A Kiwi base-jumper who leapt off mountains and flew along their contours has died after a failed jump in Norway.

Ted Rudd, 35, was discovered with severely broken legs and head injuries on June 13 after jumping off a mountain near his house.

Base-jumpers freefall away from mountains or other structures using specially designed suits before inflating parachutes to land safely, friend Jonathan King said yesterday from Taupo.

Mr Rudd's parachute had inflated as planned, according to online postings from friends."Everyone is doing it in wingsuits, which give you a lot of room for error. Ted was wearing these suits that don't have wings, and it made what he was doing even more critical, and with less room for error."

Mr Rudd had moved to Norway near the base of a 1219m mountain to take the sport "to the next level" and gained work on oil rigs in the North Sea.

"It's such an addictive thing," Mr King said. "It's probably like a drug ... I think they probably get hooked into the attention they get from posting videos online. You can almost become a rock star when you start pushing things."

Mr King met Mr Rudd in 1994 in Australia, where he introduced him to skydiving. Mr Rudd went on to become an expert, making more than 7500 skydives in Australia, Taupo and Motueka.

According to Mr Rudd's online autobiography, he experimented with base-jumping as a 19-year-old but was put off by its high mortality rate at the time and a lack of specialist equipment. He returned to the sport when improvements were made.

"Immediately, I knew I had found my niche – being in the outdoors with my close friends in jaw-dropping surroundings ... I love my life intensely. My friends and the cool things we can do together make me the luckiest man alive," he wrote.

In an online interview with a base-jumping website, Mr Rudd talked about safety.

"I have seen a lot of new guys doing crazy shit and I catch myself shaking my head. But base is all about that looseness. I got back into base with no guidance and did a lot of stupid shit that must have alarmed more experienced jumpers. I still do stupid shit, but with a bit more of an idea of consequence."

Mr Rudd's death meant the loss of an "amazingly positive guy", Mr King said. "It's devastating really and I think it's a waste. To think of somebody who was so full of life crumpled at the bottom of a mountain. It's pretty sad. It's the old shining star mentality. He burnt the brightest, but he crashed and burned really."

Members of the base-jumping community posted tributes online following the death. "It can happen to any of us, anytime, anywhere. Ted was a great guy with lots of life and energy. As much as he travelled, I'm sure he'll be missed by people all over the world. Fly on mate," one read.

What Is Base-Jumping?

It progressed from skydiving but instead of jumping out of an aeroplane, jumpers leap from fixed objects. Base is an acronym that stands for the four types of objects they jump from: buildings, antennae, spans (bridges), and earth (mountains). Base-jumpers carry pre-packed parachutes to land safely and can wear special suits that let them travel horizontally as they fall. A 2008 study found the annual fatality rate in 2002 was one in 60 participants worldwide.