You Can Find Plenty of Hot Air in This Valley

The season for soaring in a hot-air balloon or watching polo matches has begun here in the Coachella Valley, the Southern California center for both activities.

Five balloon companies are ready to take you aloft, and two neighboring polo clubs in Indio invite spectators to their tournaments.

Make your headquarters at the area’s many hotels, some of which will book your balloon ride.

The pioneer in hot-air excursions over the Palm Springs area is Desert Balloon Charters. Nine years ago John Zimmer began his high-flying company with one balloon. These days, on busy weekends he sends 10 to 15 of the craft into the air. Even on weekdays as many as five of his balloons ascend at once from the desert floor.

Departure times for the flights are 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.; a van picks up passengers at their hotel about half an hour earlier. Morning takeoffs mean no late sleeping and chilly air.

Fire Up the Propane

Using a vacant lot as the launching area, Zimmer choreographs the balloon ascensions almost like a stage director. Deflated envelopes of nylon fabric are stretched like long, multicolored fingers over the sandy ground, attached by steel cables to wicker baskets that have been lined up in a row.

As passengers arrive in vans from various hotels, pilots initially inflate the balloons with portable fans and then fire up propane burners so that hot air fills the balloons until they are upright.

On Zimmer’s signal, pilots and passengers climb into the baskets, and after several more blasts from the burners the balloons are up, up and away.

As the many balloons rise almost in unison, the sight is spectacular.

Passengers leave the balloon’s flight path to the skill and experience of their pilot, and just view the scenery. Far below is a carefree bird’s-eye view of the valley’s country clubs and resorts, where green golf courses brighten the arid terrain and the sun glistens off hundreds of swimming pools.

Depending on the winds, balloons drift over Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, La Quinta and other desert communities that stretch to the valley’s mountain ranges.

Hot-air balloon excursions last at least an hour. Afterward, the pilot looks for an open spot to land. He keeps in touch by radio with a chase car so the ground crew can assist with the landing. Once the basket touches down, glasses are passed around for the traditional champagne toast to a successful flight.

Weather permitting, balloon flights are offered daily until next summer. Cost is $125 per person, with two to six passengers in each basket. For more information and reservations, call Desert Balloon Charters at (619) 346-8575.

Polo Tournaments

Other companies offering balloon excursions in the Coachella Valley are Skysports Aviation, (619) 340-5545; Skies the Limit, (619) 568-1037; Fantasy Balloon Flights, (619) 568-0997, and Sunrise Balloons (no hotel pickup), (619) 346-7591.

Two of the companies launch their balloons from the Eldorado and Empire polo fields in neighboring Indio. But the main attractions there are the exciting polo tournaments that take place on many weekends through mid-April. Players are tops and mounts are well-trained.

Each game has six periods called chukkers, lasting seven minutes each. The play is hard and the ponies are replaced frequently during the match. Binoculars will give you a close look at the action.

A seasonal home to 125 players and 1,000 polo ponies, Eldorado Polo Club is the oldest and largest of two adjacent clubs. It was founded in 1957 and has 10 playing fields.

Matches begin at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Sunday finals are played on the clubhouse field.

Entry to Eldorado is free except for Sunday tournament games, when general admission costs $5; no charge for children under 14 years. Or pay $25 for reserved seating at the clubhouse, where there is food and bar service. Sunday brunch also is available. Call (619) 342-2223 for more information.

The Empire Polo Club held its inaugural cup matches last year, and this season it plans morning and afternoon weekend games. Practice matches are played until tournaments begin Nov. 25. Call (619) 342-3321 for details. A balloon and polo festival is scheduled for Dec. 2-3; phone (619) 342-0025 for more information.

List of Hotels

Both polo clubs are between Avenues 50 and 52 and Madison and Monroe streets. From La Quinta, drive east about five miles on Avenue 50 and turn right (south) on Madison Street.

For a list of lodgings in the Coachella Valley, contact the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Bureau at (619) 327-8411.

Round trip from Los Angeles to La Quinta is 274 miles.

The Grimms are Laguna Beach free-lance writers/photographers and authors of the updated “Away for a Weekend.”