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Hot Air Balloon World Record Broken By Daughter Of British Adventurer

Alicia Hempleman-Adams gets ready on her way to breaking the world female altitude record in the AX4 hot air balloon class in Calgary, Canada, reaching 4605m (15,100ft). The daughter of renowned adventurer, Sir David Hempleman-Adams, also captured British records for altitude and duration. Alicia took the world record from Irishwoman Pauline Baker who set the previous record of 4272m in January 2008. She also broke the British altitude and duration records that had been set 25 and 27 years ago respectively. She nearly doubled the British altitude record that previously stood at 2293m and achieved a duration of 1 hour and 46 minutes, bettering the old British record by 9 minutes. The AX4 class is for balloons between 600-900m3. Alicia’s balloon was constructed last year in Barcelona out of a new type of sustainable double layered material. The 30 year old fashion consultant from Bath has held a hot air balloon license for 8 years but is a relative novice in solo flying. To achieve the new world record height, Alicia was in the air for 1 hour 46 minutes and had to endure temperatures of up to -30 degrees Celsius. The AX4 balloon class is one of the smallest categories in the discipline and is barely the height of a double decker bus. Picture date: Friday February 7, 2020. Photographer: Johnny Green