Volcom presents: High Time
I’m back in my hometown, Elche, spending some time with my parents, and I keep seeing these hot air balloons floating around. They always leave me awestruck, looking up to the sky like a fool, so I decide to investigate a little… Damn, I didn’t realise I’d have to take out a mortgage for a one-hour flight! I was considering taking my wife and kid for a ride, but the prices were saying “don’t even think about it”.
But then, unexpectedly, a couple of months later, I found myself managing the first-ever Volcom Europe video and thinking: it would be cool to do something that’s never been done before… Why not use a hot air balloon for the intro?
So, I organise for the last tour to be around the area where I’d seen them fly, and decide to give it a go! The plan was straight-forward: get some nice shots and make sure the guys have a good time up there.
I tell the bosses. They look at me as though I were crazy. That’s when I start to think: if this goes wrong, then it’s goodbye to my job… I mean, it’s goodbye to the whole team!
And of course, because of my newfound interest in these contraptions, the algorithm keeps reminding me every day that it doesn’t always go well. Every time I go on Instagram, I get bombarded with hot air balloon accidents. Fire. People falling over the edge. Every single time I scroll, another one, and another one. I start having nightmares. I start asking myself: Is this really worth doing?
I ask the riders. Some shrug their shoulders; some get a little scared. I just charge on. It could be amazing. It could be a disaster. But, at least, it’ll be different, and Volcom always does things differently. And the importance of taking risks is some-thing I’ve carried with me from a young age.
We don’t have much time, so I try to be quick. I make a deal with the balloon owners. I convince everyone I need to convince, and, before I know it, we’re in the middle of nowhere, caught in fierce winds (the number one cause for hot air balloon accidents), and, in a matter of minutes, the team is floating in the sky. I’m on the ground, breaking a sweat, saying my prayers. And, somehow… we got it. Miraculously, but also in large part thanks to Jose Antonio Moreno Campello, who you’re about to hear from, it worked out.
So yeah, won’t be getting into the hour Thanos spent sanding this ledge down to make his neverending board-slide happen here (who the fuck brings their own power tools to a skate trip abroad?!), or any of the other wild sessions that went into the making of this project: as far as hyping up the bangers our crew filmed for the vid, I think we can all agree that Sam, Gerard and Justus’ photos do the job. What we do have, though, is a look at what happens when the old “anything is possible” skateboarder mentality gets applied to things that are way out of our comfort zone. That, and some insights into a line of work that unexpectedly has a lot more in common with roaming the streets for clips than you’d think… –Roberto
Matisse Banc, backside 180 kickflip, Murcia. Ph. Gerard Riera
Interview by Roberto Aleman
How did you and your brother Germán get into the world of hot air balloons and ground support work?
Jose Antonio Moreno Campello: Germán and I are the second generation of balloon pilots in the family. Our dad started this whole adventure back in 1987, when he bought his first balloon.
What do you like the most about what you do? Why are you so passionate about it?
What I enjoy most about this job is, on one hand, the lack of repetition (every flight is different) and, on the other, interacting with people. Bear in mind that, for some people, flying in a hot air balloon is a lifelong dream, and being able to help them fulfil that dream is very rewarding.
Thanos Panou, boardslide, Bilbao. Ph. Sam Ashley
What is a “normal” day at your job like, and how did it compare to the experience we had that day with the team?
On a normal day, that is, one with optimal weather conditions, my work is very straightforward. We begin by preparing all the equipment at the base, completing all the necessary paperwork to authorise the flight, and then it’s business as usual: meeting the passengers, flying, getting back, lunch and farewell. The difference between a normal day like that and a day with an operation like this is huge, because we were fully at your disposal. We weren’t just focusing on a big flight; it was all about trying to get the shots you needed.
Simon Bannerot, fakie heelflip, Bilbao. Ph. Sam Ashley
What was your immediate reaction when you heard what we wanted to do with the balloon for the Volcom video?
Honestly, Germán told me he had to ask me about something “strange” someone wanted to do on a flight. That got my imagination going, because we’ve been asked some really weird things before… So, when he told me what it was, I thought, “Well, it could have been worse.”
Eniz Fazliov, gap to backside 50-50, Helsinki. Ph. Justus Hirvi
Did you prepare differently for this flight, compared to a typical one?
No, the truth is that, in terms of preparation, aside from knowing what you wanted to do and anticipating the flight’s trajectory a little, there wasn’t much to prepare.
What were the biggest challenges that day? The weather? The landing spots? Our guys?
The biggest and basically only challenge of the day was the weather. The mission was scheduled for Monday when the weather forecast was looking exceptional, but it was moved to Tuesday at the last minute, when the weather forecast was considerably worse. So all my concerns and doubts about the operation were caused by that last-minute change.
Tom Barthélémy, frontside 180 fakie 5-0, Barcelona. Ph. Gerard Riera
Was there ever a moment when you thought, “This isn’t going to work out”?
Yes, when the drone operator told me that before flying he had to do some tests to check the shots and so on.
