Garden Route girls light up the skies

Three weeks ago, George Herald featured the story of Khobi-Jane Bowden, a Wilderness-based paraglider pilot who has been showing many of the men the way around the sky in national competitions, as well as being a regular competitor on the international scene.

- Jeff Ayliffe

The Garden Route area continues to see a growing number of female pilots taking to the skies in competition, with Tyla-Jane Christodoulou competing in only her second competition, putting in an impressive performance at the recent South African Championships in Barberton.

"Every time I fly, I try to do something different, or fly further, or be the highest in the stack."

Although Christodoulou entered the competition with high expectations of doing well in the women's category, she said she was surprised by how many of the more experienced male pilots she managed to push down the rankings.