Paragliders have crammed the skies above Kazakhstan’s Zhetis area this week. This area, situated within the south-west of the nation, is taken into account one of many prime flight locations and is gaining worldwide recognition as paragliding in Kazakhstan is not only a vacationer exercise.
This summer time, Central Asia will host its first ever Paragliding World Cup, attracting round 150 pilots from 33 nations.
Behind this prestigious occasion is the Virushki household, who’ve spent greater than 15 years contributing to the event of paragliding in Kazakhstan and the promotion of utmost sports activities within the nation.
Igor Virushki based the Tau-Zetis vacationer complicated close to the town of Tekeli. Over time, this place has turn into one of the crucial well-known paragliding places in Kazakhstan, frequently attracting pilots from everywhere in the world.
Presently, his son David Vilsicki is a world champion paraglider. He says it is a terrific honor to host the Paragliding World Cup within the place the place his personal flying journey started.
“I used to be born right here and discovered to fly right here, so it is all the time been a dream of mine to host an occasion like this domestically,” stated David Burschke. “We discovered it to be very attention-grabbing and a possible venue for the competitors.
“The Cross Nation World Cup is a really prestigious occasion as there are a number of standards by which occasions are chosen by a particular paragliding committee and we’re very proud to have the ability to host an occasion like this right here in our hometown.”
New takeoff of paragliding in Kazakhstan
Preparations for the World Cup started final 12 months. Websites internet hosting competitions at this stage should bear an evaluation by worldwide consultants who assess flight circumstances, security requirements, infrastructure and organizational capability.
“I’ve been doing this work for 30 years and have labored in lots of locations world wide, so I can say that it isn’t straightforward to search out new locations and locations which are ok and have sufficient potential in each sense: sporting potential, financial potential, organizational capability, and so on.,” stated Goran Dimishkovskiy, president of the Paragliding World Cup Affiliation.
“So we’re presently within the course of of building a brand new location in Kazakhstan that can function a base for main worldwide competitions sooner or later.”
What’s the attraction of Kazakhstan for pilots?
Among the many pilots presently flying the Zetis frequently is Canadian Jimmy Giroux. He says his first go to to the world coincided with a tough interval in his life after a severe accident.
“I broke my hip coaching in Europe, however I did not understand it at first,” Giroud stated. “I flew right here to Kazakhstan, however due to the space it took two days to fly, and once I arrived I couldn’t use my legs. Then a surgeon from the town of Tardykorgan saved my life. His title is Almas.”
He now credit Kazakhstan not solely as a spot to compete, but in addition as a spot that helped him get better and return to the game he loves. He additionally stated that Kazakhstan nonetheless has sturdy untapped potential within the area of paragliding.
“I really like the good outdoor. I feel Kazakhstan is a fantastic place. It is also very secure as a result of there aren’t many bushes like in Europe, so it is a fairly secure place to land even for a novice pilot,” he added.
Tourism within the Jetis area reaches new heights
Zetis’ mountains, hills, broad valleys and steady thermals create excellent circumstances for flight. The area’s open terrain additionally offers pilots with higher visibility and safer touchdown choices throughout long-distance cross-country flights.
“The character in Kazakhstan may be very pristine. It’s extremely wild and what the pilot informed me is that this is a vital factor that we do not have in Europe, as a result of the character in Europe may be very civilized. I might say they’ve espresso outlets each 5 kilometers and resorts in every single place,” David Virushki defined.
Native authorities are supporting the initiative as a strategy to improve the area’s tourism potential.
“Presently, we now have contributors from Canada, Australia, america, and virtually all of Europe and Asia. For us, this can be a sturdy indicator that the area is changing into a magnet for internet hosting large-scale worldwide occasions, and we plan to proceed increasing on this route,” stated Yersin Ivrashev, Director of Tourism of the Jetis Area.
On the identical time, Kazakhstan is already exploring the potential of an analogous challenge on Lake Balkhash.
“We wish to check the thought of acroparagliding over Lake Balkhash. Since there aren’t any mountains on this area, the pilots will as an alternative take off utilizing a winch system. This format may turn into a really spectacular sporting occasion,” added Ivrashev.
The competition will run till June twenty eighth. The World Cup stage additionally performs an essential position within the worldwide rating system, the place pilots acquire factors for international classification and qualification for main championships.
The Asian Cross Nation Paragliding Championship is scheduled to be held for the primary time in Kazakhstan in 2028.
