Shimla: To give a fillip to adventure tourism, Shimla district is now home to the first government-approved paragliding site at Junga around 15-km from Shimla city.

Under the state government’s ambitious policy ‘Nai Manzil, Nai Rahin’, the adventure activity has been developed by The Glide Inn, an eco-friendly venture of Himalayan Exotica company that is engaged in the promotion of eco-friendly tourism and adventure sports in the state.

The Glide Inn, Managing Director Arun Rawat said that the main objective is to provide another alternative tourist destination other than Kufri and Narkanda, where adventure tourism and ecotourism can be promoted in a suitable way.

The project has been developed on around five acres of land, where paragliding can be enjoyed for 10 to 12 minutes during a km vertical flight, he added.

“As you take off, you have a breathtaking aerial view of Shimla, thick Cedar forests, mountain peaks dotted with villages and temples,” said Rawat.

Paragliding is an extreme sport quality equipment and professional paragliding pilots have been hired from Kangra and Chamba districts and safety of passengers is being fully ensured by complying with the prescribed safety and safeguard standards, he said.

Besides paragliding the flagship activity of The Glide Inn, the place also provides other activities including Treeventure (a host of trees centric exciting and unique adventure activities), fascinating trekking trails and heritage walks and to top it all- a pleasant retreat of luxury cottages and tents in the midst of a glade.

“The place tucked away from the maddening crowd of the Shimla city is easily accessible from Chandigarh, Shimla, Chail and Kufri,” said Rawat.