Paragliding at Sikkim: For adventure lovers

With the recent infrastructural development there has been a tremendous growth in tourism industry in Sikkim. The Tourism Department of Sikkim has come up with various adventure sports in order to promote tourism in the state. Among various, paragliding is one of the best that Sikkim can offer.

Started by 3 Sikkimese locals, Rajdeep Thapa, Arjun rai & Chandraprakash Pradhan under the banner of “Fly Sikkim adventure” is the one and only Government registered Paragliding Agency that has been operating in the State since the last few months and is located only a few kilometers (6-7) away from Gangtok, at Lower Luing , Resithang near Khel Gaon. Inaugurated in the month of April 2010, but commercial took off only in the month of November, has taken 85 flights so far among whom five were foreigners, 2 Australian and 3 Bhutanese and has delivered 100% successful result.

“Fly Sikkim adventure” offers two kind of flight, one termed as ‘short-flight’ is taken from Luing, Thami dara, that will cost Rs.700 and will keep you in air for 2-3 minutes, depending on the weather conditions. “We can add more time if weather favours us” says Rajdeep Thapa one of the Pilot. And another flight termed as ‘medium-flight’ which costs Rs 1500 per flight lasts for 5-7 minutes again depending upon the weather, is taken from Aani Gumpa(Monastery) which is located around 800 feet above the office. Field Office At Resithang Earlier Paragliding was introduced in Sikkim in the year 2004-05 in Jorethang Maghey Mela, and in the same year in Gangtok, the first flight took off from Ganesh Tok to Tadong College Ground.

All three pilots trained in Himachal Pradesh, under Government sponsorship programme through Capacity Building in the year 2006 are among those 7 selected ones out of 30 candidates from Sikkim. Other 4 could not continue owing to some personal problems. Again under initiative of Sports & Youth Affairs Department another 3 years training in Himachal Pradesh was imparted to 3 selected ones.After completion of their training, they applied loans through one of the schemes of Government to make youths self employed. At present they have a glider which cost around 3Lakhs, which is a latest design by Switzerland and which they have bought through the loans they applied for.

“We are getting a very good response from both the tourists as well as locals. Most of the clients have come through TAAS and Tour Operators. We have been delivering 100% satisfaction to our clients, which I think is the important thing for us to survive. In due course of time with the completion of Airport at Pakyong more Tourists will visit Sikkim and in this way we will be able to contribute towards Sikkim Tourism”, adds Rajdeep Thapa.

Tourism Department and TAAS has been supporting this adventure sport and promoting it in various levels as it can serve as an added attraction for the tourists. Government has initiated to send more unemployed youths for training. It is expected that 15 more professional pilots will be produced within a year. With the introduction of Paragliding in the State, there will be a major boost in the tourism industry and which may also provide a better standard of living for the people of this area.
source: cpcv