The best talents across the world will show their passion and talents for the Paragliding World Cup, 2015 at Bir Billing in the kangra district, Himachal Pradesh. It is known as the Paragliding capital of India, Bir is sheltered by the mountains and surrounded by tea gardens and has an area of about 200 kms which is best for flying. Out of the many India paragliding destinations, kangra valley in Bir is considered as one of the best, recognized and admired by many of the best known pilots and paragliding enthusiasts all over the world, the main objective being the promotion of aero sports in India.
How to Reach Bir:
One can reach Bir either through Air, Rail or Road from Delhi, the Capital of India.
Through Rail:
There are two ways of reaching the destination. Take a train from Delhi (any station) to Pathankot, from this place you can either travel through train, bus or taxi. A slow speed toy train runs from Pathankot to Ahju (3 kms from Bir) every morning, or you can directly hire a taxi for Bir (which usually takes 5 hours), or take a bus (takes approximately 6-7 hours).
By Road:
The distance between Delhi and Bir is about 12-14 hrs by bus, you can get any deluxe bus from ISBT running towards Dharmashala or Manali. If you take the dharamshala bus you can deboard at Kanghra (about 70 kms from Bir) or deboard at Mandi if you take the Manali Bus, from either of the two stops you can travel to Bir by a local bus or a Taxi.
By Air:
you can fly to dharamshala (a town in gagal), from where you can reach Bir by a taxi.
Paragliding World Cup for the first time in India: 23rd -30th October
“The land of gods", Himachal Pradesh is all set to host the event for the first time starting from 23rd till 30th October, as the time between September-November is considered the most suitable for paragliding at Bir apart from March-May. Around 140 Paragliders apart from many free flying pilots from over 50 Countries will participate in the event; including the World’s top 5 Paragliders. It will be organized by the Billing Paragliding Association (BPA), sponsored by the great organization of India i.e. Airport Authority of India (AAI). The event will have a huge Impact on the Sports and the tourism of the Country as many Identities from sportsperson to pilots will be present during the event, The 2013 pre-World cup organized by BPA got a great response from everyone, because of the art of providing excellent facilities such as infrastructure, risk management system etc, this in turn opened their way for the 2015 World Cup, decided by the Federation Aeronatique Internationale, the body governing the World Air Sports and the Paragliding World Cup Association, hence the BPA department has undertaken full measures this year, to excel in terms of everything, to provide an excellent take-off and landing ground, risk management systems such as to provide risk and trauma vans in case of any emergency, an automatic tracking system with each of the paragliders to track their movement and position for rescue and safety operation in case of any emergency. These measures are being taken to meet the International Standards and satisfy every Participant in every respect, which in turn will boost the overall development and awareness of Paragliding in India.
Report from the “The Hindu”
According to the Hindu times report, Mr. Sudhir Sharma, chairman of “Billing Paragliding Association” and also the Urban Development Minister, said that different kinds of activities like air shows, hot balloons would also be Included to add attraction to the event, all the construction activities to be banned near the takeoff and landing sites.
The event would involve fly around a decided course crossing multiple check points, the person who finishes the task first is the winner or if none of the paragliders reach, the one which is the furthest away wins. After the competition the best participants would compete in the PWC (Paragliding World Cup) Super final, where the winner would be decided and then declared.
Other enjoyments at Bir: Camping, Fishing, Trekking, Monasteries
Apart from paragliding, Bir is also famous for Camping, fishing and trekking and has a Tibetan colony which was built after Dalai Lama was granted asylum in Dharamsala, the colony is involved in making/producing authentic handicrafts and has beautiful monasteries which serves as a place of attraction for the paragliders and other adventure enthusiasts, it also serves as the starting point for the trek routes such as the Manali and chamba, Since it is located on the edge of the forests, which provides house to numerous vegetations.
The Organizer of the World Cup i.e. BPA also provides many services apart from paragliding such as Tour and Trekking Packages, hostel accommodation as well as services such as medical facilities.
Overall, Paragliding is gaining popularity day by day all over the world and yet to become the greatest.
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