Rachelle McEwen speedriding. Photo: Hugo Lami / SkiAndFly

Women of Speedflying

Women of Speedflying started out as an Instagram channel but rapidly built into something bigger, championing female pilots in this male-dominated sport. Founder Julia Lieberman tells Jack Sheard how it all got rolling and Tarquin Cooper talks to SkiAndFly’s Rachelle McEwen about teaching the new generation

19 January, 2026, by Jack Sheard and Tarquin Cooper | Photographs: Hugo Lami / SkiAndFly

Julia Lieberman first saw speedriding when she was just a kid – and it was on the big screen at a film festival. “At 12 years old I attended the Banff Film Festival and witnessed a crew speedriding from the summit of Mont Blanc,” she says. “Much to my parents’ chagrin, I told them I was determined to learn one day! That was how I got the idea.”

Twelve years later, after taking a P2 course with Chris Santacroce at Super Fly Paragliding at Point of the Mountain in Utah, a friend invited her to a “float and fly” event – an overnight river rafting trip, with daily hike-and-fly excursions, which she...

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