There were few remote territories in the world the 38-year-old professional had not yet climbed or threw himself from, but "New Zealand's been on the hit list for years and coming into land [at Queenstown Airport] was pretty special", he said on Friday.
"You've got some amazing mountains round here.
"If I'm looking for base-jumping spots, I'll be looking for a wall that's about 500 or 600 vertical feet, then a slope underneath it, or something high because then I can jump it with my wingsuit and then fly down the terrain.
"The other option, of course, especially around here, is jumping out of a helicopter and terrain flying, which would just be amazing."
While his gear went on ahead to the Himalayas, where he will attempt the first para-alpine ascent of the Nameless Tower on Trango, Pakistan, Emmett was guest speaker at the New Zealand Mountain Film Festival in the Queenstown Memorial Hall on Sunday night.
The television presenter and documentary maker grabbed headlines earlier this year with one of the most difficult ice-climbs in the world - a 200m, 45deg overhanging ice cave behind an unfrozen waterfall at Helmcken Falls, British Columbia.
Emmett has previously ventured to the greater ranges of the Himalayas and free-climbed a new route on the massive East Face on the 6840m Kedar Dome, for which he was nominated for the annual mountaineering award Piolet d'Or.
He climbed the most difficult routes in Mongolia, Cuba and Wales and became a pioneer of deep-water soloing, a form of rock climbing which relies solely on the presence of water at the base of a climb to protect against injury.
He was at the forefront of para alpinism, a sport in which the participant climbs with a base-jumping rig and, upon reaching the summit, jumps off.
Yet despite being a professional daredevil since he was 22, Emmett said he was no stranger to nerves when preparing to jump or climb and staring into the abyss.
"But it's like you're taming a wild animal, and once you've confronted your fear, the rewards are far greater than you could possibly imagine."
