David Walden glides over a glacier in the Mt Aspiring National Park near Wanaka. Photo / Otago Daily Times
"You fly down over a glacier, and over a frozen lake, and over a huge waterfall, over a forest, and over tussocks, and you land on one of the beautiful flats, next to a river. There are a lot of nice things about it. It's not just about making the biggest jump."
Base jumping involves leaping from fixed objects - buildings, bridges, or cliffs - before parachuting to safety.
Mr Walden, who was born in South Africa, has a long history in aviation as a glider and hang-glider pilot. He began base jumping six years ago and has completed 450 jumps, mostly in Europe.
He chose Mt Avalanche because it offered a jumping-off point, with the required vertical face of 150m.
"We jump with a wingsuit, but the first part of the jump, you still go down like a rock."
Preparations included two "scoping" trips to the launch site where he used a laser to determine the cliff face was steep enough.
He was accompanied by his wife Renee, who skydives but does not base jump.
Mr Walden said there are no official records in base jumping. He had not set out to break records, wanting only "a nice jump".
