The beginning of paragliding activity is being marked by the Cross Country World Cup Paragliding International Championship, a pre-World Cup event being held in Bir Billing, Himachal Pradesh.
The Billing Paragliding Association and the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation collaborated to organise the worldwide event, which was formally opened by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Kishori Lal.
The week-long Cross Country World Cup Paragliding International Championship began recently, bringing a flurry of activity to the normally tranquil and picturesque Bir Billing valley near Baijnath in Kangra district. The competition was formally opened virtually from Shimla by RS Bali, Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC). Kishori Lal had done a yajna at the Billing take-off location earlier.
According to reports, the Billing Paragliding Association (BPA) and HPTDC are co-hosting this event, which has 186 participants from 33 different nations. Attendees include paragliding teams from the Indian Air Force, Navy, and Army, as well as participants from Australia, the United States, France, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, South Africa, China, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, Norway, Iran, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Nepal, the Czech Republic, Canada, and Bulgaria.
In his speech, Bali said that adventure sports are being actively promoted by the state government and that he hoped Bir Billing would soon play host to a Paragliding World Cup. He underlined how thrilled the locals and sports fans were about the occasion.
This venue hosted the first-ever Paragliding World Cup in India in 2015, the first World Cup of its sort to be held in the nation. This year’s event is the second international tournament to take place at the same location.