The search for three men missing on Aoraki Mt Cook has not been able to resume today, as climbing colleagues in the United States said the trio have suffered a fatal fall.

Police revealed the three missing men are Kurt Blair, 56, Carlos Romero, 50, both from the US, and a Canadian national.

The three men were visiting New Zealand before being reported overdue to return from their planned ascent of Aoraki Mt Cook yesterday morning.

The men flew into Plateau Hut at 3.30pm on Saturday, planning to summit Aoraki Mt Cook via Zurbriggen Ridge.

Aoraki area commander Inspector Vicki Walker said they did not make their flight out planned for 8.30am yesterday and were subsequently reported overdue.

In a post online, Silverton Avalanche School in the US said it had been notified the climbers had succumbed to a fatal fall.

“We received notification from NZ authorities that the climbers appear to have taken a fatal fall from high upon the peak,” it said.

“Gear and equipment found from the party has helped SAR [search and rescue] piece together the tragedy although remote, technical and heavily glaciated terrain coupled with deteriorating weather has prevented a recovery of the climbers.”

The school paid tribute to Kurt Blair online, remembering him as the “nicest guy” who came from a “proud lineage of mountain adventurers”.

“It is with a heavy heart that we share that our friend and colleague Kurt Blair went missing and is presumed deceased while climbing Mt Cook in New Zealand,” it said.

The post said Blair was a Durango local, who left behind a loving family, two sons and his mountain community.

“Anyone who shared time with Kurt in the mountains knows that his calm demeanour and positive presence ran counter to the rough edges and sharp tongues so often exemplified by the hardscrabble ranks of mountain guides,” the post said.

“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 favourite.”

The post described the loss of “such a wise and steady partner” as “devastating”.

Carlos Romero was a qualified international mountain guide with specialist skills in skiing, alpine and rock guiding, according to the American Mountain Guides Association.

A search was initiated yesterday involving the Department of Conservation (DoC) Search and Rescue team, local helicopter company The Helicopter Line and police.

“During the search, several climbing-related items were located which are believed to belong to the three men,” Walker said.

“Police have been working with the US and Canadian embassies to inform and support the families of the three men.”

Further information regarding the third man will not be provided until police can be sure that all necessary family notifications have been carried out.

Police say weather conditions are likely to prevent any further search activity until Thursday this week.

Treacherous conditions

A leading New Zealand mountain guide this morning said the missing trio were likely to be facing treacherous conditions, including potentially deadly rime ice (supercooled water droplets).

International mountain guide Gary Dickson, of Wānaka, said although there was hope the climbers had taken refuge somewhere to wait out the rain, warming conditions were not a good sign.

“With warming trends, you’ve got ice cliffs that can fall down and they’re incredibly hard to predict compared to avalanches,” Dickson said.

He also revealed rime ice is a major concern at this time of year.

Rime ice forms when water droplets freeze on surfaces and can fall off as temperatures increase.

“It’s an ice formation in which cold water droplets grow on to each other and build out ... if that falls off it’ll either kill you, injure you or give you a massive fright at the very least,” Dickson said.

He said ice cliffs and rime ice formations could fall at any moment and could be far more deadly than avalanches.

Dickson said warm, wet conditions were “bad in summary”.

“You’ve got an increased risk of not just avalanches, but ice cliffs and rime ice too, so it’s a lot more to consider from a search and rescue point of view.”

Dickson remains hopeful the climbers have taken shelter somewhere on the mountain.

“Positively, they could be holed up and waiting for the weather to clear,” he said.

The three men, who were attempting to summit, were due to complete their climb at 8.30am on Monday, but did not meet their prearranged transport, police said.

A missing persons’ report was filed at 12.45pm.

“Police search and rescue and Department of Conservation search and rescue are working together to locate the three men,” a police spokesperson said.

Walker said a helicopter and specialist search and rescue personnel searched on the mountain throughout the afternoon and into the evening until “weather conditions deteriorated”.

Walker said they would be working with DoC this morning to assess the weather and determine whether search efforts were able to continue.

According to MetService, heavy rain and snow above 3200m are forecast for the national park today.

It also described the risk of an avalanche in high alpine areas as “moderate”.

MetService meteorologist Clare O’Connor said the rainy conditions would continue throughout today.

“Winds will also be stronger this morning, especially higher up in those mountains, but they will ease a bit as the day goes on.”

Katie Oliver is a Christchurch-based multimedia journalist and breaking news reporter.