A freak encounter with a venomous snake has forced Tim Howell of the UK to cancel his upcoming attempt at the highest-ever wingsuit flight. Howell planned to launch from 8,300m on the Lhotse Ridge.
“A week before we were due to leave, I was walking in Grenoble [in the French Alps],” he wrote on Instagram. “I stopped for a pause, put my hand in a bush, and what I thought was just a thorn turned out to be a bite from an Asp Viper.”
Asp Viper (Vipera Aspis). Photo: Shutterstock
Howell happens to be allergic to the viper’s venom, and his condition quickly developed into a serious anaphylactic shock and respiratory failure. Luckily, the two friends with him saved his life, but Howell spent the next five days in a hospital’s ICU. Then, after his release, he found he had necrosis on his fingertip, which had to be removed. He is currently recovering but needs physiotherapy and is not fit enough to consider attempting a record wingsuit flight.
Howell in Everest Base Camp in 2025 with his wingsuit. Photo: Tim Howell/Instagram
Third attempt
This was going to be Howell’s third attempt to jump from what he has calculated as the highest point on Earth from which a wingsuit launch is possible. Last year, he nearly made it. With UK guide Jon Gupta, Namgal Sherpa, and a small film crew, they climbed an alternative route from Camp 4 to the Lhotse Ridge, found the right takeoff point, and waited hours in vain for the right conditions to fly.
Howell is an internationally renowned wingsuit pilot with over 1,200 flights around the world. Check this recent training flight in the Swiss Alps:
Tim Howell climbs toward the Lhotse Ridge in 2025. Photo: Jon Gupta
BASE jumpers in BC
A second team plans to attempt a BASE jump from Everest. Joshua Bregmen of the UK will perform “an all-time unbreakable world record: the world’s highest BASE jump,” the team wrote on social media. They have not shared details about the climb, the members, the route, the style, or the planned exit point.
We have contacted the team for details, but we have not yet received a reply. They reached Everest Base Camp five days ago. So far, they have been training and preparing to move through the Khumbu Icefall.
In 2024, Joshua Bregmen made a ski-BASE jump from 5,716m on Mera Peak (6,476m). It was considered illegal because he failed to obtain the necessary permits to ski and fly down the mountain. This time, the team has shared their Everest climbing permit on social media.
