MAIL SPORT EXTREME: Death-defying leaps of faith! But even after over 1,000 base jumps across 49 countries, perfectionist Tim Howell insists he's still learning...

Calculated, not crazy. That’s really Tim Howell would picture nan risks he takes erstwhile guidelines jumping from a upland acme aliases skiing disconnected nan separator of a snow-capped peak.

Having completed complete 1,000 guidelines jumps crossed 49 different countries, from a precocious constituent of 6,000 metres, Howell is perfectly placed to admit that he doesn’t do immoderate of it for nan adrenaline rush, but much for nan learning process and putting those skills to nan test.

A caller travel to nan Everest BASE campy and Lhotse, a neighbouring highest adjacent to Mount Everest, wherever he looked to group a world grounds successful guidelines jumping by achieving speeds of astir 260kmph connected nan descent from nan highest acme of 8,200m, was called disconnected aft he suffered pinch a cough that caused symptom successful his abdomen.

Howell recovered to make nan ascent but, arsenic nan aerial sewage thinner, his assemblage began to springiness up connected him and he had to make nan reliable determination to postpone his dream jump for nan clip being. All being well, he will look to return nan leap adjacent May.

‘To beryllium honest, nan adrenaline only hits erstwhile thing goes wrong,’ he admits. ‘I’ve tested it and recovered that my bosom complaint doesn’t spike astatine each connected nan mean jump.

‘Part of nan attraction, for me, is really risky nan athletics is. The consequences are beautiful high. So portion of it is being capable to train and make nan correct decisions, having nan correct mindset and learning nan skills to mitigate that threat and make it arsenic safe arsenic imaginable for yourself.

‘At nan extremity of nan day, it’s each astir determination making. If immoderate accidents happen, 99 per cent of nan clip it’s because you’ve made nan incorrect decision.’

That ‘wrong decision’ could consequence successful decease or, astatine best, galore surgery bones. Fortunately, Howell has only had adjacent calls, though he will ne'er hide his first brushwood pinch a wingsuit.

‘I’ve been jumping for astir 10 years now,’ he says. ‘Before that, I’d ever been a climber, mountaineer, truthful a batch of nan places I utilized to climb, a batch of group would jump off.

‘The first clip I saw personification wing-suiting was erstwhile I was climbing a 1,000m cliff successful Italy. We were dormant halfway up connected nan cliff separator and were woken up by nan sound from personification flying past us. It sounded for illustration a pitchy motor and, erstwhile I vanished nan climb, I thought to myself: “It’s going to beryllium a 12-hour hike to get backmost to nan car, whereas this feline is going to beryllium down successful 2 minutes”. So it seemed for illustration a earthy progression for maine to spell to guidelines jumping. The cogs started turning and I realised it was nan measurement forward.

‘It’s difficult to describe. If you’re flying a metre distant from a cliff, it’s not acold distant from an incident, but you’ve done that connected purpose. So location person been a fewer times wherever I’ve flown very close, very fast, to things and you tin beryllium divided seconds aliases centimetres distant from things going wrong.

‘A mates of 100 jumps ago, my canopy connected my parachute deployed nan incorrect way. I managed to move it astir successful clip and that’s down to each nan skills and drills we practise successful bid to get retired of those situations.

‘But, isolated from that, nary injuries.’

And truthful nan cogs kept turning. Howell has ever been 1 for pushing his limits, scrambling up cliff faces astir nan world, but this caller situation of diving disconnected a peak, not conscionable retired of a plane, was thing that offered added appeal.

Before he was capable to statesman his task into wing-suiting, Howell discovered that you request to person acquisition successful skydiving. It was different drawstring to his utmost bow.

‘I’ve done a batch of climbing astir nan world and seen personification guidelines jump successful Thailand before, without nan wingsuit, and I’d helped them get to nan exit and I’d conscionable started skydiving astatine that point, which was hundreds of skydives distant from nan guidelines jumping,’ he says.

‘You person to person acquisition successful skydiving earlier taking up guidelines jumping, which I knew about. So I started skydiving pinch nan extremity of becoming a guidelines jumper.

‘That took maine 2 years to get 200 jumps. I started connected my 21st birthday, past connected my 23rd day I recovered personification to thatch maine guidelines jumping.

‘I utilized to unrecorded successful South Africa for a mates of years. I was successful nan subject truthful I’ve been astir nan world. I now unrecorded successful Geneva, but recreation astir nan world looking for things to climb and jump off.’

Howell admits to increasing up pinch idols specified arsenic JT Holmes and Shane McConkey, 2 skiers who took their athletics to an moreover much utmost level by adding guidelines jumping. The sad lawsuit of McConkey, who died aft 1 of his skis grounded to merchandise connected a jump successful nan Dolomite mountains, serves arsenic a reminder of really vulnerable this athletics tin be.

Before he could return to nan slopes, Howell built up a scope of bridges, cliffs and moreover antennae.

‘I’ve ever been a skier, decidedly longer than compared to climbing,’ says Howell.

‘I grew up watching Holmes and McConkey. They started guidelines jumping and past took it to their sport, combining aggregate disciples, truthful I thought that would beryllium a cool point to do.’

Still only 34 years old, Howell foresees galore much jumps successful nan future.

Most recently, he ticked Norway disconnected his list, wherever astir 100 guidelines jumpers gathered successful nan Scandinavian fjords. A chopper was utilized to carrier jumpers to nan jump tract astatine Kjerag, connected nan outskirts of nan municipality of Lysebotn.

‘I’m up to 49 countries now that I’ve jumped in,’ says Howell. ‘My favourite 1 would astir apt beryllium Greenland.

‘But we’re readying a Christmas travel conscionable now and we’re looking astatine each sorts of options including Hawaii, French Polynesia, Reunion Islands, Madagascar. It’s conscionable astir reasoning retired of nan container and going to countries which are little visited than a batch of nan European ones.’