Balloon records read like dares. The highest anyone has flown a hot air balloon is 21,027 metres, well above airliner cruising height. The longest balloon flight circled the planet without landing. People have jumped from balloon gondolas at the edge of space, floated over Everest and crossed both great oceans hanging under an envelope. Almost all of it happened in the era of the modern balloon, and one of the marks below dates from 2016.
Straight up
On 26 November 2005 the Indian industrialist Vijaypat Singhania, then 67 years old, lifted off near Mumbai in a Cameron Z-1600, a hot air balloon with a 1.6 million cubic foot envelope, riding in an enclosed pressurized cabin instead of an open basket. He reached 21,027 metres, about 69,000 feet, and landed safely. Guinness World Records still lists it as the highest flight by a hot air balloon. For scale: a sightseeing flight usually stays between a few hundred and a couple of thousand feet, where the air is breathable and the views have detail.
Jumps from the stratosphere
Gas balloons climb higher still. On 16 August 1960 US Air Force captain Joe Kittinger rode the open Excelsior III gondola to about 31 kilometres and stepped off, testing escape systems for high-altitude pilots; he fell for four and a half minutes before his main parachute opened. The mark stood until 14 October 2012, when Felix Baumgartner jumped from roughly 39 kilometres over New Mexico, with Kittinger, by then 84, as the voice on his radio, and broke the sound barrier in freefall. Two years later, on 24 October 2014, Google's Alan Eustace went up with no capsule at all, just a pressure suit under a helium balloon, and jumped from 41,419 metres. That is the current record: a balloon, a suit and 41 kilometres of falling.
Around the world in twenty days
The last great prize of the twentieth century was a nonstop circumnavigation. After failed attempts by teams on three continents, the Swiss psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard and British pilot Brian Jones lifted off from Chateau-d'Oex in the Swiss Alps on 1 March 1999 aboard Breitling Orbiter 3, a Roziere hybrid of helium and hot air. They landed in the Egyptian desert on 21 March after 19 days, 21 hours and roughly 40,800 kilometres: the first balloon around the earth. The red gondola, pictured here, now lives at the Smithsonian. Steve Fossett added the first solo circumnavigation in 2002, on his sixth attempt, and in July 2016 Fedor Konyukhov flew solo around the world in about 11 days, the fastest circumnavigation yet. All of them flew Rozieres, a design explained among the types of balloons; Chateau-d'Oex still hosts its famous alpine balloon festival every January.
Oceans and Everest
The Atlantic resisted for almost two centuries and took several lives before August 1978, when Double Eagle II, a helium balloon flown by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman, crossed from Maine to a barley field near Paris in about six days. The Pacific's biggest prize came much later. In January 2015 the Two Eagles balloon of Troy Bradley and Leonid Tiukhtyaev rode the jet stream from Saga, Japan to a controlled water landing off Baja California: about 10,700 kilometres in nearly seven days, the greatest distance ever flown in a gas balloon. The same jet stream once carried very different cargo, a story told on balloons at war. And in October 1991 came the most cinematic flight of all, when two hot air balloons launched from Gokyo in Nepal crossed over Everest and landed in Tibet. No mountain outranks that view.
Your first record
Nobody is asking you to break the sound barrier. One calm morning, one hour aloft, one landing toast: that is the standard first adventure, and choosing the right season makes it a good one.
Balloon records FAQ
What is the highest a hot air balloon has ever flown?
21,027 metres, about 69,000 feet, by Vijaypat Singhania over India on 26 November 2005, flying a Cameron Z-1600 with a pressurized cabin. Guinness World Records lists it as the standing altitude record for hot air balloons.
Who first flew a balloon around the world nonstop?
Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones aboard Breitling Orbiter 3, from 1 to 21 March 1999. They launched from Chateau-d'Oex in Switzerland, landed in Egypt and covered roughly 40,800 kilometres in 19 days and 21 hours.
Has a hot air balloon flown over Mount Everest?
Yes. In October 1991 two hot air balloons launched from Gokyo in Nepal, crossed over Everest and landed in Tibet, the first balloon flight over the world's highest mountain.
What is the longest balloon flight ever made?
Breitling Orbiter 3's 1999 circumnavigation: roughly 40,800 kilometres in 19 days and 21 hours. It stood as the longest unrefuelled flight by any aircraft, of any kind, until 2006.