Sky Summits Team

Debu Choudhury

XC & Vol Biv Guide, SIV Instructor

𝘿𝙚𝙗𝙪 was born and grew up in the stunning Manali. He dropped out of school at the age of 16 to start his flying career. Since then his life has revolved around paragliding.

His knowledge of the flying in north India is second to none since he has been flying in the area for the last twenty five years, and he has pioneered many of the routes including the first flight from Bir to Manali in 2000. Debu held the distance record in the area with a 256 km flight in April 2018. This was not only a new record from Bir but also the biggest flat triangle ever flown in Asia.

He’s fluent in English, Italian, French, Hindi and Pahari, the local mountain dialect. It is hard to imagine a better person with whom to decode the best lines to connect the high peaks and enjoy a relaxing bivy mission.

Pete Gallagher

CFI - Air Experience School, Tandem Pilot

Pete is a legend and the Chief Flying Instructor at Sky Summits. He is a BHPA senior instructor and has been flying paragliders for 20 years.

He had a long career in the Army before settling in to teaching paragliding in all forms. He is a massively experienced skydiver and BASE jumper. Pete is a keen cross-country pilot, tandem pilot and speed flyer. He’s done it all.

Stefan Bernhard

XC Guide, Competition Mentor

Stefan started flying paragliders in the 90s when he still was flying fast jets in the German Airforce. Now a retired fighter pilot, he regularly competes in Paragliding World Cups and various Nationals around the globe, is a part of the German team and has earned a top 20 position in the world ranking.

Stefan still loves a quiet evening top to bottom after hiking up a mountain for a couple of hours, but also enjoys the demanding all day long XC flights when you get in the flow for hours.

Stefan is most happy when he can transfer his knowledge and see how pilots improve their flying, sharing their excitement and joy.

He will break down every aspect of paragliding with military precision and make it available to you in usable chunks. He is the specialist competition mentor on our team, and will love to help pilots refine their comp flying skills. You turn you lose !

Corentin Lami

XC Guide

Corentin (Coco) has been flying since he was 13 years old. An accomplished competition pilot, Coco loves to travel and fly all around the world, sharing his knowledge. He has an incredible sense of humour and is the coolest pilot of the team. He is naturally gifted when it comes to flying and makes it all look so easy.

He has flown and guided from India, France, Colombia, Macedonia, Spain and Italy, but his favourite place to fly is St Andre in France.

Richard Binstead

XC & Vol Biv Guide, Redbulls xAlps Athlete

Rich has been flying for over ten years and was immediately drawn to adventure flying, specifically Vol Biv. He has competed in the X-Pyr 2022, Red Bull X-Alps 2023 and many XC competitions. Rich has an intimate knowledge of Northern India, having spent five seasons flying Vol Biv there. He has also flown extensively in Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

He has worked as an instructor and tandem pilot in Australia and is enthusiastic and passionate about helping people achieve their flying goals safely. He believes the most important attributes of guiding are good communication and fluidity.

Rich is a laid-back Aussie who loves travelling, chatting, and meeting new people.

Eddie Colfox

XC Guide, Tandem Pilot

Eddie has been on several flying expeditions to the Himalayas and, together with John, he pioneered the amazing flying area of Hunza in Pakistan in 2002, where he made a short film, Hypoxia, about his antics at over 7000 metres.

Not only a very accomplished pilot, Eddie is perfectly qualified for guiding, having been a paragliding school proprietor in the UK for 10 years, an instructor for 15 and taught in India over two full winters in the mid-90s and has been coming back ever since.

Antoine Laurens

XC Guide

𝘼𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙚 began flying in 1992 when he was seventeen years young. A top vol-biv pilot, Antoine crossed over a 1,400 km route of the Himalayas in 2010, in which he flew from Dharamshala to the Nepal / Sikkim border, the longest unsupported vol-bivouac trip in history. He’s also flown unsupported vol biv through much of the Sierra Nevada in the Sierra Safari. Antoine has not only found amazing flying lines in India but also lovely human souls. Antoine also has a gift for imparting his hard-won knowledge in many languages.

Foram Pandya

Foram is the heart and soul of Sky Summits. Flying since 2006, Foram is a talented and passionate pilot who loves flying flatlands the most, Colombia being her most favourite place to fly.

Are you an XC hound or a newbie pilot looking to polish your thermalling skills?

Debu Choudhury

XC & Vol Biv Guide, SIV Instructor

Pete Gallagher

CFI - Air Experience School, Tandem Pilot

Stefan Bernhard

XC Guide, Competition Mentor

Corentin Lami

XC Guide

Richard Binstead

XC & Vol Biv Guide, Redbulls xAlps Athlete

Eddie Colfox

XC Guide, Tandem Pilot

Antoine Laurens

XC Guide

Foram Pandya