Who's that girl?
Personal note
‘Flying in the mountains is so special for me as it takes who I am and amplifies it all. All my strength and commitment translate into joy, all my fears and limitations become naked and shamelessly obvious. Good decisions are rewarded, mistakes immediately punished. Being too shy, lacking confidence will take me nowhere, cockiness will be immediately humbled.
I was young an dumb when I started flying and as much as my flying evolved together with me growing up, my paragliding journey empowered who I have become as a person.
In everyday life on the ground we can always create narratives, hide our fears, distract ourselves from any inner issues, find excuses, blame others.
In the air it all comes out. In the air I truly am.’
Flying
One of the few pilots in the world executing big solo vol-bivouacs across multiple continents. She has flown the Himalayas, Andes, New Zealand Southern Alps, Chinese Henan, European Alps, and Pyrenees, most of it alone, by fair means.
Current FAI triangle world record holder (she broke her own world record twice, and she did it on a C wing!)
Red Bull X-Alps athlete, the first woman in history to qualify twice and then three times. She has also competed in X-Pyr, Eigertour, Bornes To Fly, Dolomiti Superfly, and many others.
New Zealand national XC champion and 2x national distance record holder.
In 2020 she received the Jill Borst Trophy for her contribution to women’s paragliding. In 2025 she was awarded the prestigious International FAI Air Sport Medal as an outstanding ambassador for free flight.
She coaches and guides pilots around the world, she organizes Wanaka Hike & Fly in New Zealand, the largest hike & fly race in the Southern Hemisphere, and runs ParaHub, a mountain lodge and pilot community base in the Italian Dolomites.
Other facts
Before paragliding took over, Kinga completed a Master of Science in Physics and was deep into a PhD in solid-state spectroscopy before a one-way ticket to Asia changed everything. She later added postgraduate diplomas in Sport Science and Sport Psychology, which quietly inform everything she does as a coach.
Polish by birth. New Zealander by choice. Summer-based in the Dolomites by recent, very good decision. She speaks English, Italian, French, and Polish, and has the flying vocabulary to match in all of them.
Before she discovered flying, Kinga used to be a keen rock climber, alpinist, and skier. She keeps claiming that she’ll go back to these sports but paragliding always wins.
Evolution
2019 –
‘Hike and fly racing across the Alps with 32 selected, very best athletes in the world, what an adventure! It took me to places both in the mountains and in my soul, the highest heights and the darkest lows, it taught me so much about flying, mountains, head space, friendship, push… It gave me a key to who I can be, opened my eyes to possibilities. It made me a better pilot and a stronger human.‘
– 2023
‘When I qualified for the first time, I was still a paragliding child. Since then, I’ve grown up as a pilot and evolved as a human, and meanwhile the race has changed as well. In 2019, I was overwhelmed and felt so out of my depth while in 2023, I spent a night above a glacier, wrapped in my wing, with no food, after 40h without sleep and 7h flight, and… I got a yellow card from the organizers for ‘the reckless behavior’ while I woke up chilled and happy, and didn’t understand what all the hassle was about! Within last years of vol-bivouac adventures and hike & fly racing, my comfort zone has expanded immensely, and I’ll be forever grateful for everything I’ve learned during my X-Alps participations, and for the privilege of flying with the best and most inspiring athletes in the world. However, it might be time to focus on my other projects and adventures now. Thank you RedBull X-Alps, it’s been a hell of a journey!’
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The Companies That Support Kinga's Adventures
Kinga is fortunate to have the support of a collection of great companies.
They provide her with the resources and confidence she needs to pursue her goals.
Check them out!