What was it like to see the skaters involved in all this? Did it feel different from what you’re used to?
It felt similar to when we get a group of 13 friends celebrating, who all know each other. You could tell the guys were knackered from getting up early, but they loosened up as the morning went on.
Matisse Banc, frontside feeble grind, Bilbao. Ph. Sam Ashley
Can you tell us about the places where we landed? Were any of them particularly difficult or memorable? You actually landed right next to a canal on one of your attempts, right? Was it a controlled landing or more of an emergency improvisation?
All the landings were completely under control, even though we had to improvise a little. Since these landings did not require space to fold up the balloon, as we only had to stop for a few minutes and then continue, they could be done virtually anywhere. So yes, we landed very close to an irrigation canal once, and then very close to a house. The complication of these landings was not so much the landing itself, but rather what it implied: that we were running out of good ground to land on, and were basically going faster than the ground crew.
Jechu Corvalán, gap to backside 50-50, Bilbao. Ph. Sam Ashley
From the ground crew’s point of view, what is it like trying to chase the balloon zooming around these little country roads without knowing exactly where it was going to land? Do you see any similarities between what you do and skateboarding?
Well, we’re a little bit like storm chasers in the US. After all these years, our pilots have enough experience to anticipate and predict the flight a little, which makes life much easier for the ground crew. And I’d say there probably are some similarities with skateboarding, especially in terms of having to learn to improvise and adapt to various circumstances, which differ from day to day. That, and always feeling like you’re a bit of a nuisance, I suppose.
High Time crew. Ph. Gerard Riera
To me, both worlds, ballooning and skateboarding, involve risk management, reading your surroundings, and improvising when something goes wrong. Do you identify with that? What goes through your mind when things don’t go as planned? How do you adapt?
Absolutely. In my case, what I always do is minimise the risks. It sounds obvious, but there’s no other way. After all, a skater answers to himself or his sponsors, but on a personal level, they can take on as much risk as they’re willing to accept. In our case, because we carry passengers, it becomes something else. The acceptable risk is the least possible, and when faced with a delicate situation, the only thing on your mind is how to solve it in the best possible way. Luckily for us, if we plan the flight well, it’s difficult for things to get really complicated, but even so, there are always three or four days a year when things get a little tricky. That’s when you have to draw on your experience and skills to make sure everything ends well, as we’ve always managed to do so far.
Harry Lintell, backside smith grind, Zagreb. Ph. Gerard Riera
In skateboarding, we tend to think that even if something seems impossible, there’s always a way. Do you feel that this also applies to your work?
It could certainly apply to ballooning, at least to those early balloonists who were always pushing the boundaries and embarking on adventures with unexpected outcomes every day… We provide peaceful rides to people who pay to experience something unique, relaxing and enjoyable for the whole family. Pushing the boundaries and aiming for the impossible is for sport flying.
What was the funniest or most unexpected moment you remember from that day?
When I said, “Come on, let’s do this quickly, because I don’t know how many chances we’ll get,” and it turned out that we had to do a rehearsal and a test shot and a million other things. That made me laugh. And when I found out they’d thrown the most important board overboard for that rehearsal, and that it was imperative that we got it back for the real deal…. I laughed a little on the inside when that happened too.
Jorge Simoes, backside bigspin to fakie nosegrind, Miguel de Salinas. Ph. Gerard Riera
The last landing was done in a field that had just been planted with artichokes, and a neighbour who saw you called the owner, right? He was furious and demanded compensation for the damage. But as the harvest won’t be ready until the end of the year, so it’s not yet clear exactly how much will have to be paid. How do you deal with situations like this?
With patience and tact. At first, they get very upset when they see us land on their land, and the initial impact does cause some damage, but even on the day, it’s very minimal. And in any case, on the few occasions where we do cause damage and the owner is present, we agree on compensation on the spot, and that’s it. I’ve done about 1500 flights, and I’ve only had to do that two or three times.
Matteo Vandeputte, gap to backside lipslide, Alicante. Ph. Gerard Riera
Have you ever had a mission as unusual as this one before? If not, what was the most unusual one you’ve had?
We’ve had unusual requests, some of which we fulfilled and some we didn’t. We’ve been asked to do everything from scattering ashes of a deceased relative from the balloon, to using the basket as a film set for an adult movie. I will leave it to your imagination to guess what we have and have not done.
What do you think about skateboarding, after having been part of this?
The same thing I thought back when I played Tony Hawk Pro Skater on PS1: that it’s really cool.
Lucien Gourdal, ollie, Bilbao. Ph. Sam Ashley
Would you do something like this again, or was one time enough?
On a day like that, I’d try to avoid it!
If you could say one thing to help people better understand the world of hot air balloons, what would it be?
That they should give it a go, because it’s not what they think it is. 99% of the people who come to fly usually think it’s going to move a lot and give them a sensation that actually it never does. Everyone, of all ages, enjoys it very much!
Click below for more of Sam and Gerard’s pics of the Volcom squad…
