Sky High

      Walt Toller's massive multicolored people magnet drifts lazily in the sky, descending gracefully toward an open field southwest of the city.
      Within minutes, curious residents from the surrounding neighborhood begin to gather around to watch as Toller's purple, yellow, black and red hot-air balloon comes low enough to scrape the plywood-and-wicker basket underneath it along the ground.
      By the time the basket is stilled, four cars have pulled to the side of the road and nine people have stopped by to see the gentle behemoth that's interrupted the stillness of their Saturday afternoon.
      Such a scene isn't at all unusual, says Toller, a contract pilot for Balloon Safaris, a Spokane, Wash.-based company that offers balloon rides to intrigued passengers in Las Vegas and five other cities.
      Toller and other balloon pilots who offer Southern Nevadans a taste of the quiet skies say ballooning has become a popular pastime, not only among people who fly balloons for fun but even among earthbound residents who want to experience the stillness and peace associated with one of man's earliest forms of flight.
      Toller became a balloonist about 15 years ago, while working in the pest-control business in Northern California.
      "I just happened to move into an area where balloons were flying," he said. "I saw it and said, `How neat!' I went out and chased for a company and got a free balloon ride, and it was the costliest free balloon ride I'd ever taken."
      "I went out and bought a balloon for about six grand" -- pretty affordable, Toller says, since a new balloon today would run about $20,000 -- "then we opened our own company."
      A few years later, Toller and his wife Susan became affiliated with Balloon Safaris. They've been in Las Vegas since November, offering balloon rides to curious Southern Nevadans. In May, they'll leave Las Vegas when their company sends them to the Midwest.
      "I like this career," Walt explains. "I'd much rather fly over houses than be crawling beneath them."
      Doug Campbell has spent much of his life exploring Southern Nevada by balloon. Campbell is co-owner of The Ultimate Balloon Adventure, a Las Vegas company that has been offering balloon rides year-round since 1984.
      Campbell said he was introduced to hot-air ballooning at the age of 14, when he began dating a girl whose father was a crew member for one of the valley's first balloonists.
      While that relationship didn't last, his romance with hot-air balloons did. But, oddly enough, it's a romance shared even by people who've never ridden -- who wouldn't even consider riding -- a hot-air balloon.
      What's behind the universal fascination with these simple masses of fabric and heated air?
      "They're big, they're colorful, they're, basically, friendly," Campbell says. "They're associated with good times and fun times. It's a form of aviation that a lot of people have not had an opportunity to share, and it's just a great way to look at the valley."
      Campbell estimates that the Las Vegas Valley is home to about 30 hot-air balloon pilots. Most are hobbyists, he said, while only a handful are licensed commercial hot-air balloon pilots.
      Hot-air balloons are registered aircraft, and balloon pilots must obtain a license -- either a private pilot's license or commercial pilot's license -- from the Federal Aviation Administration. As registered aircraft, they are subject to the same regulations as airplanes.
      Campbell said balloon rides have become popular among Southern Nevadans. "With the population growing, we do have a larger number of locals moving in and seeing the balloons and wondering how they could do that," he says.
      A ride isn't as expensive as nonflyers might think. Campbell said his company offers an hourlong ride for $125 per person, while Toller says his company currently is offering a discounted rate of $99 per person, versus the usual rate of $145 per person.
      Campbell said his ridership is split about evenly between locals and tourists.
      "We have a lot of people come out on anniversaries and birthdays, and we probably do two or three weddings a month," he says.
      Las Vegas is "a good market," Toller says, estimating his ridership at about 80-percent locals.
      Most riders are first-timers, adds Susan Toller, who, along with other company business, handles chase-car duties while her husband is in the air.
      "Most of them say, `I've always wanted to do this,' " she says. "And a lot of times kids will buy (rides for a parent's) birthday or Father's Day."
      A balloon ride "brings out the best in people, too," Susan adds. "They seem relaxed. Their sense of humor comes out."
      "Sometimes there's anxiety," Walt says. "I've had passengers that I've sat on the floor (of the basket) because they were full of anxiety. Then, you turn around, and they're standing up, looking out because it's so peaceful, so tranquil. You move with the wind."
      On a recent Saturday afternoon, Walt Toller was joined for a ride by co-pilot Kerley Martinez and four passengers.
      Chris Mahlum's birthday was only two days away, so the ride was a gift from husband Mike.
      "I thought it was wonderful," she says after touching down from her hourlong journey across the western edge of the valley. "It was too short. I wanted to stay up there longer.
      "It's just something I've always wanted to do. It's just so peaceful. It wasn't scary at all."
      It was also Josephine Sandoval's first time in a balloon, and she and co-rider Desha Frankel thought the ride was great.
      "I thought I'd be more scared and nervous," Sandoval says, "but, actually, I was very relaxed."
      "It's really soothing," Frankel adds. "It's soaring. It's like you're a bird."
      All ended their ride with champagne and an Irish toast that, Martinez explains, is made after every successful flight.
      Walt Toller notes that tradition calls for the riders to bend over to pick up their champagne glass with their teeth, while the pilot pours the rest of the champagne over them.
      "But," he says, "we thought passengers wouldn't tip as well."
      Campbell said The Ultimate Balloon Adventure flies year-round, although "the peak season -- the best part of our season -- is probably October through February. It's the cooler part of the year, therefore the air is stiller, winds are lighter, temperatures are cooler so the balloon doesn't have to work as hard to carry as many people."
      Landing wherever the winds takes you can be an amusing experience at times, Susan Toller said, adding there have been times when neighbors have called police in the mistaken belief the balloon was crashing.
      "I've had police out so many times," she says, laughing. Once, in Chicago, "a paramedic pulls up to the balloon and says, `Some people called in that there are people hanging out of trees screaming for help.'
      "And, he says, `Be prepared. The fire trucks are on their way.' And a big fire truck pulls up like it's a major event."
      "Here, in Las Vegas, no one does that," she adds.