SHOW LOW — It is not every Saturday that a man drifts into the White Mountains hanging beneath a bouquet of giant balloons, but that is what happened in Show Low this weekend.
Cluster balloonist Jonathan Trappe launched Saturday from the opening day of the 2026 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta and landed in eastern Arizona about 5 p.m., Arizona’s Family reported Monday. According to the live tracker on Trappe’s website, he touched down near State Route 260 and Woolford Road in Show Low.
94 balloons, and a reason for the number
Instead of the single fabric envelope used by the hundreds of hot-air balloons at the Fiesta, Trappe flew under a cluster of 94 large helium-filled balloons, the first gas cluster balloon to fly at the New Mexico event, according to Arizona’s Family. The sight drew comparisons to the house carried aloft in the Pixar film “Up.”
The count was deliberate. It honored Dr. Jean Piccard, whose 1937 flight beneath 95 balloons is the first gas-cluster flight on record.
Albuquerque and Show Low sit roughly 200 miles apart in a straight line, across the high desert and forest country of western New Mexico and eastern Arizona. Arizona’s Family did not report details of his route or altitude, and its report did not mention any problems with the landing.
Who is Jonathan Trappe?
Trappe is one of the best-known cluster balloonists in the world and has taken celebrities along on flights, including YouTube star MrBeast and magician David Blaine. Cluster ballooning is a rare form of flight in which the pilot controls altitude largely by releasing ballast or cutting away individual balloons, leaving the wind to decide much of the path.
The Balloon Fiesta, one of the largest ballooning events in the world, continues through next weekend in Albuquerque. For Show Low residents who spotted the colorful cluster dropping toward town Saturday evening, it was a chance to see one of the event’s headline flights without leaving Arizona.
Photo: NoTalkMan via Wikimedia Commons (CC0 public domain). File photo of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta; not Trappe’s cluster balloon.