One of BASE leaping’s most bold pioneers introduced within the new yr with the primary wingsuit flight from South America’s tallest mountain.
Editor’s word: This article was initially revealed on Explorersweb.
Tim Howell, a British veteran of over 1,000 BASE jumps worldwide, traveled to Argentina in December. His aim was to summit Aconcagua, a 22,841-foot mountain, the very best within the Western Hemisphere. He got here up brief on the summit, however nonetheless set a exceptional document.
Howell and his workforce stopped a number of hundred ft from the summit on account of inclement climate. But upon returning to Camp 2, positioned about 19,700 ft up the mountain, Howell determined to strap on his wingsuit.
Even contemplating his spectacular flight historical past, leaping off Aconcagua on Dec. 29 meant one thing particular to him.
“It was really a big deal for me. Because no one had done it before,” Howell stated in an interview on Tuesday. “This is my biggest achievement on the wingsuit side of things.”
That’s no small assertion for Howell. A former Marines commando and an Afghanistan veteran, Howell’s BASE leaping profession has spanned 10 years and huge swaths of the globe. He’s finished wingsuit flights off all six north faces within the Alps, a number of cliffs within the Grand Canyon, and Half Dome in Yosemite. He’s additionally jumped from mountains in Scotland, Jordan’s Wadi Rum valley, and Greenland.
From Aconcagua, Howell’s flight lasted simply 3 minutes.
“I was pretty stoked to have landed it,” he stated. “There’s definitely no adrenaline when I jump because everything needs to be really calm. When I land, there’s a sense of accomplishment.”
Planning the Aconcagua Flight
There’s little doubt that BASE leaping stays a harmful sport. But Howell believes that advances in know-how — and the athletes’ preparation for jumps — have improved the chances lately.
For the bounce from Aconcagua, Howell made certain he did his homework and flight planning.
The preparation begins with being as acclimatized as potential to start the flight with a low coronary heart price, he stated. He spent 8 days in Aconcagua’s nationwide park earlier than leaping from the mountain with only a wingsuit and a parachute.
Planning contains complicated calculations of the glide ratio, mapping the terrain, testing the landings, and understanding wind path. There’s a necessity for trigonometry for a few of that work, and Howell used a laser vary finder to assist together with his math.
“I have a notebook full of numbers and calculations,” Howell stated. “I don’t think I’ve ever needed to do that for climbing.”
‘Skidding’ Back to Earth
At such a excessive altitude, the air can also be 50 p.c much less dense in comparison with sea degree. That means “everything takes longer,” Howell stated, which is why his touchdown “was not as good as it should be,” he stated with fun.
“My wingsuit just got a few holes in it,” he stated. “When I landed, it was like a baseball game. Skidding it into the finish.”
BASE leaping is not like many different sports activities, Howell added, as a result of it requires a very completely different set of expertise — often climbing — simply to achieve the purpose the place you’ll be able to “exit” the mountain. For a number of years now, Howell’s area of interest has been utilizing his expertise as a climber to leap from new mountains around the globe.
“For me, I’ve always pushed the narrative that it’s not a jump,” Howell stated. “It’s not a stunt for me. It’s a logical, thought-out process.”
So what’s subsequent for this climber on the vanguard of wingsuiting? The Himalayas, in fact. Though he’s by no means visited the world’s tallest mountain vary, Howell is heading there this summer time, in hopes of a multiperson BASE bounce (known as a multiway) from Laila Peak (20,000 ft).
“Nobody’s ever really done that sort of thing before,” Howell stated.
Check out extra of Howell’s BASE jumps and climbing exploits on Instagram.
