Brit flew off Mount Kilimanjaro in wingsuit in jaw-dropping ‘difficult’ leap

In a feat five years in the making, incredible footage has emerged of a wingsuit jumper soaring off Mount Kilimanjaro. Tim Howell, 35, took the plunge from Kilimanjaro’s 5,450 altitude exit point last Thursday (19 Sep).

After two previous attempts, Tim, a BASE jumping veteran of over 11 years, said the conditions this time were perfect. Living between Martock, Somerset, and Geneva Switzerland, Tim revealed: “This jump took two trips over five years – and we managed to nail it.

“This time I knew where it was, had the knowledge of the best landing areas, and could take group up and organise it all for them knowing the unanswered questions.

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“Once I landed from this one – it was amazing – it was so great to land and see all your friends safe too. It was certainly different to average jump on a Sunday morning!”

Tim spent about a minute in the air, covering two-and-a-half kilometres and reaching a jaw-dropping speed of 260 kilometres per hour. The seasoned wingsuit jumper led the jump with four other team members – Marco, Ann, Peter, Mikey – who are particularly skilled in the daring sport. Tim added: “The whole team is really experienced and accomplished. We have more than 5,000 jumps between us and more than 50 years of jumping between us.”

The group took four days to travel up to the jumping point – which normally involves a minimum of six days – because they had to reach the summit for the right weather conditions, and any later would have meant it was unsafe.

Tim said: “This was a complicated jump. We had to get the right weather window – but still making sure that everyone was acclimatised and not ill because of the high altitude. We were all aware that you can be feeling dizzy, and very differently because of altitude – so we all wanted to make sure we were in the best mental and physical state possible.”

The experienced wingsuit jumper highlights the extensive work, preparation and calculations that go into enabling such an accomplished jump. From trigonometry, drawing graphs, plotting flights on maps, calculations – he explains a lot of mathematics must be completed in order to determine whether a jump is possible.

Tim added: “Since doing this, I have thought as a kid learning trigonometry – my teacher never realised it has been used to save my life!” Tim is currently taking a much-needed rest until the end of the week, when he will be running a trip to Algeria.

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