His brother Adrian Nowland posted a tribute to social media on Thursday, along with a photo of the pair skiing in the Canadian province of British Columbia in 2010.

“Rest in peace brother!” he posted on Facebook. 

“Wish we had more times like this together! 

“Hope you’re soaring through the clouds doing what you love forever.” 

Adrian said James “left us too early but doing what he loves!”

James reportedly crashed about 1pm (9pm AEST) on Wednesday roughly 400 metres from his intended landing point at an altitude of about 1700, after his wingsuit failed to open properly.

He and some fellow Australians were basing themselves out of Lupo Bianco at the time.

The 42-year-old’s social media feeds are full of action-camera videos of him wingsuiting – a type of BASE jumping described as “the world’s most extreme air sport” – in spectacular locations around the world.

He’d successfully completed jumps in Italy, France, Switzerland, China and other countries.