Bir Billing, India

November 2024

new friends, Highest & Farthest, Top Landing Adventures

What we loved

about bir

Cheap

Friendly pilots

huge mountains

Easy Flying

Trip Cost
$1,500 USD

Meals = $5/meal
Hotel = $15/night
Taxi to launch = $3/day
Flights = $950 RT
Extras = $50 line trimming, $30 massage

Trip duration
2 weeks

2 days of travel – 14h flight from US to Delhi, 2h flight to Dharamshala or 9h bus to Bir, 2h taxi if flight

Many people stay a month

Season
October/November

Flyable every day with light winds

Second season in February/March

Pilot Profile
all levels

Appropriate for all levels of pilots from beginner to highly advanced

I’m an experienced XC pilot with 200 hours this year, flying a high B (Skywalk Chili 5)

Getting there & planning

Bir had been on our bucket list for a few years, with Slav having gone previously in 2019. It’s known as a mecca for flying with flyable conditions every day in season, and suitable for all ability levels. The flying was relatively easy, cruising from one ridge to the next with low difficulty.

We found it be really cheap and the people, both local and pilots, to be extremely nice. The launch and landing were both pretty chaotic at times, with accidents happening in both locations on most days.

Pack some gifties to bring for the kids, if you land out, they’ll be excited and swarming you with welcomes.

We prebooked our hotel, but next time I would wait until arriving to pick a spot, or book one or two nights only and then figure it out. The pricing is much better in person, and there’s lots of choices. We stayed at the Hosteller, which had a great location but more of a typical hostel vibe and was a bit noisy between dog barking and young people excitement for my friend Slav, who is a lighter sleeper.

Plan to take out money before you get to Dharamshala or Bir, as the ATMs were out of money the whole time we were there. We also exchanged USD at Hotel Surya with the owner when we needed more cash. It’s an all-cash kind of area.

Starting the day

We headed to breakfast by 7 AM, as the food service is pretty slow (best to budget at least 45 min required for any food). There were only a couple places open in town at this time, so we mostly went to Cafe 366, or one of the two spots right in front of hotel Surya, on the main road. It’s also possible to eat up top at a few small cafes.

Our favorites for breakfast were the bread omelette, ginger lemon honey tea or just “chai,” and mixed veg prantha (like a pancake of sorts with veggies and a spicy chutney). Cost was less than $5 for two people.

Launch & logistics

Our friend Ryan hooked us up with his awesome driver, Anil, so every morning at 8:30 am we’d go up. Everybody speaks some English so it’s easy to communicate and the people are very friendly. Taxis are readily available and cost $9 USD, split three ways so $3 apiece.

There’s a checkpoint on the way up to register for a flight pass, but we never ended up having to register or pay, the man just stopped being there so we’d drive on through. If you have to stop, you can collect the paperwork and still go up to fly, and bring it back complete tomorrow (and if you’re lucky, you don’t ever have to do it). The pass for a week was about $10 USD. There’s a bathroom up top, but it’s often closed due to no water – bring your own TP for a woods pee.

Up top, it’s best to be early. There’s no organization to launch, so once it fills up there’s people setting up right in the area to take off and it gets hectic. Every day we watched an aborted launch due to issues with others in the way, or miscommunication. There’s two areas to take off, down below which is mostly students and tandems, and higher up the hill. Both are fine to use, just pick whatever makes sense for the wind and the crowds. It’s flyable almost every day in season, we took one voluntary rest day during our two weeks.

On days where we were later, we waited in line for 10 minutes to launch the upper spot. Other days we’d go down to the lower launch to avoid the wait.

Dress warmly for the altitude, and bring extra money in case you land out and need a taxi to get back.

Flying

The flying is world-class. Thermals are relatively gentle (400-800fpm average) and the days are smooth. The mountain scenery is incredible, with different landscapes from very rocky to grassy, waterfalls and rivers. If you venture deep into the back, you’re rewarded with glaciers as well (I can’t speak to that 😉 Every day, the launch had light wind and was easy to send it. There’s two easy, big house thermals at “negative a half” and out in front.

We were able to fly as long as we wanted most days, and I hit my first 100km on a smooth flight to the back, to Dharamshala, and back to the LZ. It’s easy to hit new height personal bests too, launching around 2800m, I left at 4500m in the back range. Surfing through the clouds as I came back from the back range to the front again was a completely magical experience, cruising the edges as I moved through the two different cloudbase layers. Of course I was also singing loudly to my favorite jams just in case there were other friends inside the cloud coming at me.

The best part for me about the flying was actually the other pilots. While the first gaggle can be kind of horrible – one day I almost got sandwiched between two pilots for a midair and narrowly avoided with a last second shout – the community of pilots is really friendly with more interaction than other places. Top landing at the golf course and 360 are almost rites of passage here, where you land and meet new friends left and right, and then see them again at the next spot, or in town later. There’s folks making tea and playing games on “golf course,” a nicely sloped grassy area, and at 360 just lounging enjoying the view and other pilots coming through.

I top landed and walked over to Camp 360, where a local has set up some tents and little huts for pilots and others to spend the night. DO IT!! It was a night to remember, playing ping pong and talking flying with other pilots while eating a delicious dinner. I woke up to a herd of sheep moving by the tent and a gorgeous view of the sun peeking over the mountains before heading to the main building for a prantha breakfast. It’s an experience not to be missed.

The main LZ is large and active midday, but plenty of space to land easily and safely. Between launch and landing, plan on your wing getting a little dirty and be sure to check your lines aren’t going to snag if you set up in a rocky area.

Extras

I had my lines laser-trimmed while there; it was a same-day turnaround after I landed for the day, and was done a couple hours later. Great price! The cost was $50 USD. It’s worth noting that they didn’t check the brake lines as they consider the length of the brakes personal preference, and indeed I have shortened mine so that’s kind of fair, but I would have preferred them to have it reset to standard all the same, and then I can customize from there. So, maybe just inform at the beginning you’d like the brake lines also reset since that’s not considered standard in Bir.

Golf Course

A classic top landing spot a few ridges over from launch. Not to be missed! Perhaps a daily stop!

Enjoy 20+ other pilots company on top of a mountaintop, a cup of tea or perhaps a game of chess.

You’ll see it while flying around, so no need to pin a location in advance.

Camp 360

Shown in the picture, another classic top landing spot. Fly a ridge-lift classic line down the front range and be rewarded with views that can’t be beat.

HIGHLY recommended to stay overnight for a killer dinner, tea and breakfast! Play ping pong with new pilot friends.
$17 USD/ night, contact in advance or simply topland and walk over to check availability.

Also option to bring your own tent and enjoy just the meals.

Tatapani

Excellent, remote hot springs tucked into the mountainside. Rent a motorcycle for the day and ride over, expect about an hour hike in/out.

Feeling adventurous? Top land above the springs and fly back out – just make sure it’s a good day for it without too low of cloudbase, or do like I did and have some friends meet you with a bike for post-springs.

If you’re into it, there’s also a baba up on the mountain who you can visit. Bring a gift!