HOW HIGH CAN YOU FLY ?

   Hey there! Ever wanted to have a ride in a hot air balloon? Well, look no further: today I’ll take you into the skies… and even a little beyond — because I can! My balloon here is made of a special material, so we’ll fly as close to outer space as possible. Ready to ride? Hop in, then! We’re just off the ground and here we are, at the average height of the trees. 

Remember yourself as a kid, when you climbed every tree you saw, pretending to be the Monkey King? Ah, good times! Hey, I think I can see my house from here! Anyway, we’re going further upwards, and we're finally at the height of the tallest tree on Earth: Hyperion. Located in California, this redwood stands at 380 ft tall. Ooh, the wind here is pretty strong! See how Hyperion sways? 

A real titan of a tree! Now, going just a little bit up, and we’ relooking at the top of the tallest rollercoaster in the world, Kingda Ka in New Jersey, standing at 418 ft. It’s also the second-fastest in the world too! Wanna take a ride on that beast? Tell me down in the comments! I’m not up for that one! Okay, speeding up a little.

 At the height of 1,125 ft, we’re flying over the Millau Viaduct in France. Yes, it’s a bridge, and it’s three times as tall as the tallest tree on Earth. 

What a view! And I wonder how cars don’t get blown away by the fierce winds up here! At 2,080 ft, we’ve reached the top of the Tokyo Skytree — the tallest observation tower in the world. And there are things to observe from here, I’m telling ya! 

From this height, I think I can see my house again, but I’m not sure. Okay, and now we’re finally reaching the height of the tallest building ever made: the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It’s 2,722 ft tall, and the sky seems to be closer here than the ground.

 Oh my. My head’s spinning a bit. We’re now past the point where human-made things ruled the heights, and we’re entering the kingdom of nature.

 Our first waypoint is Angel Falls in Venezuela, standing at 3,212 ft. Did you know it was this place that inspired the movie Up? Well, now you do. Shall we speed up again? Fire up! Huh? What’s that? A drop of water? Oh boy, it seems like we’re heading straight at a rain cloud! Hang on to something, it’s gonna be a rough ride!. 

Phew, barely made it. Did you see that lightning? We’ve just passed through a real storm cloud. They’re the lowest hanging clouds of all because they’re the heaviest. 

They can form at almost any height, and this time we were unlucky enough to meet them at 4,500 ft. Okay, storm behind, we’re now at 6,500 ft, and you can’t see anything because of white fluff all around. This is where the lowest cumulus clouds form, and we’re now passing right through them. 

Best don’t take off your raincoat yet, though: don’t forget, clouds are made of water, so even these white puffs in the sky are wet through and through.

 Ah, finally, we’re out of the clouds and heading steadily upwards in the clear sky. A little bit of respite, and here we are, approaching one of the highest elevations in the world: Mauna Kea, the tallest volcano on Earth, located on the big island of Hawaii.

 It stands at 13,795 ft above sea level — and this last detail is very important. You see, its real bottom is much deeper, and if you count its height from the actual foot to the peak, you’ll get the stunning total of 33,500 ft, making it not only the tallest volcano but also the tallest mountain in the world. 

But right now, we’re counting from the sea level, so no offence, Mauna Kea, you’re still awesome, just not the King. Oops, the air is getting chillier and thinner, do you feel it? The higher we climb, the more difficult it is to breathe. At this height, though, there’s still enough air for us, it’s just a bit too fresh for my liking. Anyway, do you see those birds over there? Are they… ducks?! 

Come on, I thought ducks don’t like such extreme altitudes! I mean, there are plenty living in the pond just around the corner from my house! Ah well, the Internet tells me these are mallards, and they can fly at up to 21,000 ft — this is exactly the attitude we’re at now.

 Oh, and there’s an Andean condor in the sky right above the flock. Hunting, I guess. Let’s not spoil the thing for it and fly further upwards. Clouds again, ugh! Good thing I’ve got my trusty raincoat right here. 

These are now the highest-floating clouds, which only occur at the altitudes from roughly 25,000 ft. From down below, they look like thin white sheets in the sky, absolutely different from the puffy heaps we crossed a while ago. 

We’ll meet them at higher elevations too because they can format up to 60,000 ft, but I’ll get to that a bit later. And at the moment, I present you the tall, mighty, and unbeatable Everest — the tallest peak in the entire world, located in the Himalayas.

 We’re approaching its pinnacle fast, and when we’re there, it’ll be 29,029 ft above sea level. There’s not a single thing apart from the clouds that stand taller than Everest, and hundreds of people try to reach its peak every year — unfortunately, not always successful. 

So here we are, floating on our balloon and saying goodbye to the last piece of ground we’re gonna see for a while. But if you think we’re done with everything else, you’ll probably be surprised. As we’re rising higher and higher, we'll soon be saying hello to… yes, here they come: cranes! Yep, these birds are crazy when it comes to flying, and climbing up to 33,000 ft is a piece of cake for them. 

But it’s pretty smart at the same time because at such an altitude they can easily avoid eagles, their natural predators. Just imagine climbing all the way up to the Everest's peak and seeing a flock of these beauties flying overhead! Well, now we’re entering a dangerous zone…and we’re unlucky again! Take cover! Phew, near miss. 

You see, 36,000 ft is the altitude that’ soften called a sweet spot for aeroplanes. In fact, it’s anywhere from 35,000 ft to42,000 ft: the air resistance and density are perfect within these limits, so pilots prefer not to leave them. And we’re better off outta here ASAP — for the same reasons. 

Good, we’ve made it without further trouble, and now there’s really almost nothing else above us. At 60,000 ft, just like I said a bit earlier, we’re passing through the last bit of clouds, and when we’re out of the white… we'll have left the troposphere.

 Actually, its altitude varies depending on where you are, the highest layers of it being in the tropics and the lowest in the polar regions. And scientifically speaking, we left it when we were still at the height of 39,000 ft, so right now we’re in the layer called the tropopause.

You can feel we’ve entered it because it become a bit warmer.

 The tropopause is a layer that separates the troposphere from the stratosphere, and the air here doesn’t become colder with increasing altitude. 

And finally, we’re out of the tropopause and into the stratosphere. The sky here is deep blue, and it’s the highest we can get on our balloon. 

In fact, we’ve just reached the highest point at which a human has ever flown on a hot air balloon: in 2005, a man from India rose to 69,850 ft, setting a world altitude record, and safely returned to the ground after that. 

We’re not beating any records now, so this will be our final destination for today. Just look at the beauty of the world beneath us! Swirling clouds, blue oceans, and so many things to wonder at! I hope you’ve enjoyed our little trip.