[Rerun]

The sport is declining in popularity...

Masses of hot air balloons used to crowd Calgary's skies with their colourful designs, shapes, slogans and logos, but where have they all gone? Some of Calgary's few remaining hot air balloon pilots fill us in on why ballooning is a "dying sport" and why we should care.

"When ballooning first came to Calgary area in the mid-70s, I mean it was the rage," says hot air balloon pilot Brant Leatherdale.

Peaking in popularity around the mid-1980s, Calgarians could often tilt their gazes skyward on clear, sunny days and spot giant custom-made balloons, such as a grinning Shell gas pump or a Dairy Queen ice cream cone, drifting high above the city. However, as Calgary's expanding city limits made it increasingly difficult to safely traverse and more restrictive regulations and red tape were introduced, fewer and fewer people took up the sport.

"I don’t like this phrase but it’s true, it's really a dying sport," says Leatherdale.

http://www.openfile.ca/calgary/calga...s-unpopularity