Steve Fossett’s Hot Air Balloon Really Took off, Only to Let Itself Down

By Mallory Cawthra

27 years ago, on February 21st, 1995, American millionaire Steve Fossett and his hot air balloon landed down in a farmer’s field near Mendham, Saskatchewan. Fossett was a successful businessman, in addition to being an avid adventurer, entrepreneur, aviator and sailor. Mendham is approximately 20 kilometres southwest of the Town of Leader.

Fossett had planned to land in California, having had “Seoul to San Francisco” written across his hot air balloon. Instead, starting from Seoul, South Korea, on February 17th, 1995, the combination of unpredictable weather conditions and faulty equipment ended in his touching down four days later in a farmer’s field, east of Mendham.

Many well-known American news outlets swarmed to the location after the landing, putting Mendham, and to a greater extent Leader, on the map. Having covered a distance of over 8,690 kilometres, Fossett was the first person to fly solo in a hot air balloon across the Pacific Ocean. Fossett had to contend with extreme cold and high altitudes throughout his journey; he had an oxygen mask on hand just in case.

Fossett allegedly spent $250,000 on the balloon (British made), which loomed 45 metres tall and weighed 2,700 kilograms.

In June 2002, Fossett became the first person to fly solo, non-stop, around the world in a hot air balloon dubbed “Spirit of Freedom.” An interesting fact is that the flight was sponsored by Bud Light. His balloon was ten stories high, and he started from Australia in June, and in just over 13 days, returned to Queensland, Australia, in July. In 2007 he went missing while flying an aircraft in Nevada, and was later presumed to be dead, which was confirmed in 2008.

There is a painted mural on the side of Jeff’s Farm Supply Store in Mendham, to commemorate both of the ballooning events. The colorful mural was painted in 2003 by the “Kurtz Girls.” The mural is a definite must-see attraction for anyone visiting the area, as well as a feather in the cap for local residents.