15th Dachstein Alpen-Trophy

This is Gosau as we know it: Sun, snow and blue skies. After we had only had little snow and nothing else of these three things the year before, in 2008, thanks to the good weather we could present all three of our projects finished in 2007: The Sheep, the solar balloon and the new Penguin.

The wonderful sunlight on Friday morning was just right for Matthias' solar balloon. With the low temperatures outside and the reflecting snow, the lift of the balloon was so good that we even had to add extra weight to the basket.

With the other model balloonists clapping cheerfully, the Black Pearl rose into the winter sky.

Unfortunately, the sky was not entirely clear, and upcoming clouds made Matthias decide for a touch down before the village.

In the afternoon, Werner used the wonderful weather for a flight with his 6m³ Dino.

The Heart of the Knechtel family from Dresden and the Fire Bunny of Frank Schnelle from Munich were also there.

Just before the sun disappeared behind the mountains, we prepared for the ultimate highlight of the weekend, for which Matthias had worked all the year: The first meeting of our old and new Penguin.

"Hey you, turn around!" In the beginning, our twelve year old Penguin Lady seems to be a bit shy, but soon she responds to the courting of her new heavenly fellow...

... now that really looks like love at first sight! :-)

The different sizes in this photo are for real - Pinguin² is indeed about one meter higher than his predecessor, having thus also a much bigger volume: 90 cubic meters of air fit into our new bird.

Ain't they cute?

Our thanks to the many photographers and video filmers for saving these wonderful scenes for eternity!

The changing winds on Saturday morning at first kept us from ballooning, but we weren't bored at all - such a model balloon wind machine is a really multifunctional device! Martin Kaiser's daughter Rosina had lots of fun with her new motor sledge... *g*

When the wind calmed down around noon, we could put up the balloons...

... and finally hold the highly anticipated introduction of "Pinguin²" and Bastian's "Special Sheep".

Heimo Taus introduced the two balloons traditionally with some splashes of champagne.

And if there's something to drink, the model balloonists can never be far... ;-)

Even though the weather this year was yet a bit below what we are used to have at Gosau, the event was once more a wonderful experience, all participants agreed.

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