Himalayan News Service

Pokhara, January 21:

Jamie Messenger of Great Britain won the sixth Nepal Open Paragliding Competition, organised by Trekking Association of Nepal, here today. The Briton was followed by Debu Chaudhari and Ajay Kumar of India, who grabbed the second and the third places respectively.

All three participants took lead in the competition with the points collected on the second day, ie the cross country event, of the three-day competition. Mathew of Ireland won the acrobatic event whereas Germany’s Oli Miller won the spot landing title “The points were evaluated on the basis of perfection the participants achieved in varoius events — cross country, spot landing, acrobatic and height — over the past three days,” informed paraglider Adam Hill. “This is my sixth visit to Pokhara and I will definitely come here again,” said Oli. Winner of cross country Jamie said that he would love to do paragliding in Pokhara again. Likewise, the acrobatic winner Mathew opined: “Paragliding in Pokhara is really exciting as the lake and the hills nearby make the flight wonderful.”

On Friday, the participants were made to land on a raft placed in the Fewa Lake, where most of the pilots landed in water and only a few could make it to the raft. “All flights started from Sarangkot through the competition and the finishing point was a field near Fewa Lake,” said the event coordinator Tika Ram Sapkota.