“A little mistake can be the difference between life and death”: the realities of BASE jumping

Standing at the exit point of Mount Kilimanjaro, 5,450 metres above sea level, Tim Howell is preparing to jump. 

He has spent the last four days ascending Africa’s highest peak with four friends, gaining over 1,000 metres of altitude a day. They had to climb the rocky surface in haste for good reason; there was a weather window to complete the jump.

The British BASE jumper attempted this exhibition in 2020 when the conditions were too unsafe to jump. But the trip wasn’t a waste of time. The knowledge gained four and half years earlier ensured the second attempt was a success, and this time, the conditions were perfect – but only for a matter of minutes. 

With rigorous preparations and checks in place, the team, all experienced BASE jumpers, were ready: “One by one, we all jumped. I was the last person to jump. I want to make sure that everyone gets off safely and they’re not going to be stuck on the mountain.”

Counting down from three, he leaps, soaring through the air in his wingsuit, reaching a top speed of 160 mph. 

Via Instagram: @tim_howell_adventure

After a one-minute flight, he embraces and high-fives his team upon landing. This is just the second time a wingsuit BASE jump has been completed on this mountain since the feat was achieved nearly ten years ago.

The clouds draw in, smothering the skies and summit that they just departed from. He was five minutes away from the weather denying him from this historic jump yet again.

The man behind the wingsuit

I spoke with Tim on a video call from his home in Geneva, Switzerland. Surrounded by mountains and cliffs, the 35-year-old describes his residency as the “Mecca for BASE jumping.” This extreme sport, involving parachuting or wingsuit flying from fixed objects, has taken him to 49 countries, where he has completed over 1,200 jumps.

Via Instagram: @tim_howell_adventure

During his time serving for the Royal Marines, Tim discovered his love for climbing, nature, and BASE jumping after ending up in a mountain leader role.

“Depending on who my boss was, I would sneak off for a day or two and get a few jumps done,” Tim shares, smiling fondly.

After his first skydive on his 21st birthday, which involves parachuting off a moving aircraft, he calculated it would take two years to progress to BASE jumping to gain the necessary experience. “Two years to the day on my 23rd birthday, I was jumping off a bridge in the South of France.”

Since that first BASE jump, he has made this passion his full-time job and has achieved some remarkable feats. Tim is the first person to climb and BASE jump off all six of the Alps’ classic north faces, has jumped 6,000m off Aconcagua in Argentina, and is the first to wingsuit BASE jump in the United Kingdom’s mountains. 

Via Instagram: @tim_howell_adventure

Relationship with nature

BASE jumping is a niche sport, with a relatively small pool of athletes. But even within this community, Tim is an even smaller niche: “There’s probably no other, or maybe one or two other people in the world trying to do high altitude alpine BASE jumps,” he tells me. 

His speciality is being able to access these jumps that no one, at least not many others can.

The jump itself is the “cherry on the cake” to the journey of reaching the summit. An eight-day exhibition can take just one minute to descend. “I describe this to people who want to be guided; there’s a very high chance we get to the summit, and if everything lines up, we get the jump as well. And that would be like an absolute bonus,” he explains. 

Via Instagram: @tim_howell_adventure

“I wasn’t a fan of skydiving, which doesn’t take you to these amazing places around the world, while BASE jumping does. Like Vietnam, for example. We travelled three days to get to the north, right by the border of China, then spent days hiking around in these really cool tribal villages. 

“There would be absolutely no reason for us to be there if it wasn’t for the fact there was a cliff to jump off.”

How does Tim pick these locations around the globe? “It’s often something as small as an Instagram picture. When I did the world’s first and only wingsuit jump in Vietnam, that was because of a single picture I saw of this huge white cliff. And that’s when the planning starts.”

Fascinated by this method, I asked how he then finds the spot to jump from: “You’ve got to figure out how high it is. I can look at a picture of somebody on a bicycle below it, for example, and get a rough idea. And then you need to look at the landing, the access, and how to reach it in the country. I enjoy the whole planning process. 

“It’s often just a picture in a magazine, a postcard, or a book, and then everything goes around that.”

Via Instagram: @tim_howell_adventure

Outside perceptions

When you see extreme activities such as wingsuit BASE jumping, you might assume the participants are ‘adrenaline junkies,’ or ‘daredevils.’ But for Tim, this couldn’t be further from the truth: “I understand that the media loves clickbait and portraying carnage.

“But they don’t look at the sort of training that goes behind it. And to me, it’s absolutely insane that somebody can have such a passionate sort of idea of what we do, having never been around it, having never been in the sport.” 

In reality, when you see videos of people flying inches from trees and cliff faces at high speed, Tim stresses that there is nothing spontaneous or reckless about these ventures: “These guys have done a thousand wingsuit skydives, and then probably a thousand wingsuit BASE jumps. That’s probably the 10th or 20th time they’ve done that particular flight.”

Via Instagram: @tim_howell_adventure

What I found most surprising about Tim’s approach to the sport is his meticulous calculations and attention to detail. He uses trigonometry, laser pointers, graphs, flight maps, and performance analysis, among dozens of other tools to ensure every flight is safe.

This is why he doesn’t feel an ‘adrenaline rush’ when jumping: “You only get that feeling if things go wrong. We don’t need a rush from every jump we do, because it’s not about that. It’s about enjoying flying and spending time with your friends.” 

Via timhowelladventure.com

Tim’s story and career, while remarkably unique, is inspiring in many ways. Here’s someone who has found something they love, and through a great deal of sacrifice and dedication, has transformed it into their life and career. He sees a challenge and isn’t deterred, but instead gets to work to make what many would deem impossible a reality.