This is ME - Kanan Girlatcloudbase

Hey guys, my name is Kanan (Girlatcloudbase) and I’m a 19 year old paragliding pilot from India. I am writing this blog to tell you guys all about my journey and adventures and take you guys with me every step of the way.

So who am I and how did this Indian girl get into paragliding?

I’m Kanan Thakur, I was born on 02 June 1999 in Mumbai and lived there ever since. As a child I was always more drawn towards sports and outdoor activities than playing with Barbie dolls. But my main motivator has always been my DAD. He always encouraged me to do something different and challenging.

Being an only child I pulled my dad into every sport I did. He is my adventure buddy and the reason I was introduced to the sport that has become my passion.

To cool for school

In 2012 we both enrolled for a Paragliding course which took me through my training and gave me the raw building blocks for me to become the pilot I am today. However my dad didn’t take up paragliding as he enjoys being underwater more than up in the air.

By 16 I was an APPI Licensed pilot and realized this was what I wanted to pursue. After my 10^th grade exam I decided to commit to my flying full time, staying at Kamshet and flying every opportunity I got improving my skill and knowledge as a pilot.

After 1 and a half years I decided to leave the nest of my flying school and ventured out into the big wide world to spread my wings and fly.

“Isn’t Paragliding jumping off cliffs and out of Aeroplanes”?

No, we don’t jump. Paragliders have a progressive take off, Yes we start at the top of the hill but we choose a gentle slope over a cliff. We need to start high up as without an engine or any means of propulsion we are constantly going down and rely on thermals or wind being pushed up the hill faster than we go down (roughly 1m/s). I am a cross country pilot and our goal is to fly as far as we can in a day (depending on weather conditions).

My competitions 

Paragliding has three styles of competition:

1. Accuracy Landing –where you try to land as close to the bulls eye on a target as possible
2. Cross Country (XC) –which as the name suggests is flying as fast as you can across a set course
3. Acro-where you are trying to wow the judges with various tricks.

At the age of 16 I entered and won my first accuracy landing competition in Bir billing in India. After that the comp fever set in and I signed to fly in XC comps - the Gin wide open, Naviter open and the Krushevo open, these were my first international XC comps and took the opportunity to learn as much as I could from all the amazing competitors in the field. It was then back home to India for the Sikkim accuracy comp where I placed 3^rd in the Indian women’s division, I then traveled south to the Panchgani open where I stood 3^rd in the women’s class again.

 Perks of flight

Along with flying and competing I get to travel the world, experiencing different cultures and meeting new people.

Paragliding has taken me to :

• Mount Olympus and Lefkada in Greece
• Timbus in Bali, Indonesia
• Krushevo, Macedonia
• Oludeniez, Turkey
• Pokhara, Nepal

  In India

• Kamshet, Pune
• Panchgani , Maharashtra
• Bir Billing, Himachal Pradesh
• Sikkim

 My Upcoming Adventure

   Can’t write everything in one BLOG aye, Stay tuned for more.

   Hope you guys like my introduction to ME.

   See you all soon.

 Follow me on my social media pages for more details on my adventures as they happen:

Facebook: Kanan Thakur - Girlatcloudbase

Instagram: Girlatcloudbase

Youtube: Kanan Girlatcloudbase