Ballooning in New Mexico began more than a century ago in Albuquerque, when "Professor" P.A. Van Tassell, a local bartender, piloted a "gas bag" from the center of town up to nearly 14,000 feet and landed, intact, a few miles away at the west end of the city. Still, ballooning remained an obscure sport for many years. It wasn't until 1972 that 13 hot air balloons participated in the very first Balloon Fiesta, today known as the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.