The Bird Men - Paragliding in the Himalayas

It’s true that Red Bull gives you wings to fly! In my case well, I had the opportunity to work closely with two amazing professional paragliders, a pitch and tons of challenges to take off on a whirlwind adventure of bringing out the most soul-freeing film!

“Higher Ground” began as a pitch wherein Frizzon was asked to cover Horacio Llorens (acrobatic paraglider) and Thomas De Dorlot (aerial adventure paraglider). While they traversed the Himalayan ranges, flying 6 hours at a stretch, camping the night at unknown lands, over the span of the next 20 days. To help the two athletes uncover an adventure which they heavily relied on us to show them the route. It took us an extensive week of heavy research to carefully chalk out a map for the athletes to fly. Although they had a few destinations in mind but permissions to allow them to fly where nobody else ever had was the challenge. These men were to fly 6 hours at a time, exploring the unknown territories which are famous for its treacherous winds!

Nonetheless, gathering all our resources, we finally set out on the road less taken. The first day we landed in Bir Billing. The weather looked all right to begin the flying. As Horacio and Thomas set out on their first leg of their journey, we began our own! We were to meet them at Manali next. While they travelled high up in the air, we moved at snail speed by road as compared to them. Mind you the winding roads, although picturesque can take a toll on you while your mission is time-bound!!

Horacio and Thomas had already landed and set up their tents while we were still hours away!

Although they camped and share their location, we were faced with a serious challenge of getting to them as there was no road to it. The only people who dwelled the hill point, where they were stationed, were shepherds!!

That night, 3000 meters high, the area witnessed thunderstorms - hailstorms, strong winds and thunder. Both Horacio and Thomas were in their tents. Definitely not the best weather to fly. On the other hand, we were stranded way below. Having two athletes, up somewhere on the hills, had us with our hearts in our mouths!

The next morning, however, was a beautiful new day. Being amidst nature was extremely soothing and despite such uncertainty, it had a calming effect. Our paragliders were already up in the air, flying to their next destination- Kyelang. Although the winds weren’t the best to fly, the two of them had set off. We weren’t expecting issues, but Thomas, unfortunately, got stuck in the tree while landing and needed immediate medical help!

All adventure sports have an unmatched thrill but for the people covering it, it’s another story to tell! While Thomas was somehow given help, we also had to look into what kind of footage we had got. Seeing Thomas’ frail condition, a unanimous call was taken of a two-day time out!

Having tackled the day to day shoot challenges, we still had to comply with nature's schedule. So far we had no story of the flying, just beautiful shots and lots of tricky situations. It gives an adrenaline rush to know you have nothing scripted, no time for re-takes and it all fluid. What you shoot is what you get!

Over the span of the next few days, as we got accustomed to meeting extreme challenges, we went from Kaza to Dhankar village and finally ended at Kibber Village. We were thrilled to have visited places that even the locals had never seen!

In total, we had 20 days of flying to our credit, scores of stories and a heart full of nature’s love!

But through all of this, we had grown as a team. This opportunity had opened the door to something so brand new- an adventurous shoot that tested out mantel and showed us our true strengths.

Watch the journey – Here Link to the Documentary

Jodhpur Snippet - Link to the Video

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