Ben Cannon, 31, died on Thursday after a jump in Switzerland went wrong.

Witnesses said Mr Cannon failed to open his parachute in time, after jumping off a cliff in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, and smashed into trees. He died later in hospital.

Two days earlier he had spoken to his brother Mark, who warned his younger brother about the risks.

"He called and said 'I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life I cannot believe how alive I feel'," Mark said yesterday.

"I told him that I thought he was going to kill himself if he kept doing it. He said 'Probably, at least I'll go out well'.

"Ever since he started jumping off buildings on the Gold Coast I have been waiting for the phone call [to say he was dead]."

Mr Cannon's parents, Paul and Katherine, flew from their home in the United Arab Emirates to Switzerland as soon as they heard the news.

They were making arrangements to have their son's body cremated yesterday and are expected to return to Newcastle this week.

The family is originally from Eleebana but the brothers moved to Queensland recently after their parents relocated overseas for work.

Ben and his partner, Lisa Cosoleto, bought a house on the Gold Coast.

Friends and family members have left dozens of messages of grief on Mr Cannon's Facebook page since his death.

Photos taken during his recent BASE jumping trip in Europe were also posted by members of the international jumping community who knew him.

Mr Cannon had embarked on a trip through Europe with his partner and parents about three months ago but had decided to head to Switzerland by himself to go BASE jumping.

"I think he has left a real hole in the BASE-jumping community," his brother said.

"Everyone loved him, he always had the biggest smile on his face and had this huge laugh."

Mr Cannon skydived for the first time when he was 18 and to his family's horror discovered BASE jumping about five years ago.

"They're pushing the limit when they jump off cliffs or buildings," Mark Cannon said.

"He took his equipment with him when he went overseas; I knew that meant he would be jumping."

The Cannon family will hold a memorial service on September 10 to scatter his ashes at Newcastle Sport Parachute Club in Elderslie.

About 14 BASE jumpers have been killed in the Lauterbrunnen Valley in recent years, including a 32-year-old Frenchman who died last month.