Every day ‘is an adventure’ for this hot-air balloon chase crew in Napa

Spotting a hot air balloon floating overhead is a lot like seeing a whale in the wild.

They’re huge. They’re graceful. They almost always catch you by surprise. Heck, if you time it right, you might even witness the balloon’s burner igniting to heat the air, a process that sounds eerily similar to the exhalation of a surfacing cetacean.

But this giant floating spectacle — an incredibly popular way of experiencing the Napa Valley — doesn’t happen easily; a phalanx of dedicated humans makes it so.

In addition to the balloon pilot, the people who make every hot air balloon flight possible comprise what’s known in the industry as a “chase crew.” As the name suggests, this squad of two or three people are tasked to follow balloons on the ground while they are soaring in the sky. They are there to guarantee safe landings for every flight. They also get balloons ready for the initial ascent.

Daniel Santiago, 38, knows all about this important job.

As crew chief for two different chase crews with Napa Valley Balloons, Santiago spends most of every workday running down these dreams. He describes the work as grueling, physically demanding and incredibly stressful, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Every day on this job is an adventure,” he quips, noting that the company manages three to eight flights a day. “That’s what keeps me motivated, and what keeps me coming back for more.”

Demands of the ‘chase crew’

Specifically, Santiago has five main job responsibilities: chasing down balloons to meet them when they land; setting up balloons; conducting pre-inflation and pre-departure inspections; helping with pack-up; and directing the rest of the team to perform each task in an efficient way.

While all components of the job are difficult, he said, the chasing is the hardest part.

First, chasing hot air balloons requires preparation — you must know the wind and weather forecasts for the day.

Second, it requires familiarization — you must know enough about the Napa Valley to know where balloons might be headed and how to access those spots.

Third, chase crews must be comfortable improvising since flight and landing plans can change in an instant.

Finally, chasing balloons requires focus, as the only way crew members can communicate with their pilot, who’s around 1,000-3,000 feet in the sky, is via two-way radio.

“We don’t have any fancy technology in the trucks with us as we’re chasing the balloons,” Santiago said. “We have our eyeballs and radios, that’s it. Sometimes the radios don’t work or the balloon goes out of range and we’ve got to base decisions on instinct. That’s when it really gets tricky.”

Santiago added that the job is physically demanding — for pack-up, chase crew members must exert significant strength. Most of the balloons Napa Valley Balloons flies weigh between 800 and 1,200 pounds when full, and upon landing, Santiago and his crewmates must manually remove the hot air from the fire-resistant parachute material.

This process is called “milking.” As Santiago explains, one person stands at the top of the balloon and pulls it to stretch it out straight. One or two other crew members stand at the bottom end of the balloon, utilizing their body or bodies to squeeze out the air and wrap the balloon up to their waists.

For the weightlifters among you, the process is like a row mixed with a dead lift and a lateral raise. Oh, and chase crew members must do it all as quickly as possible, then stuff the fabric into a transport bag.

“The best way to describe it: swimming in tar,” he said. “You use every muscle in your body, every time.”

Once chase crew members have corralled the balloon itself, they must load the bagged balloon and the basket onto a trailer. This also is no easy task; the basket alone weighs anywhere from 500 to 800 pounds.

Balloon takeoff, landing

The process of prepping balloons for takeoff is grueling in different ways. Santiago and his crew members inspect the rings on every propane tank (these fuel the fire source, called the “burner”) for leaks. They make sure all cables are untwisted and all carabiners are working properly. They also spread out the balloon on the ground for easier inflation.

Just about all Napa Valley Balloons flights take off from Yountville — a point of pride for Yountville Chamber of Commerce CEO Whitney Diver McEvoy.

“Ballooning has been part of the fabric of Yountville for decades, and it really is part of our identity,” she said. “Yountville is situated in the heart of the Napa Valley, which is ideal for visitors and locals alike, and the charming town and surrounding vineyards serve as an amazing backdrop for the flights.”

Landing, however, is totally unpredictable.

Due to the ever-changing winds of the Napa Valley, no two balloon flights land in the same spot. This is why Santiago must always stay in communication with his pilots. It’s also why it’s so important for chase crews to always be able to see the balloons they’re chasing.

Some of these landings can get pretty dramatic. During one week earlier this month, for instance, one flight touched down at Kennedy Park south of downtown Napa. The following day, a flight landed in the middle of a busy intersection.

Sometimes balloon flights will land on private property, and Santiago and his crew will need to knock on someone’s door and offer them a bottle of sparkling wine for access to retrieve the balloon.

“You need a lot of teamwork, that’s for sure,” Santiago said.

After every pack-up, chase crew members usually celebrate with high-fives — like 49ers after a Christian McCaffrey touchdown. They’ll also pass around bottles of water or Gatorade. If they’re lucky, crew members will even get to take a 10- or 15-minute break. It all depends on how many balloons are out.

Landing the gig

Because of how physically challenging the job is, most chase crew members are former athletes or former military personnel. Santiago is no exception — he served six years in the U.S. Air Force. He noted while in the service, he was able to do 122 pushups in 60 seconds.

The Santa Rosa native got out of the military in 2015 and earned a bachelor’s degree in health care administration before taking a job at a medical facility in the Napa County town of Angwin. He left to take the job with Napa Valley Balloons about a year ago.

Chase crews keep unusual hours — in summer, when balloons leave around 6 a.m., crews are on site around 4:15 a.m. to inspect balloons and get them ready for inflation. During fall and winter, the crew’s days usually start about an hour later. Most work days end sometime between 1 and 2 p.m., affording chase crew members the opportunity to have a good chunk of every afternoon.

As for pay, chase crew trainees start around $22 per hour, while crew chiefs like Santiago earn around $30. Co-owner Cameron Roblee said Napa Valley Balloons prides itself on paying competitive wages.

“We work really hard to provide enough hours for our crew where they don’t have to have second and third jobs to survive,” she said. “We always make sure we’re adding training to our days, too. That way we know our crew members are prepared to respond to anything and take on the next steps in their careers.”