Photo: Sébastien Goldberg//Unsplash
Harsh weather conditions atop New Zealand’s Aoraki, also known as Mt. Cook, have prevented rescue workers from searching for a mountaineering trio this week, including two Americans and a Canadian. Police say they hold “grave concern” for the group after they were forced to delay their search efforts temporarily until Thursday.
Americans Kurt Blair, 56, and Carlos Romero, 50, and an unidentified Canadian climber planned an ascent of Aoraki, located on the South Island, and were attempting to summit via the Zurbriggen Ridge. They arrived on the South Island November 30 for the one-day technical climb and were scheduled to board their flight home just two days later on December 2. Once the group missed their flight, authorities were notified and the search effort began.
Both Blair and Romero are certified ski, alpine climbing, and rock climbing guides by the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA). Meanwhile, the third member of their group has remained unidentified at the request of family members. Search team members found gear assumed to belong to the group when rescue efforts first began Monday but were forced to suspend their search shortly after. New Zealand’s National Weather Service had issued a weather warning for the area that forecasted gale-force winds, rain, and wind chill that local police confirmed early Wednesday were still impeding further rescue efforts.
A post from Silverton Avalanche School in Colorado, where Blair had apparently worked, said it received a notification from authorities in New Zealand. The post said “the climbers appear to have taken a fatal fall from high upon the peak.” They added, “gear and equipment found from the party has helped SAR piece together the tragedy although remote, technical and heavily glaciated terrain coupled with deteriorating weather has prevented a recovery of the climbers.”
Given those circumstances, members of the climbing community like California-based adventure company SWS Mountain Guides near Mt. Shasta, the Silverton Avalanche School, and more paid tribute to Romero and Blair online this week. It’s obviously a difficult situation as officials acknowledged the climbers’ presumed deaths, while friends and family still hold out hope the group could miraculously survive.
