won't be a balloon race in 2016.
"The race to the coast, the long-distance portion, officially started at 7 [Thursday] morning," Cleiman said. "Any of the coast racers can launch at any time through Friday afternoon and try to advance their position toward I-95, which is the finish line. They have to make it all the way out of White County for it officially to be a race."
Usually racers wait until they're in the air to declare that they officially are racing, Cleiman said.
Area residents who hope to see hot air balloons have a few more opportunities, but all are weather-permitting. The schedule includes:
• 6:30 p.m. today, June 3 — Local balloon event liftoff;
• 7:30 a.m. Saturday, June 4 — Local balloon event liftoff;
• 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 4 — Local balloon event liftoff; and
• 7 p.m. Saturday, June 4 — Tethered balloon rides for public.
Balloons only are up in the early morning and early evening. There are no balloons during the middle of the day.
The launch field is located on the Wilkins property along the Chattahoochee River. Signs pointing to the balloon event are located throughout the city.
"The city of Helen and White County are known worldwide for our race," Cleiman said. "Anywhere around the country and around the globe that you go where there's hot air ballooning they're very familiar with Alpine Helen and the wonderful ballooning event that we have here."
