Let’s fly away up to the clouds
Away from the maddening crowds…
Let us leave the confusion and all disillusion behind
Just like bird of a feather, a rainbow together we’ll find.

~ Franco Migliacci in Volare

This autumn, it’s adventure season in the hills. Last week, we told you about the marathon in Shimla. Now it’s the Paragliding International Championship at Bir-Billing in Kangra. Seasoned gliders will be familiar with the name Bir-Billing (which might sound a little funny to us lazy asses since the only ‘bir’ we have heard of is ‘Ir-Bir-Fatte’). We also might not know that Bir-Billing is considered to be one of the best sites (among the top five actually) for paragliding across the world.

Bir and Billing are two sites that lie close to each other in the Dhauladhar Mountains and offer a great setting for cross country flying. Hand-gliding was introduced here in 1984 by Israeli pilots while paragliding started a little later by French pilots in 1992.

The flight itself will be a breathtakingly beautiful experience with paragliders flying over the scenic Dhauladhar range. An estimated 400 participants are expected to fly in the event. And an additional 100 would be top class pilots, 25 of whom would be Indian pilots.

The Himachal Pradesh government is going all out to promote adventure sports in the state, and to encourage participants it has doubled the cash prizes! There are many prizes to be won, the highest being a cash reward of Rs 2.5 lakh. There is also a “Best Newcomer Prize”, so all you amateurs too can hope for a few seconds of fame.

And this time, appropriate measures have been taken to ensure the safety of the participants. A helicopter will be stationed near the landing site just in case you are not too smooth with the landing part.

The schedule:

Where: Bir Billing, District Kangra H.P.

When: 21^st October to 26^th October, 2013

Last date for Registration: 20 October 2021

For eligibility and other requirements, check out the official notice issued by the Department of Youth Services & Sports H.P.