Cluster Ballooning, Anyone?

(Credit:  Disney/Pixar)

Have you seen the Pixar movie Up?  It's one of my favorites -- I cry my eyes out in the first few minutes, then spend the rest of it wanting to take off on crazy adventures.  One of the most fascinating aspects of the movie, aside from its overall awesomeness and cuteness, is the concept of cluster ballooning.  Apparently, cluster ballooning has been around for a while.  In 1982, Larry Walters shot 3 miles into the air after attaching 42 helium balloons to his lawn chair.  Just this past May, Jonathan Trappe crossed the English Channel by cluster ballooning.

As I was thinking of creative ways to carry backpacking gear while hiking or trail running, the thought crossed my mind to try cluster ballooning to carry/run with heavy equipment.  How cool would it be to walk effortlessly up and down mountains with a pack on your back supported by helium balloons?!!  I thought I was on the verge of a backpacking breakthrough... until I did more research to figure out how many balloons it would take to lift a pack.  According to several calculations, it'd take up to 35 normal-sized balloons filled with helium to lift just one pound!!!  Multiply that by 30, and you've got a ridiculous number of balloons.  It'd still be pretty cool to try out, but I think the balloons would probably get caught in trees and pop before they could do much good.

**sigh**  Yet another almost genius idea...