ABOUT

Igor has been a passionate paragliding pilot for over 30 years and over 6000 hours and has a long history of international competition successes. He has been a guide and trainer at Paragliding Macedonia for over 10 years.

www.paraglidingmacedonia.com

INTERVIEW

Do you remember your first flight? How was it?

Leaving the ground for the first time and having this sense of weightlessness and freedom, is something that I’ll never forget. Nothing was the same after and somehow in that moment, I knew that I found the path that I would be walking-flying for the rest of my life.

What moments make flying worthwhile?

Once upon a time, while I was flying with my sailplane, two white head eagles decided to join my thermal. After circling for a few minutes together with these amazing birds, one of them suddenly changed the direction of the circle, collected his wings and with the speed of sound started going directly into the sailplane. Just before we crashed, the eagle opened his wings, turned upside down and passed above my cabin with only few centimeters. A bit scary, at the same time so magical and I felt that the eagle was only having a smile on his face. After thinking for a long time about this unique experience, I believe that the lesson behind this story was to teach me that he is the ultimate master of the sky!

Your three top flying areas?

My country North Macedonia and flying over the beautiful mountains and natural lakes protected by UNESCO definitely is on the first place. Second place is for the Alps. Chicamocha canyon in Colombia and the rest of the world, are on the third place.

What are you doing on a day that is not flyable?

Spending time with my family and traveling a lot. Going skiing, fishing, exploring mountains and preparing things for the next season.

MOST IMPORTANT PARAGLIDING SUCCESSES?

When I started competing 25 years ago, it was almost impossible to win a competition, without being a team pilot and flying one of the prototypes from the companies. When I got my first glider that was competitive, on my first World Cup I was on the podium. In the following few years I won many national and international competitions like the Polish open, the Slavonian open, the Serbian open and some other. Two times winning the pre World Cup. 11th on the World Championship and top 10-20 pilot on the WPRS. I was competing only for a few years and than I decided to continue my life on a new level, working as a professional guide at Paragliding Macedonia and teaching advanced courses. After a long pause from the competitions, on the first SRS I won 2nd place flying with my SIGMA 11, against all the new generation of two liners.

Why do you fly for ADVANCE?

I believe that this is the dream of every pilot who devoted his life to paragliding. ADVANCE gliders are definitely one of the safest, most uncomplicated, easiest to fly gliders with amazing performances and the final craftsmanship is state of art. When we are talking about the Swiss products like: Swiss watches, trains, machinery, chocolate, cheese… ADVANCE paragliders are in the same category. Simply the best!

What is your favourite food?

The Mediterranean Cuisine

What is your favourite quote in life?

The show must go on!