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Vol-biv in the Tien Shan
Walk up, fly down, sleep where you land. For a week, without meeting a fence.
Europe's vol-biv is superb and it is also crowded, regulated and never more than a valley away from a road. The Tien Shan version is the opposite of all four. That is the entire product.
The hard part is not the flying
It is deciding to land while you still have the height to reach somewhere a person could sleep, and it is carrying enough to be wrong about the weather for two days. Kyrgyz afternoons build fast, the valleys funnel, and there are days when the correct decision at 14:00 is to be on the ground eating lunch.
Safety, stated plainly
A satellite communicator with SOS goes with the group and is tracked from base. A vehicle and driver sit on standby at the nearest road head. Beyond that: mobile coverage ends at the last village, there is no public avalanche or mountain-weather bulletin for these valleys, and the nearest hospital that can manage a spinal injury is in Bishkek, six to eight hours away. Your insurance must name free flight, remote-area rescue and helicopter evacuation, and we check the policy document — not your word for it — before departure.
Who we accept
IPPI 5 or national equivalent, 300+ logged hours, a 50 km personal best, SIV within two years, current top-landing practice, and the fitness for 800–1,200 m of ascent carrying 14–16 kg on consecutive days. We ask for your XContest profile. We decline people, and we would rather do it by email in March than on a ridge in July.
Vol-biv expedition, 9 days
Price on request
Hike up, fly down, sleep where you land, in valleys with no road and no phone signal. Kyrgyzstan's real advantage over Europe is not better thermals — it is that you can do this for a week without crossing a fence, a cable car or a restricted zone.
| Duration | 9 days, 5–6 flying/hiking days |
|---|---|
| Group | per pilot, 3 pilots per guide |
| Regions | Terskey Ala-Too · Jyrgalan · Turgen-Ak-Suu |
Included
- Vol-biv guide flying and walking with the group
- Satellite communicator with SOS, tracked from base
- Food resupply drops by vehicle where roads allow
- Vehicle and driver on standby for extraction
- Two nights in a guesthouse either side of the expedition
- Border-zone permits where the route needs them
Not included
- International flights
- Your flying and bivouac equipment
- Insurance covering free flight, remote-area rescue and helicopter evacuation — mandatory, and checked before departure
- Personal food preferences beyond the standard resupply
Who flies this one
- Vitaly Peredereev — XC guide · flew the top-scoring flight registered in Kyrgyzstan this season · Check him yourself →
- Steve Reed — XC guide · the English-language voice of the trip · Check him yourself →
Who this is for
IPPI 5 or equivalent, 300+ hours, 50 km personal best, SIV within two years, top-landing practice, and the fitness for 800–1,200 m of ascent with 14–16 kg on consecutive days. We will ask for your XContest profile.
The honest version
This is the product with real consequences. There is no road to walk out on in parts of the route, mobile coverage ends at the last village, and the nearest hospital able to treat a spinal injury is in Bishkek, six to eight hours away. We turn groups back and we cancel. If that is not acceptable, book the XC safari.
Related
- When is the best time to paraglide in Kyrgyzstan?
- Does travel insurance cover paragliding?
- What rating and experience do I need for an XC trip here?
- How does retrieval actually work here?
- How far can you actually fly in Kyrgyzstan?
- Can I bring my own wing, and what about gear transport?
Tell us what you fly
Send your rating, hours, personal best and last SIV, and you get a specific answer — a route and a retrieval zone, not a brochure. A person reads it and answers within one working day.
Or just get the season report
One email at the end of each season with the flyable days we actually logged, and one more if the SIV course opens. Nothing else, ever.