Photo: Sébastien Goldberg//Unsplash
Police in New Zealand announced an end to the search for American mountaineers Kurt Blair, Carlos Romero, and an unidentified Canadian climber who went missing on Aoraki, also known as Mt. Cook, earlier this week. The Friday announcement came after hazardous weather forced authorities to pause search efforts for three days. The initial search was started and soon shut down due to weather only hours after the group had been reported missing – after they failed to make a Monday morning flight.
By midweek, search and rescue personnel had shared the belief that the group fell to their death along the Zurbriggen Ridge. They had spotted clothes and climbing gear, including an ice ax, and energy gels, by helicopter when the search began Monday. Authorities believed those items belonged to the missing group and retrieved them, but planned to continue the search once weather permitted by the end of this week. When that opportunity finally came, a drone survey of the area observed footprints in the snow, however, they have not found any bodies.
“After reviewing the number of days the climbers have been missing, no communication, the items we have retrieved, and our reconnaissance today, we do not believe the men have survived,” Police Area Commander Inspector Vicki Walker told reporters.“We believe they have taken a fall.”
Walker told reporters that the families have been informed. Police also said that the search would resume if new evidence came to light.
Avalanches, and falls, are common on Mt. Cook, which is New Zealand’s highest summit at 3,724 meters (12,218 feet). The peak is part of the Southern Alps, a mountain range that runs the length of New Zealand’s South Island and is a popular destination among experienced climbers. It’s also famous as the training ground of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first climber to summit Everest, along with Tenzing Norgay . According to CBS News, more than 240 deaths have been recorded on the mountain and in the surrounding national park since the start of the 20th century.
