Situated at the foothills of the Himalayas in the Kangra Valley of Himachal Pradesh (just two or three hours by road from Dharamshala), amidst paths winding through tea gardens, the charming Indian town of Bir is known worldwide as a destination for Paragliding and praised by visitors for its natural beauty. Bir is home to a community of over a thousand Indians, a Tibetan refugee settlement and a small but growing international population (mostly students of meditation and philosophy, volunteers, and seasonal waves of paragliders and other outdoors enthusiasts)
Bir is known all over the world as a best playground for paragliders and is a paradise for tourist who wish to take a safe tendem paradliging sport. Bir is also well known for its Buddhist monasteries and tibetian settlement, not forgetting the Tibetan culture and handicrafts. One of the best aero sport sites in the world. Billing is 14 Kms away from Bir. With the mountain ranges serving as an amphitheatre. Bir-Billing offer great opportunities for high altitude and cross-country flying for a stretch that extends to 200 Kilometers. Surrounded by tea gardens and an amphitheater of low hills, is an ideal landing around for para-gliders. Bir has Buddhist Monasteries that are worth visiting. Fine Tibetan handi craft are also produced here. Palampur is 29 km and Baijnath is 13 km from Bir.
Billing, 14 km from Bir, which came in the news in 1984 when an international Hang Gliding rally was organized at Billing, a place 20 km from Palampur where some expert hang gliders of the world participated. They rated this place as one of best in the world. In the month of May / June a tented colony is set up by H.P. Tourism to facilitate Hang gliders. At this time all the roads lead to Billing. All along the bottom of the ridges runs a parallel road from Mandi to Dharamshala and beyond which assures easy recovery for pilots after landing. The most important feature of this region is its weather. On bad weather days one can still fly 20-30 kms and on good days 100 kms is not difficult. October & November are the ideal months for flying in autumn and March to May i.e spring is also flyable but conditions are very strong in spring with thermals of 6-12 mtrs/sec and cloudbase of 4000 to 6000 mtrs. Palampur is 29 km and Baijnath is 13 km from Bir.
