Paragliding is as safe as you make it. The safety checks, quality of equipment, preparedness, wind, air pressure and visibility are the main factors that decide how safe the flight would be. With a large number of paragliding sites came up in recent years, Himachal has emerged as the top destination for paragliding in the country. With nearly a lakh tourist trying hand at (tandem) paragliding, Kullu-Manali tops the list in terms of number. And the Kullu district is also topping the list of most fatal paragliding accidents. Five persons have died in four accidents this year only while many have sustained injuries. Human error is the main reason behind maximum accidents. Tourists generally go for a tandem flight but nobody asks pilots for their license, registration and quality of the equipment. In many accidents, pilots were found to be flying without a valid license and registration with the tourism department. The pilots, who always remain in hurry to finish the flight to catch another customer, never brief the dos and don’ts to the customers who always remain in suspense that what to do next. Almost 100 per cent of the clients here are tourists. On Monday, a tourist from Chennai was killed in similar accident where tourist slipped off the safety harness and fell on the ground from altitude of hundreds of feet near Falayan in Kullu. He died on the spot. The matter, according to police, appeared to be negligence in safety check. Similar incident had happened in May 2015 when a Mumbai tourist had died of harness failure at Solang valley. Falayan, Solang, Majhach, Diyar and Kharahal are the main paragliding spots in Kullu district where thousands of tourists enjoy joy-rides. The most operators at these sites are not following the proper safety procedures. While some are
Paragliding is as safe as you make it. The safety checks, quality of equipment, preparedness, wind, air pressure and visibility are the main factors that decide how safe the flight would be. With a large number of paragliding sites came up in recent years, Himachal has emerged as the top destination for paragliding in the
The urge to take wings and fly over the snow-covered pine and deodar forests is drawing hundreds of tourists to Solang valley for paragliding. A beeline of adventure enthusiasts is being witnessed to Solang which is deep under two-foot snow. The complete white valley is welcoming visitors for paragliding and skiing. The season is for winter sports but paragliding above the snow-covered valley is thrilling tourists the most. Entire valley experienced 30cm of fresh overnight snowfall. A pleasant day on Thursday, with sun playing hide and seek with clouds, offered a good time for adventure lovers who thronged here since early morning. Nearly 40 trained pilots are offering tandem flights to hundreds of tourists who are standing on queues for their turn. Most of the tourists are taking off with their wings on the shoulders for the first time but those who are not new to this game are also flying on snow for the first time. Aneek Gupta from Maharashtra who had already tried hands on paragliding in Kamshet said, “I had never expected that paragliding can be done on snow covered mountains and valleys too. My experience was unforgettable. The only complain is the pilot didn’t allow me to fly at my own saying that he cannot take risk.” Not only men, but women and children are also enjoying the scenic beauty of the Himalayas from the sky. Some paragliders have special arrangements to take photographs by specially designed cameras to make this moment unforgettable. Ridhvi Jain from Delhi adds, “It was icy cold when I was flying. I felt like my tears had turned ice. Mountains, valleys, rivers and snow look completely different from the sky. It’s one of the best things I ever did in my life.” Roshan Lal, a young paragliding pilot, said among couples
The urge to take wings and fly over the snow-covered pine and deodar forests is drawing hundreds of tourists to Solang valley for paragliding. A beeline of adventure enthusiasts is being witnessed to Solang which is deep under two-foot snow. The complete white valley is welcoming visitors for paragliding and skiing. The season is for
The unorganized and dangerous game of paragliding in Manali which was mostly being operated by Nepalese and youths from outside Himachal has came to an end with formation of paragliders association and strictness by tourism department on Tuesday. After government put restriction on all adventure activities in Rohtang area, the most popular activity – paragliding -- remained shut for many days in Solang valley which has been resumed by the paragliding association on Tuesday with some strict terms and conditions. Tourism department had recently raided Marhi and Solang valley for illegal paragliding and challaned many paragliders. Most of the paragliders who fly along with tourists have no technical knowledge and have no license to fly. Many tourists sustained injuries due to bad take off and landing in past few years. Finally a screw has been tightened over illegal and unauthorized flying. “All Nepali and other unauthorized pilots have been expelled. Nobody would be allowed to fly with tourists except for skilled and license holders from Wednesday,” founder of the association Roshan Lal said. He said countless paragliders were flying at all places of Manali without having proper technical knowledge which was leading to risk and inconvenience to tourists. “Now the number has been limited to about 100 and area of paragliding has also been marked. Though a complete ban would be imposed on paragliding from July 15 due peak monsoon season, but the activity would continue till then. Paragliders have turned strict after government put ban on most of the activities on Rohtang area. Fearing government’s intervention, they chose to improve standards of paragliding themselves. “Tourism department has allotted authorized licenses to some pilots. Still our association would check if the license holder has enough technical knowledge to fly or he should not be allowed to offer his services. Now
The unorganized and dangerous game of paragliding in Manali which was mostly being operated by Nepalese and youths from outside Himachal has came to an end with formation of paragliders association and strictness by tourism department on Tuesday. After government put restriction on all adventure activities in Rohtang area, the most popular activity – paragliding
