Intrepid balloon adventurist Jonathan Trappe has become the first person to cross the Alps using helium-filled balloons as his method of transport. The 38-year-old from Raleigh, North Carolina in the US, took almost 12 hours to make the historic crossing, around half of which was completed in the dark. The trained pilot, who last year crossed the English Channel using helium-filled balloons, began his amazing journey in Gap, South East France, where he filled 54 balloons with helium and took off into the night. Taking a path westward over the French Alps, Jonathan watched the sunrise from an altitude of 15,000ft.