Photo: Supplied
A long-time friend and colleague of one of three climbers missing on Aoraki Mount Cook says his local Colorado mountain guide community is devastated.
Police hold grave concerns for the men - Americans Kurt Blair and Carlos Romero and an unnamed Canadian national - who were reported overdue from a climb on Monday.
The men flew into Plateau Hut at 3.30pm last Saturday, planning to summit the mountain via Zurbriggen Ridge, but failed to meet their flight out.
The search for the climbers remains suspended until at least Thursday due to bad weather.
In a Facebook post, Colorado's Silverton Avalanche School said it had received notification from New Zealand authorities that the climbers appeared to have succumbed to a fatal fall.
The school's executive director Michael Ackerman told RNZ he had known Blair for almost 20 years.
Kurt Blair. Photo: Facebook / Silverton Avalanche School
Ackerman said Blair was an accomplished and experienced climber who taught recreational avalanche courses and led climbs and skiing trips for San Juan Mountain Guides.
"As much as he was a rugged individualist in this world of mountain professionals, he was the kindest, the most compassionate, the most patient person doing this work," he said.
"Professionally, Kurt was part of a pretty close-knit group of mountain guides ... you can imagine this hits pretty close to home. We're all pretty shattered, this is not the guy we expected this to happen to.
"From a personal standpoint just knowing Kurt, his family and his sons, my heart just goes out to them."
Ackerman said Blair had an amazing quality of being able to connect with people and guide them, and people came back to work with him year after year.
"Kurt had this amazing ability in the face of almost insurmountable odds, inclement weather, snow storms, rain storms, freezing temperatures to just be really steady and just be a rock. I think that brought a really calming presence to the groups," he said.
Ackerman said Blair was very excited about travelling to New Zealand.
He said New Zealand authorities contacted him after Blair was reported missing to see if he could connect with his colleague through United States' mountain guides' satellite and communication resources.
Ackerman said becoming a professional mountain guide was a "mid-life pivot" for Blair.
"He was always a climber in his personal life, his dad was quite an accomplished climber in his own right, and he hit a point where he wanted to chase this dream of being a professional mountain guide. In 2022 he realised that dream and he achieved IFMGA status, he became an international mountain guide recognised through the highest certification available internationally," he said.
"Before that he had been guiding mountain and rock climbing, teaching snow safety and avalanche education in Southwest Colorado, that is where Kurt and I became really close."
During an initial search for the men, several climbing-related items were found that police believe belonged to the three men.
They were working with the US and Canadian embassies to support their families.
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