Conquering Clouds

Conquering Clouds is the story of pivotal moments and experiences throughout Ruth Wilson’s life that led her to find the courage to pilot her hydrogen balloon over the snow-covered Swiss Alps at night to land in an Italian vineyard. At 75 this adventurer was definitely not swayed by her age.

Her fight to survive a marlin fishing accident in the waters near Byron Bay is riveting.

Ruth acknowledges that her rescue by a pod of dolphins is the reason she is alive today.

A Life of Notable Firsts - Ruth E Wilson

1959, Age 16: First female to play the Last Post on Anzac Day at her hometown, Bowen North Queensland.

1960, Age 17: Crowned the First Queen of the Coral Coast.

1973, Age 30: First Australian winner Squash Championship Kobe Japan.

1976, Age 33: First female balloonist in New Zealand.

1977, Age 34: First commercial ballooning company established and managed by a sole female pilot in Australia.

1979, Age 36: First National Champion of the Australian Open Hot Air Ballooning Championship.

1981, Age 38: First Australian female to compete in World Open Hot Air Ballooning Championship in USA.

1983, Age 40: First Australian female to compete in World Open Hot Air Ballooning Championship in France.

1987, Age 44: First Australian female to compete in World Open Hot Air Ballooning Championship in Austria.

1988, Age 45: Created & managed one of the major Bicentennial Celebrations, the Trans-Australia Ballooning Challenge; a 16 day fly/drive expedition from Perth to Sydney. Participants from 23 countries flew 78 hot air balloons.

1989, Age 46: World Record Night Sky Jump from her hot air balloon.

1995, Age 52: Responsible for pioneering media campaigns to Introduce Antioxidants, Omega Oil supplements to the Australian public.

1999, Age 56: First and only Australian female to compete as Pilot-in-Command in the prestigious gas balloon race, Gordon Bennett Cup, from Albuquerque USA.

2002, Age 59: Chief Operations Officer ARC Centre for Quantum-Atom Optics at the Australian National University – Pioneering Centre for this science.

2018, Age 75: First Australian female pilot-in-command to cross the Swiss Alps and the Italian Dolomites in a hydrogen balloon