2 weeks Ago
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A Coloradan is among three mountain climbers from the U.S. and Canada who are missing after they failed to return from a planned ascent of New Zealand’s highest peak, Aoraki, authorities said Tuesday.
The Americans — Kurt Blair, 56, from Colorado and Carlos Romero, 50, of California — are certified alpine guides, according to the website of the American Mountain Guides Association. A statement by New Zealand’s police did not name the Canadian climber, citing the need to notify his family. The men flew to a hut partway up the mountain on Saturday to begin their ascent and were reported missing on Monday when they did not arrive to meet their prearranged transport after the climb.
Searchers hours later found several climbing-related items believed to belong to the men, but no sign of them, police said. Blair, from Durango, was a beloved fixture of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains who came from a proud family of mountain adventurers, according to a memorial social-media post from the Silverton Avalanche School that said the Coloradan is “presumed deceased.” Blair became a certified mountain guide in 2022, his colleagues at the school said.
“I couldn’t have done it without my Dad, Robert Blair Jr., taking me into the mountains and showing me the ropes and my grandfather, Robert Blair Sr. who made a number of first ascents in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado in the 1930s,” Blair wrote in an old Facebook post celebrating his career .
According to his Facebook page, beyond his day-to-day of guiding people through the San Juans, Blair spent his life traveling the world and summiting famous mountain peaks, including Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, Kyajo Ri, Washington’s Northern Cascades and Denali in Alaska. “Anyone who shared time with Kurt in the mountains knows that his calm demeanor and positive presence ran counter to the rough edges and sharp tongues so often exemplified by the hardscrabble ranks of mountain guides,” the Silverton Avalanche School wrote in its memorial post. “He was the nicest guy you’d ever share a rope or trail or skin track with, and his humility, competence and polite nature made him a client and student favorite.
” Blair leaves behind a loving family, including two sons, and a mountain community that stretches across Colorado and beyond, the school said. Search efforts did not resume Tuesday due to deteriorating weather conditions on Aoraki, also known as Mount Cook, with heavy rain and snow forecast. Operations were unlikely to begin again until conditions improved.
The Silverton Avalanche School said search and rescue authorities think the climbing group took a fatal fall from high up on the peak. Aoraki is 12,218 feet high and is part of the Southern Alps, the scenic and icy mountain range that runs the length of New Zealand’s South Island. A settlement of the same name at its base is a destination for domestic and foreign tourists.
The peak is popular among experienced climbers. Its terrain is technically difficult due to crevasses, avalanche risk, changeable weather and glacier movement. More than 240 deaths have been recorded on the mountain and in the surrounding national park since the start of the 20th century.
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